Can anyone recommend a decent insurance company for private HGV cover? I am going to down plate a 44t tractor to 7.5t so I can drive on my C1E license. Have spoken to a couple of “specialists”, didn’t know their a%!e from their elbow! I intend to go fully comp but the truck will only be on the road during the summer months. I have removed the 5th wheel to get the weight down (it’s a 6x2 midlift) - any idea what VOSA stipulate as unladen weight -ie full tank of fuel + driver etc? Mine came in at 7340kg at the local quarry with driver but not a lot of juice!
philt:
any idea what VOSA stipulate as unladen weight -ie full tank of fuel + driver etc? Mine came in at 7340kg at the local quarry with driver but not a lot of juice!
Unladen weight
The unladen weight of any vehicle is the weight of the vehicle when it’s not carrying any passengers, goods or other items.
It includes the body and all parts normally used with the vehicle or trailer when it’s used on a road.
It doesn’t include the weight of the fuel or, if it’s an electric vehicle, the batteries.
Try the National Farmers Union for insurance
Paul
You could lose more weight by putting a smaller air tank on …as you will not have a trailer to worry about, and susie connections etc etc. smaller fuel tank as it won’t be slurping juice pulling a tri axle trailer either.
philt:
Can anyone recommend a decent insurance company for private HGV cover?
Try Footman James footmanjames.co.uk/
Got to admit I have fancied doing something like that. Take the bunk out put a couple of seats in then taking the fifth wheel off and turning it into a pick up with a varnished wood back or putting a van body on the back.
Just out of interest, and apologies if I’ve missed something; but if it has a fifth wheel do you have to present it for test with a trailer? I am assuming that it will still need annual plating even if it’s for private use.
If yes to the above, might cause the OP some unforeseen problems if he’s only got a category C license.
my local testing centre has a trailer parked up just for testing units.
You can have my dinosaur Scania, it’s great driven solo, I want 5th gear, no I want 7th gear, no actually 3rd is better, no lets go back to 5th, beep clutch up. arghhh.
Hi all, thanks for the advice regarding insurance. However I now have another problem!
I applied to VOSA a few weeks ago to down plate the truck (Foden Alpha 6x2 midlift) from 44T to 7.5T so I could drive it on my C1+E license. As I think I mentioned I want to use the truck as a hobby & do a few of the local shows / road runs. I had removed the 5th wheel and tipping gear to get the weight down, it now weighs around 7100kg. They informed me that they would never down plate a vehicle from 44T to 7.5T - the max weight they would consider for down plating to 7.5T would be 10T! I did try to argue that people with C1 licenses can drive horse boxes much bigger than my unit but they go on vehicle weight not size, so was having none of it.
So if this is the case I have a problem. I am pretty sure there are people driving units under 7.5T on the C1+E license, can anyone confirm? I have also heard of a loophole whereby someone can drive a vehicle up to 7.5T on a C1+E license if it is classed as an incomplete vehicle. I would really like to hear from anyone who is running a unit under 7.5T which is currently plated above this.
C1+E is a 7.5 tonne GVW with a trailer over 750 kgs
Dan Punchard:
The £165 is private Hgv tax ,classic insurance ( over 15 yrs ) a round £100 +/- ,the down rated bit is for the non hgv licence holders ,some put a generator in a box and register as mobile plant to dodge the mot .
Never quite understood this one!! Is there a mileage limitation for that £165 tax? There was a guy showing a Peterbilt at Newark Truckfest last year and said that road tax was £165 - my BMW 320d costs me £220 per year. I tried telling my g/f I might as well buy one of those and save some money but she wasn’t convinced 
hi,
I have a Volvo FL6 urban tracor unit originally plated at 23.5 tonne Gross train weight.
I removed the fifth wheel, and had a very short beaver tailed body fitted, to go to steam shows with.
I had this replated by VOSA to 14 tonne, this was the original plated weight of the unit. I kept this as I have a C + e license.
44tonne you quote is the is the gross train weight of your unit with trailer, not the original plated weight of the unit on it’s own.
