US storage unit clear out - 8 years after moving to UK

Our stay here was supposed to be temporary... one, maybe two years. So we packed up our house and put everything in storage, and only brought essentials with us to London.

Naturally that was 8 years ago, we never moved back, and are now UK citizens. But we're still shelling out $$$ every month for that stupid storage unit in Boston full of furniture, books, clothes, appliances, etc etc...

It's my mission to clear it out when we're in Boston this summer. But so far I've been very frustrated with what I've read about bringing in household goods into the UK, after the first 12 months of residency. I've searched the forum here and found a couple of similar situations, but none of the threads have any news on how things eventually worked out.

Has anyone gone thru this process, shipping over belongings after 12 mo. of UK residency? How did it work out?

I saw some folks were able to have the time period waived due to special circumstances, but that's not the case for me. We just kept it all for too long.

Thanks in advance for any wisdom you can share!

Our stay here was supposed to be temporary... one, maybe two years. So we packed up our house and put everything in storage, and only brought essentials with us to London.

Naturally that was 8 years ago, we never moved back, and are now UK citizens. But we're still shelling out $$$ every month for that stupid storage unit in Boston full of furniture, books, clothes, appliances, etc etc...

It's my mission to clear it out when we're in Boston this summer. But so far I've been very frustrated with what I've read about bringing in household goods into the UK, after the first 12 months of residency. I've searched the forum here and found a couple of similar situations, but none of the threads have any news on how things eventually worked out.

Has anyone gone thru this process, shipping over belongings after 12 mo. of UK residency? How did it work out?

I saw some folks were able to have the time period waived due to special circumstances, but that's not the case for me. We just kept it all for too long.

Thanks in advance for any wisdom you can share!

All you can do is contact them and ask.  The ToR is quite new, only just over a year old, so not too many people have had this issue yet.

And you are right, I think the only person who has come up against this, was able to get it waived due to a death in the family.

It does beg the question - if you've lived without those items for 8 years, is it really worth the expense of bringing them over?  Granted, I know that when the time comes for me to inherit my grandfather's grandfather clock (so appropriate!) that it WILL be worth the expense. 

All you can do is contact them and ask.  The ToR is quite new, only just over a year old, so not too many people have had this issue yet.

And you are right, I think the only person who has come up against this, was able to get it waived due to a death in the family.

It does beg the question - if you've lived without those items for 8 years, is it really worth the expense of bringing them over?  Granted, I know that when the time comes for me to inherit my grandfather's grandfather clock (so appropriate!) that it WILL be worth the expense. 

Yes, it's true, we've lived without it all. And life will go on without it still. But I still miss my stuff.

Just had a lovely webchat with a HMRC person, who confirmed I'm SOL as it's long past the 12 month residency window.

And I'm just feeling a bit crushed at the moment. I'll go back to kicking myself in a few.

Yes, it's true, we've lived without it all. And life will go on without it still. But I still miss my stuff.

Just had a lovely webchat with a HMRC person, who confirmed I'm SOL as it's long past the 12 month residency window.

And I'm just feeling a bit crushed at the moment. I'll go back to kicking myself in a few.

What I would do next is figure out how much the true taxable value is of the items, as they are all at least 8 years old.  But then there is the fine balancing act of the insurable value of the shipment versus the value declared to customs.  It may be that the value is low enough to not be a big bill... or at least only a few months of storage costs.  And you'll have your stuff. 

Hindsight is always 20/20.  I have things that I wish I hadn't parted with. 

Yes, it's true, we've lived without it all. And life will go on without it still. But I still miss my stuff.

Just had a lovely webchat with a HMRC person, who confirmed I'm SOL as it's long past the 12 month residency window.

And I'm just feeling a bit crushed at the moment. I'll go back to kicking myself in a few.

You'll know when you see your things again, which are worth it to you to pay to bring over. 

What I would do next is figure out how much the true taxable value is of the items, as they are all at least 8 years old.  But then there is the fine balancing act of the insurable value of the shipment versus the value declared to customs.  It may be that the value is low enough to not be a big bill... or at least only a few months of storage costs.  And you'll have your stuff. 

Hindsight is always 20/20.  I have things that I wish I hadn't parted with. 

Yes, it's true. I will try to calculate the cost before I give up.... but for now I think I will go out an take advantage of the sunny afternoon. HMRC can't tax me on that!
Thank you for your advice and encouragement KFdancer!

You'll know when you see your things again, which are worth it to you to pay to bring over. 

Very true larrabee! Here's hoping I can figure that out in the five-six days I'll have to clear out the unit!