Haven't paid customs charge but my parcel still got delivered; where do you think I stand?

KatrinaWaves

They absolutely can. By not choosing to self clear they are appointing whatever courier company it comes through to clear for them. 

Parcelforce are acting on behalf of the customer and collecting money for HMRC. If you rmeally want to mess with HMRC, be my guest. It is the OP that owes HMRC, not Parcelforce. I don’t work for courier companies legal team nor HMRC but if you think there isn’t legislation to cover this for HMRC, you’ll be wrong. 

couriervanman

bushwacka666 said:

Thank you for your input, everyone. I decided to just pay the charge, as most of you are right; probably not worth the risk of kicking up hassles later down the line. A shame, as I could've done with saving £52, but oh well.

Thanks again.

If it was me i would wait for another letter just in case the first one was sent by mistake,after all they did deliver the parcel so there has been a oversight somewhere down the line   

visidigi

powerful_Rogue said:

visidigi said:

KatrinaWaves said:

They have 6 years to chase you for it. Its £50, its not worth the hassle of trying to string them along when you do owe it.

How so? They (PF) don't have a contract with the recipient.

Whilst I agree there is the moral view - I just don't see how a courier pre-paying your duty is the same as using your bank card and them not taking the money (which they have 6 years to chase).
At least the OP paid it, but I can't fathom how PFW would have a right to a six year payment chase....

The importer is legally responsible for the information on the customs declaration. A such, if the importer wishes to self declare, he/she should get the exporter to write "goods to be Customs cleared by the importer" on the customs declaration. Once this package arrives in the UK, customs will clear the item and invoice you for any duties/taxes. Once paid, you can collect or arrange the item to be delivered to you. However, this process can take a while.
If you do not ask the exporter to write "goods to be Customs cleared by the importer", then you are asking the delivery company to carry this out on your behalf.

The shipper is the importer of record unless explicitly stated on the importation - so in this scenario the importer is the shipper. To deliver the goods without duty paid they will need to be shipped in as DDU, deliver duty unpaid and the recipient is therefore liable for the duties if they want their goods.
The point being the type of clearance does not make the recipient legally liable for the payment - as ultimately in the event that the duties cannot be collected from the recipient the shipper is ultimately liable for them.
And this is my point - the recipient did not legally engage PFW for clearance - the shipper did - so PFW might have the right to chase the SHIPPER for the duties - but they certainly don't have any right to pursue the recipient for any period of time. 
Of course, morally the recipient paying them is the right thing to do, but stating PFW have 6 years to chase is not accurate.

powerful_Rogue

visidigi said:

powerful_Rogue said:

visidigi said:

KatrinaWaves said:

They have 6 years to chase you for it. Its £50, its not worth the hassle of trying to string them along when you do owe it.

How so? They (PF) don't have a contract with the recipient.

Whilst I agree there is the moral view - I just don't see how a courier pre-paying your duty is the same as using your bank card and them not taking the money (which they have 6 years to chase).
At least the OP paid it, but I can't fathom how PFW would have a right to a six year payment chase....

The importer is legally responsible for the information on the customs declaration. A such, if the importer wishes to self declare, he/she should get the exporter to write "goods to be Customs cleared by the importer" on the customs declaration. Once this package arrives in the UK, customs will clear the item and invoice you for any duties/taxes. Once paid, you can collect or arrange the item to be delivered to you. However, this process can take a while.
If you do not ask the exporter to write "goods to be Customs cleared by the importer", then you are asking the delivery company to carry this out on your behalf.

The shipper is the importer of record unless explicitly stated on the importation - so in this scenario the importer is the shipper. To deliver the goods without duty paid they will need to be shipped in as DDU, deliver duty unpaid and the recipient is therefore liable for the duties if they want their goods.
The point being the type of clearance does not make the recipient legally liable for the payment - as ultimately in the event that the duties cannot be collected from the recipient the shipper is ultimately liable for them.
And this is my point - the recipient did not legally engage PFW for clearance - the shipper did - so PFW might have the right to chase the SHIPPER for the duties - but they certainly don't have any right to pursue the recipient for any period of time. 
Of course, morally the recipient paying them is the right thing to do, but stating PFW have 6 years to chase is not accurate.

If the consignee did not instruct the exporter to write "Goods to be customs cleared by importer" on the customs declaration, then the consignee is instructing the handling agent (Parcel Force) to clear the item on his behalf.

visidigi

powerful_Rogue said:

visidigi said:

powerful_Rogue said:

visidigi said:

KatrinaWaves said:

They have 6 years to chase you for it. Its £50, its not worth the hassle of trying to string them along when you do owe it.