As I removed the fifth wheel, and fitted a ball hitch, to tow a caravan.I am only plated to tow a 3.5Tonne trailer, as max allowed on ball hitch with overrun brakes. So my total Gross train weight is 17.5 Tonnes.
Rog is obviously correct when he states that C1+e allows towing a trailer over 750Kg.
However if you have a C1+e entitlement by grandfathers rights as I did, then it will have the 101 endorsement code after it.
This restricts you to a 7.5Tonne main vehicle, and allows only a maximum gross train weght of 8.25 Tonne.
hence the 750KG trailer restriction.
However the main 101 endorsement is to a gross train weight of 8.25 Tonne, so if you can get the unit plated down to say 6 Tonne, you can tow a trailer or caravan uo to 2.25 Tonne and still be legal.
In my case I needed a full C + e upgrade to my license, as a full C license only includes a trailer weight up to 750KG, regardless of gross train weight.
I run on private HGV tax at £165 a year, I use Walker Midgley for insurance, about £250 fully comp for any driver over 25, not for hire or reward, but am still covered for reasonable expenses, to carry any ones elses goods, but just not for profit.
As regards the comments for testing, yes it still needs a full ministry test, but no trailer is required, there is a requirement for weight to be added to the back to properly test the brakes, but most testing stations either use weights put on by forklift ( as in my case), or as has been stated have a trailer loaded for the same purpose.
I have a ball hitch filled and am plated to tow up to 3.5Tonne, but no requirement for a trailer being fitted for the test, a fifth wheel fitment may be different, but I do not see why, as the trailer if towed wolud have it’s own seperate MOT.
Hope that this is of some help.
Further to my above post, I note questions concerning Tachograph usage.
Any vehicle over 3.5 Tonnes would need to be fitted with a Tachograph, even for private use, it does not need to be used for private use unless the vehicle is over 7.5 Tonnes, but must be calibrated.
As I am plated at 14 tonnes i need to use a Tachograph even for private use, but check the DVLA website, as the requirements change depending on the original first registration of the vehicle.
As the vehicle is for private use only, there is no requirement for 6 weekly checks.
The problem if a Tachograph is required to be used is that if you drive for a living ( I am retired), is that if you go to shows at the weekend, you cannot get 48 hours uninterupted weekly rest in, unless you arrive at the show early on Friday, and leave late on Sunday night.
I would just make sure to get a vehicle old enough to be on charts and bin the chart after I’d got back from the show.
T951:
Further to my above post, I note questions concerning Tachograph usage.Any vehicle over 3.5 Tonnes would need to be fitted with a Tachograph, even for private use, it does not need to be used for private use unless the vehicle is over 7.5 Tonnes, but must be calibrated.
As I am plated at 14 tonnes i need to use a Tachograph even for private use, but check the DVLA website, as the requirements change depending on the original first registration of the vehicle.
As the vehicle is for private use only, there is no requirement for 6 weekly checks.
The problem if a Tachograph is required to be used is that if you drive for a living ( I am retired), is that if you go to shows at the weekend, you cannot get 48 hours uninterupted weekly rest in, unless you arrive at the show early on Friday, and leave late on Sunday night.
You only need 45 hrs rest or even 24 if you wanted .
Great replies and knowledge on this thread guys-thankyou all very much.
Sidevalve- since originally posting this I have gained my CE license,so the 5th wheel issue no longer affects me. Im now 95% sure that its the way forward. I don’t do much milage,so the fuel costs should not be too much of a burden. Tax and insurance is peanuts so im not bothered about them.
My only concern now is reliability and servicing/repair costs. If I can be satisfied(within reason),that these will not be too harsh,then its bling unit time. Im now considering an old V8 Scania as well,although they seem quite expensive! They do sound the ■■■■■■■■ though.
Have you considered speaking to SV Tech about replating? They know all the ins and outs and could save you time/money in the long run.
eagerbeaver:
I have gained my CE license,so the 5th wheel issue no longer affects me
It made no licence difference before you got CE - apart from the actual weight
Gromett:
Have you considered speaking to SV Tech about replating? They know all the ins and outs and could save you time/money in the long run.
That is who I would call