Refundable Vehicle Deposit FAQ

**This info is for 2017 Ralliers - It may change for 2018

Why is there a deposit for rally teams? 

Because of the nature of humanity itself - glorious and unfortunately flawed in the same breath... The spectrum of human behaviour is vast. Imagine The Queen at one end and Donald Trump on the other. One is a shining light of all that is good with mankind and the other talks about how sexy his own daughter is. We love Donald because he makes the news less boring but much like the occasional rally team he likes alternative facts. 

After running the rally for over a decade we know there are always one or two sneaky buggers among the rest of you good, honest wholesome folk. In various spheres of life the up-standing among us pay the price of sharing a genome with the less noble. So we have to take a deposit because the statistics show a few teams do something massively illegal every year then lie their arses off about it. Government authorities then start phoning us and sending bills to Rally HQ.

It's a massive pain in the ball-sack. We'd rather poke our eyes repeatedly with warm shitty-sticks than insist on these deposits but such is life. Remember we really don't want to keep any of your money. If you use the shipping service you will turn it into your shipping fee. If you drive back we want to give it all back. 

How much is it? 

As predicted it's £1000 per team for the deposit, because that's also what the shipping will cost - see below for more on why it has to be the same amount.

The shipping service has to paid for in Euros which means the deposit it set and paid in Euros too. So the refundable vehicle deposit (and shipping fee if you use it) is 1150 Euros. 

If your bank account isn't already in Euros the rate you pay will be set by your bank when you pay it and when the refunds are done, sadly we don't have any control over that. 

Most importantly the shipping service is charged at cost price - we're charging you guys what it costs to do.

When does it need to be paid by? 

Please lodge the deposit by Friday 30th June. 

Why does everyone have to pay in Euros, even those driving back? 

Quite a lot of teams who plan to drive back change their mind at the finish line and end up using the shipping. We've set things up so you can change your mind at the finish line so it's flexible as possible but that means we have to peg the refundable deposit to the cost of the shipping. 

Why has it gone up compared to the 2016 rally? 

We've used the same shipping company a few times now and they're bloody brilliant. Very annoyingly their prices have gone up this year because currency values have gone the wrong way for their business model  being based in Europe and Russia. The charges they pay for the wagons, use of the rail network and facilities at either end have increased. 

We've investigated lots of other options and spoken to other shipping companies to try and find a way of keeping the price the same as last year, that's why this info has come out later in the year than usual. After contacting about 10 different companies, it became very clear that the existing rally shipping partner is the best option.

How and when do I get my deposit back if I don't use the shipping?

Once you finish the rally you need to send in evidence that you've made it back to Europe, or dealt with your car legally if you left it in a country along the way (which you really shouldn't do anyway, it's a pain in the arse). Have a read of 'How do I get my deposit back' in the section all about dealing with your car at the finish line and 'What if I break down along the way' is worth a read too. 

To send you the money back we'll ask for your Team Captains' bank details and send it via bank transfer. We always try and do it the cheapest way but it's likely some of you may get stung with bank fees. They're not big, but they are annoying, so this is just a heads up because it depends on who you bank with.