How so? They (PF) don't have a contract with the recipient.

Whilst I agree there is the moral view - I just don't see how a courier pre-paying your duty is the same as using your bank card and them not taking the money (which they have 6 years to chase).
At least the OP paid it, but I can't fathom how PFW would have a right to a six year payment chase....

The importer is legally responsible for the information on the customs declaration. A such, if the importer wishes to self declare, he/she should get the exporter to write "goods to be Customs cleared by the importer" on the customs declaration. Once this package arrives in the UK, customs will clear the item and invoice you for any duties/taxes. Once paid, you can collect or arrange the item to be delivered to you. However, this process can take a while.
If you do not ask the exporter to write "goods to be Customs cleared by the importer", then you are asking the delivery company to carry this out on your behalf.

The shipper is the importer of record unless explicitly stated on the importation - so in this scenario the importer is the shipper. To deliver the goods without duty paid they will need to be shipped in as DDU, deliver duty unpaid and the recipient is therefore liable for the duties if they want their goods.
The point being the type of clearance does not make the recipient legally liable for the payment - as ultimately in the event that the duties cannot be collected from the recipient the shipper is ultimately liable for them.
And this is my point - the recipient did not legally engage PFW for clearance - the shipper did - so PFW might have the right to chase the SHIPPER for the duties - but they certainly don't have any right to pursue the recipient for any period of time. 
Of course, morally the recipient paying them is the right thing to do, but stating PFW have 6 years to chase is not accurate.

If the consignee did not instruct the exporter to write "Goods to be customs cleared by importer" on the customs declaration, then the consignee is instructing the handling agent (Parcel Force) to clear the item on his behalf.

Not true.
The terms of sale indicate the liable party for the duties and taxes. The recipient does not choose the carrier, the shipper does. If the imported of record on the goods is the shipper (which it usually is as the importer is not necessarily the same as the recipient - think drop shippers...) then they are the contracted party to the transaction. The recipient of the goods is rarely the importer of the goods.

And besides, the person named as payor of any owed duties does not change the legal obligation PFW have to the owed duties. They do not have six years to reclaim the amount - please do not let the way in which its cleared change PFW rights to the recipient - they do not.

powerful_Rogue

It's a consumer rights section so keeping it simple as Exporter = company being paid and posting the package and importer is the customer paying and receiving the package.

The importer is legally responsible for the information on the customs declaration. A such, if the importer wishes to self declare, he/she should get the exporter to write "goods to be Customs cleared by the importer" on the customs declaration. Makes no difference which postal company is used.

visidigi

powerful_Rogue said:

It's a consumer rights section so keeping it simple as Exporter = company being paid and posting the package and importer is the customer paying and receiving the package.

The importer is legally responsible for the information on the customs declaration. A such, if the importer wishes to self declare, he/she should get the exporter to write "goods to be Customs cleared by the importer" on the customs declaration. Makes no difference which postal company is used.

OK still not getting to the point...
Where is it stated a courier has the right to pursue costs and settlement for up to 6 years when an item is sent to a recipient?

powerful_Rogue

visidigi said:

powerful_Rogue said:

It's a consumer rights section so keeping it simple as Exporter = company being paid and posting the package and importer is the customer paying and receiving the package.

The importer is legally responsible for the information on the customs declaration. A such, if the importer wishes to self declare, he/she should get the exporter to write "goods to be Customs cleared by the importer" on the customs declaration. Makes no difference which postal company is used.

OK still not getting to the point...
Where is it stated a courier has the right to pursue costs and settlement for up to 6 years when an item is sent to a recipient?

Already answered that numerous times already.

visidigi

powerful_Rogue said:

visidigi said:

powerful_Rogue said:

It's a consumer rights section so keeping it simple as Exporter = company being paid and posting the package and importer is the customer paying and receiving the package.

The importer is legally responsible for the information on the customs declaration. A such, if the importer wishes to self declare, he/she should get the exporter to write "goods to be Customs cleared by the importer" on the customs declaration. Makes no difference which postal company is used.

OK still not getting to the point...
Where is it stated a courier has the right to pursue costs and settlement for up to 6 years when an item is sent to a recipient?

Already answered that numerous times already.

Surely if what you say is right about the importer of record and the declared method of clearance you would have documentation to back up the claim of 6 years settlement?

Or are we now confirming you can't provide supporting documentation?

DoaM

https://www.great.gov.uk/advice/international-trade-contracts-and-incoterms/