Why Instant Online Valuations Don't Work for HMRC, Probate or Insurance
An instant estimate is not a valuation report. Why HMRC, probate and most insurers need documented evidence.
Find the guide for your situation.
Plain explanations of how UK vehicle valuations work, written from the cases we actually handle. Pick what you need a valuation for and we'll show only the guides that apply.
What do you need a valuation for?
All guides
Showing 36 of 36No guide matches that search. Try a shorter word, or ask us.
What Does a Car Valuer Need From You? Photos and Papers
What to send for a written car valuation: the vehicle details, up to five photos, service and MOT history, and the date the value is for.
Valuing a Motorhome or Campervan: Probate and Insurance
Valuation guides often do not cover converted campers. How the Ombudsman valued two camper total losses, and where a motorhome sits on IHT407 and Form E.
How HMRC Values an Imported Car When There's No Invoice
HMRC starts from the price you paid. When there's no genuine invoice, an independent valuation takes its place.
Inherited a Car Abroad? Do You Pay UK Duty and VAT?
There is a relief from duty and VAT on inherited cars. Who can claim it, which cars are excluded, and why the value still counts.
Gifted a Car From Abroad? How HMRC Values It on Import
A car given to you abroad still has a customs value. Why HMRC cannot use a price, the fall-back method, and what to tell HMRC within 14 days.
Imported Car Invoiced in Euros? What HMRC Counts as Value
The invoice price is only the start of the customs value. What HMRC adds, what you can leave out, and how euros become pounds.
Transfer of Residence Car Import: Is a Valuation Needed?
Moving to the UK with your car? The ToR1 form does not ask for its value. Where a value does matter, and what to send if HMRC wants proof of one.
Registering an Imported Car: Where a Valuation Report Fits In
The DVLA never asks for a valuation directly. It matters earlier, at the HMRC and NOVA stage.
Selling a Deceased Person's Car: Is a Valuation Needed?
The DVLA does not ask for a valuation when an executor sells a car, but the probate forms do. When you need a value and what to record first.
What Is "Open Market Value" for a Vehicle in Probate?
HMRC wants the value at the date of death, in the car's actual condition. Not a showroom price or an insurance figure.
The Car Was Sold After the Death: Which Value Goes on the Probate Forms?
HMRC's form asks for the sale proceeds and the value at the date of death. Which one counts, and which costs you can't deduct.
What to Do If Your Insurer's Write-Off Offer Is Too Low
If a total loss settlement feels too low, an independent report gives you documented evidence to challenge it.
Classic Car Valuation for Form E: Evidence That Holds Up
Form E asks for the current value of a classic or collectible car but not a valuation. Which evidence supports your figure, and what to avoid.
Car Valuation for Divorce UK: Cost, Form E and Court
Do you need one? What Form E asks for, what decides the price and where a desktop valuation fits.
Form E: What Value Do You Put on a Car, Trade or Private Sale?
The form asks for a figure and never says on what basis. Here is how to pick one you can justify.
How Much Does a Car Valuation for Divorce Cost in the UK?
What decides the price, how it compares with adverts, a dealer and a court expert, and when it is not worth paying.
Is an Online Car Valuation Accepted in Divorce Court?
What rule 25.4 says about expert evidence, what Form E needs for a car and what to ask your solicitor.
How Long Does an Independent Vehicle Valuation Report Take?
Most reports are done within a few hours of receiving everything we need. Here is exactly what we ask for.
Who We Recommend for General Car Imports: Cars Import UK
We only handle the valuation. Here's who we point clients to for customs, NOVA and registration.
Who We Recommend for Classic and Overseas Car Imports
Overseas classics, 40-year-plus cars and campers need a different kind of specialist. Here is who.
Buying a Classic Car at Auction: Are You Overpaying?
The hammer price is not what you pay. What the buyer’s premium and VAT add, which price to compare it with, and what your rights are if the car is not as described.
Does Agreed Value Change at Renewal on a Classic Car?
Agreed value does not depreciate during the policy year, but it does not rise either. What a renewal does to it, and what to check on your schedule.
Agreed Value Car Insurance: How It Works vs Market Value
The wrong policy wording can cost you thousands after a total loss. What the FCA found, and how to avoid it.
What Makes a Vehicle Valuation Report Actually Defensible?
Not every valuation holds up when someone pushes back. What actually separates a defensible report from a guess.
Agreed Value for a Modified Classic: What Insurers Ask
Photos, receipts and sometimes an independent valuation. What insurers ask for to agree a value on a modified or imported classic.
Written-Off Car: Keeping It and the Salvage Deduction
Keep a Category S or N write-off and the insurer deducts salvage value. What the Financial Ombudsman has said makes that deduction fair.
Valuing a Motorcycle for Probate, Divorce or Insurance
IHT407 names motorcycles, Form E lists cars only, and the Ombudsman covers bike write-offs. What a valuer needs.
Buying a Car in the UK to Export: Are You Paying Too Much?
How to tell if a UK asking price is fair before you pay, what the free DVLA and MOT checks show, and when to value the car in person.
Car Valuation for Tax Purposes: Which UK Taxes Use It?
Inheritance Tax and import VAT use the car's market value. Capital Gains Tax and road tax do not: what each one uses.
IHT407 Form Explained: How to Fill In the Vehicles Box
What HMRC wants in each column of box 2, why the value is open market value and not insurance value, and where a jointly owned car goes.
How to Register an Imported Car With the DVLA, Step by Step
The order that works: NOVA processed, VAT and duty paid, vehicle approval, then the £55 registration fee.
How to Register an Imported Motorcycle With the DVLA
A bike under 10 years old with no Certificate of Conformity needs an MSVA test first. The steps, the fees and the V5C.
Documents the DVLA Needs to Register an Imported Vehicle
Which originals the DVLA wants, which are never returned, and what holds an application up.
What Valuation Guides Do Insurers Use for a Write-Off?
How insurers use trade valuation guides on a write-off, what the Ombudsman does when the guides disagree, and which evidence counts against an offer.
Classic Car Price Guide vs a Valuation Report: Which?
What a price guide tells you, what it cannot, and when HMRC, an insurer or a solicitor needs a valuation report with the working shown.
Not seeing your situation?
Tell us what the valuation is for and we'll tell you what you need.