Shipment container???
 

Hi,

I'm planning to move to melbourne in this NOvember with my family. I have few questions regarding the shipments

- Is it cheaper to ship all our furniture and other house holds by reserving a container or to buy everything from aus?
(friend told me furniture are very expensive in aus)

- As a migrant will clearing taxes be waived off from the shipment?

- Since i do not have a permenant addres to send the shipment can i ship the container after I settle down in melbourne? If so will the tax be imposed more?

Pls can anybody clarify these for me??

Re: Shipment container???
 

Hi Abb1

Yes furniture we have found in Oz is expensive but then we have found that with most things here!

If your goods are personal effects then no you will not have to pay any customs taxes, unless customs see brand new goods such as electrical items.

We didn't have anywhere to live when we got here either so we just consigned our goods to our shipping agents in Australia, and notified them to ship once we got here as we were told it was cheaper to store in the UK rather then Australia.

Hope this helps! :thumbup:

Re: Shipment container???
 

thanx very much. but how will they charge for the consignment kept with the agents?

Re: Shipment container???
 

Hi,

With respect to the other posts, you seem to be digging big holes for yourself to fill in.

Lets start at basics, you need to ship your CHOSEN household goods to Australia.

Step 1. Get in touch with at least three of the top shipping/international removal firms. Crown, Dorree Bonner, John Mason (although we used them and had stuff missing..others are happy with them..its a matter of choice and luck really!
There are others, do a search BUT avoid local small companies who basically collect you stufff and bung it onto the real shipper to sort out.

BEFORE they send in a surveyor, decide what you want to keep and what you want to either sell off, dump,donate or whatever.
TELL the surveyor only what you want to take.
he will tell you if its a full container load or a pert load. You can then decide then which option is for you.
Get their quotes and be prepared toplay one against the other for a better deal.
Remember THEY know this is the first time you have done this and may not know the average cost of shipping.

Check out insurance details, big and or valubale items need to be listed in detail.

Your preferred shipper will want to know when you want them in to pack everything...this will depend on when you can vacate your property and have everything..I mean everything tied up - all your utility bills sorted and make sure your tax affairs are sorted and documented. They will not go away if you owe them...they wait and clock up charges and interest! And remember, you need them later for your pension!
When you know the date you can stand on the pavement waiting for a taxi to the airport, tell the shippers.
OR, when you can manage without all your stuff destined for OZ - call them in.

It will take anything upto 2 -3 months depending on whats coming out o fteh UK, if there are berths at Singapore where they all call first and how long before it sails again.

Dont fret about deliver addresses.

When you get into Oz and find you next house, bought or rented. Email your shippers the info and if you know who in Oz is going to deliver your gear..tell also.

You dont mention visa's - but if you are selling up to come here, you must have one that allows you a long tern stay either as PR or sponsored.
So actually bringing your gear here is not a problem.

All the costs and taxes, customs clearance and all the other stuff driving daft..is sorted by the shippers - who will explain all this when they do the survey - you just pay them the money!

I'll take you that far, if you want advice about doing your best to stop light fingered pixies who apparently steal all the bits and pieces..but dont work fro any shippers, i will monitor replies notified and carry on.

Best advice I can offer is dont do anything you are unsure about before coming onto the forum and asking for help. Nobody minds and we have all been in your shoes before and understand the impossible looming in front of you!

good luck

Re: Shipment container???
 

thanx very much, this was really helpful

Re: Shipment container???
 

I will add this - which I forgot to mention.

John Mason told us that they deliver "door to door" and verbally mentioned within 100miles of Sydney ( in our case).
It will say somewhere in you quotes, that the contractors, Kent in our case, will hold goods for 10 days after which storage fee's will be added.
Also check if there are additional delivery charges. We assumed being "door to door" that the £3500 plus we paid was in full and final payment.

A letter from Kent confirned that they would store for 10 days and charge storage for each additional day and that being outside the 30KLM Metro ie Sydney, an additional delivery milage charge of $249 will be charged.

In fact our stuff was held up at Sydney customs for nearly 4 weeks. So everything we did to be in place for a delivery was a waste of time and ended up costing us money!

So the message is... dont fret too much over any storage charges IF your house seeking is out of tune. Contact the contractors in Oz and ask about typical delays at customs or be prepared for things like public holidays or seasonal holidays to slow things down.

I saw a post a couple of days ago, some lady going frantic because she could get no info as to where her container was.
The shipping company taking the containers, usually have a website on which is a tracking system, you will need thing slike container number, ship name contract numbers etc, It will only tell you stuff like:- Departed Liverpool dock 01/01/2050 ( or whatever dock it leaves) destination, usually Singapore. Same again their and destination (for us ) Sydney. Its very loose bit you get a ETA ro work on.

That lot should get your stuff to your new house at stage in the future, if you are really lucky, you just see everything you sent...arrive, but only time will tell.

Re: Shipment container???
 

Hi dont think poster was asking anything about tax affairs.Just common sense to sort it all out.Same goes for utilities etc just like moving up the road or to a different city/town.You can always get family to sort these out,leave money with them or pay everthing online.(use someones computer).When we left UK 18 years ago we left money with our accountant to do our taxes (forward on any refund etc).Mil paid utilities from money we left for her.It does feel daunting but just make lists,just make sure you remember where you put the damned things:lol:

Re: Shipment container???
 

Without a quote snippet to guide...I am not sure you are commenting on my post..... if you are, then mentions about taxes are factual and relevant.
A lot of "ex-pats" with un-finished tax affairs think that flying around the world will lose the liability. Maybe if they of an age where what bit of UK pension may become availabel to them, wont make much difference, fact is the tax file remains open until balanced in full. And that can affect pensions later - or so I was told. And its over two years since I had any income in the UK... and I am still involved in UK tax affairs, it all depends on idividuals circumstance.
Like wise running off and leaving un-paid HP acounts etc,.
Maybe Bad debt checks dont yet travel with you to Oz, but the future is not cast in stone.

As for untilities, did you see the post a few months back from a family who has moved into a rented house after selling up and waiting the visa, they forgot about the gas utility bills. The next tenant finding everything connected just carried on and ignored any bills. Apparently it all came to light after that tenant left and the next in had to sort out the mess after being threatened by a bailiff with taking all their household to pay of bills.

I prefer to address issues while they are fresh rather than wait for years to be hit by the unexpected and by then have dumped or forgetten anything that may have helped me.

Its a matter of choice and attitude really.