Importing a hearse, limousine or special vehicle

A stretched Lincoln for a wedding business, a hearse from abroad, or something with more seats than any normal car: special vehicles raise the obvious question of whether they can be registered here at all. Most can. The rules simply depend on how many people the vehicle carries and what it will be used for.

The big trap is buying first and checking later. With a stretched limousine in particular, the cost of meeting British standards can be large, so the checks belong before the deposit.

Seats decide the rules

The line that matters is 8 passenger seats, not counting the driver. Up to 8, the vehicle is treated broadly like a car. Above 8, it falls into the bus and coach rules, with different approval and licensing.

That line shows up again and again: in vehicle approval, in operator licensing and in the exemptions for weddings and funerals. Count the seats before anything else.

Stretched limousines

GOV.UK is direct about it: stretched limousines must have Individual Vehicle Approval to be registered and licensed. For those built before 29 July 2011, a Certificate of Initial Fitness is accepted instead.

The Department for Transport's guidance for limousine operators notes that most limousines brought into Great Britain come from the USA, already converted. American construction rules are different, so these vehicles usually need work before they meet British ones.

What the guidance flags

Before an IVA inspection, evidence is needed that the stretched vehicle can safely carry the extra weight when it is full of passengers. Axles, suspension and brakes may have to be upgraded compared with the original car.

The guidance also lists rules that many American limousines struggle with:

• Emergency exits big enough for vehicles carrying more than eight people
• European-approved lamps, mirrors, tyres, seat belts and glass
• The turning circle, which most stretched American vehicles do not meet

It is also frank about larger limousines: very few types meet the requirements, and most need considerable expense to convert. That is not a reason to give up, but it is a reason to get the vehicle assessed before you buy it.

Older limousines

Cars and minibuses with 8 passenger seats or fewer are generally exempt from vehicle approval once they are over 10 years old. GOV.UK's limousine guidance sits alongside that and says stretched limousines need IVA, or a COIF if built before 29 July 2011, to be registered and licensed. For an older stretch, we confirm which applies to your vehicle before it ships.

A car stretched after registration

If a car is converted into a limousine, the DVLA must be told, because the vehicle's identity may change. GOV.UK treats changes to a chassis or monocoque as structural modifications, notified on form V627/3. If the DVLA has doubts about the vehicle's identity, it can issue a registration starting with Q.

Licensing a limousine for hire

Registration is only half of it if you plan to earn money from the vehicle. GOV.UK says limousines must be run by a licensed operator unless they are hired out without a driver.

• Up to 8 passengers: a private hire vehicle operator licence, through the local council (or Transport for London)
• 9 or more passengers: a public service vehicle operator licence

Each licensing authority decides whether it will license stretched limousines in its area, so check with yours before you import. GOV.UK warns that unlicensed or uninsured limousines can be destroyed or confiscated.

Hearses and funeral cars

A hearse is approved according to its age and how it was built, like any other vehicle. Under 10 years old from outside Europe usually means IVA; older vehicles take an MOT. If it has been stretched or converted, the same structural rules apply as for a limousine.

Licensing is simpler. GOV.UK says limousines with up to 8 passenger seats do not need a licence for weddings and funerals. The operators' guidance adds that vehicles seating fewer than 9 are exempt from private hire licensing when used wholly or mainly for funerals by an undertaker.

Party buses and larger vehicles

Anything with more than 8 passenger seats used for profit needs approval as a bus or coach, or a Certificate of Initial Fitness if it is not registered in the UK and was built before type approval applied to it. Buses and coaches with more than 8 passenger seats built before 29 July 2010 (or 29 July 2011, where the body and chassis come from different makers) are exempt from vehicle approval.

These vehicles are big. Size decides how they ship: smaller ones can go in a container, larger ones by RoRo or road freight. Our guide to importing an American motorhome covers the same size questions.

The tax and the shipping

Import tax works as for a car: from outside the EU, 10% duty and 20% VAT; from the EU, 20% VAT, both on the price paid plus the cost of getting it here. Vehicles built to carry more people can fall under different customs headings, so we confirm the duty rate when we quote. The import tax calculator gives the car figures.

From the USA, where most limousines come from, our guide to shipping a car from the USA covers the route, and converting an American car covers the lighting work American vehicles usually need.

We test on our own site and handle the DVLA application. Our guide to the IVA test explains what the inspection covers.

Questions people ask

Looking at a limousine, hearse or something more unusual? Send us the specification on the quote form and we will tell you what it needs.