The driving licence
you need to tow a caravan or trailer
The ability to
tow a caravan or trailer will depend on the driving licence you hold. The category
entitlement on your driving licence will determine the type of trailer you can
tow.
Construction and
use
This article relates
to driver licensing matters only. For details on the construction and use requirements
regarding weights and dimensions for trailers please contact:
Vehicle Standards
Engineering 5, Department of Transport, Zone 2/01, Great Minster House,
76 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 4DR Telephone: 020 7944 2064.
Maximum authorised
mass (MAM)
In this article
reference is made to the maximum authorised mass (MAM) of vehicles and trailers.
This should be taken to mean the permissible maximum weight, also known as the
gross vehicle weight.
Car licences held
before 1 January 1997
All drivers who
passed a car test before 1 January 1997 retain their existing entitlement to tow
trailers until their licence expires. This means they are generally entitled to
drive a vehicle and trailer combination up to 8.25 tonnes MAM. They also have
entitlement to drive a minibus with a trailer over 750kgs MAM.
Drivers who hold
subcategory C1+E - limited to 8.25 tonnes MAM, may apply for provisional entitlement
to the new subcategory C1+E, in order to take and pass the test which will increase
their combined vehicle and trailer entitlement to 12 tonnes MAM. It is not necessary
to gain subcategory C1 entitlement first but drivers have to meet higher medical
standards, and pass both the category C theory test and the subcategory C1+E practical
test.
Large goods vehicle
and passenger carrying vehicle licences held before 1 January 1997
Since 1 January
1997 all drivers who hold category C or D entitlement have been limited to trailers
up to 750kgs MAM; Category C+E or D+E must be held in order to tow trailers in
excess of this.
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Car driving licence
first obtained since 1 January 1997
Drivers who passed
a car test on or after 1 January 1997 are required to pass an additional driving
test in order to gain entitlement to category B+E and all larger vehicles. In
addition to the new driving tests, drivers of vehicles which fall within subcategories
C1, C1+E, D1 and D1+E also have to meet higher medical standards.
Upgrading entitlement
for trailers
In general, an
additional driving test is required for each category or subcategory of entitlement.
But there are certain exceptions to this where drivers have already passed one
test which involves trailer entitlement for a larger or equivalent sized vehicle.
This means that
passing a test for subcategory C1+E or D1+E upgrades category B entitlement to
B+E. A test pass for subcategory C1+E upgrades subcategory D1, if held, to D1+E.
But a test pass for subcategory D1+E does not upgrade subcategory C1 to C1+E because
the trailer size required for a subcategory D1+E test is smaller than that required
for a subcategory C1+E test.
Passing a test
for category C+E upgrades category B entitlement to B+E and also confers entitlement
to subcategory C1 and C1+E and, if category D or subcategory D1 is held, these
are upgraded to category D+E or subcategory D1+E. A test passed for category D+E
upgrades category B and subcategory D1 to category B+E and subcategory D1+E respectively.
But it does not upgrade category C or subcategory C1 entitlements because the
trailer size required for a category D+E test is smaller than that required for
a category C+E or subcategory C1+E test.
Provisional trailer
entitlement
Since 1 January
1997 drivers are no longer able to sit a test in a heavy vehicle/trailer combination
(eg category C+E or D+E) unless they have first passed a test and obtained a full
licence in the corresponding rigid vehicle (eg category C or D).
This means that
although drivers may have been driving a vehicle and trailer combination legitimately,
under L plates, they are not permitted to sit a trailer test using such a combination
until a test has been passed in a rigid vehicle and a full licence obtained for
that category.
This information
is not intended to be a definitive statement of law.
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