Border Force checks

Road transport companies and their drivers must secure vehicles coming into the UK to stop ‘clandestine entrants’. A clandestine entrant is a person who hides in or on a vehicle to avoid going through UK border control.

If you don’t secure your vehicle, and you’re found carrying clandestine entrants into the UK, you’ll get a fine (also known as a ‘civil penalty’).

You face a fine of up to £2,000 for each clandestine entrant you carry. The vehicle’s driver, owner or hirer can be fined.

The law applies to all arrivals into the UK, including from European sea ports and on the Eurotunnel Shuttle.

Carrying out a vehicle security check and being able to record these checks is paramount.

There is no liability if it can be shown that a driver

• Did not know and had no reasonable grounds for suspecting that a clandestine entrant was, or might be, concealed on board his vehicle
• Operated an effective system in relation to the vehicle to prevent the carriage of clandestine entrants
• On the occasion concerned the person or persons responsible for operating that system did so properly

Checkedsafe’s Border Force check digitises the vehicle security check by allowing drivers to carry them out on their smart phone.

Drivers can effortlessly check and record all their findings using our simple to use App, with every check being date, time and location stamped as well as having the ability to take pictures ensures that your drivers are carrying out the border force vehicle check correctly.

If the driver suspects that any of the vehicle security features have been tampered with, they can record this on the App which will automatically generate a report that will be sent to their line manager in real time, for inspection and guidance.

The CheckedSafe CMS suite will automatically store all the recorded data and will clearly identify the steps you took to ensure compliance.

Before departing for the UK

Your drivers must not go through UK border control, or board transport to the UK, if they suspect there’s someone hiding in the vehicle they’re driving.

They should contact the police in the country they’re in or speak to border control at the port where they plan to board. They can also contact Border Force at the port where they plan to arrive.

After arriving in the UK

Drivers shouldn’t approach anyone hiding in a vehicle. They should stay in the cab of the vehicle and contact the local police.

The police will take the driver’s details and your company’s details, and tell Border Force about the clandestine entrants.

You and your driver may get letters from the clandestine entrant civil penalty team, which is part of Border Force, asking for information about the security system in place on that day.

Your information will be used to help decide who will be fined, and by how much. For examples of how this is decided, read the ‘Level of penalty: code of practice’.

At UK border control

Your driver may be interviewed about the security system they’re using if clandestine entrants are found in your vehicle at UK border control, at a port in the UK or anywhere in Europe.

They can refuse to be interviewed and leave at any stage, but it’s in their interest to give as much information as they can. Your company and the vehicle’s owner or hirer may also be asked for information.