Do we need a caravan MoT in the UK?

[Kate Taylor]

Our regular Caravan DIY writer Nigel Hutson has just been off to The Netherlands to visit a large dealership. He's found out that there are different rules for Dutch caravanners to ensure that their caravans are roadworthy.

It's made him think – do we need a caravan MoT here in the UK?

He explains why here.

Or can you think of any better ways to encourage us all to keep our caravans well maintained?

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

Caravans are 'trailers' so is the MOT going to apply to ALL trailers or are caravans being singled out. :evil:

 

[Martin24]

Was this debate not covered widely at the time when Europe wanted us to fall into line on the subject? I believe it was rejected by the government after much lobbying by the likes of the two main clubs and members of the public. Totally unworkable!

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

Here's the thread from 2 years ago:

see here

 

[Parksy]

To introduce caravan MOT testing all caravans would need to be registered and this would encourage governmental interference in our hobby and quite possibly pave the way for a separate vehicle excise duty to be levied on caravans.
IMHO this would begin to destroy one British manufacturing industry that is successful, not foreign owned and which provides a great many jobs with manufacturers and indirectly within the UK tourist industry.
I should imagine that any revenue generated via testing fees, registration and a separate v.e.d. would be offset by the loss of British jobs and the income generated by us for the British tourist industry.
If the day arrives when caravan ownership becomes prohibitively expensive I'd switch to package holidays in the sun, shorter breaks in static holiday homes or even posh yurts and weekend city breaks in hotels.
My caravan is regularly serviced, as are both of my cars so why should I have to fork out more money because some caravan owners are irresponsible?

 

[NigelHutson]

It seems that editorial gremlins have crept into the title of this piece! In the article I was pointing out the differences between the UK and the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, trailers are registered vehicles in their own right, and according to NCC (Netherlands Caravan Club) must be insured to be used on the road. They are not required legally to be serviced (a bi-annual thing over there), BUT if they aren't they're unlikely to be insured, therefore making them illegal. Part of the servicing is putting the trailer/caravan on a rolling road to test the brake efficiency. Below is a paragraph from the article:-

"While I wouldn't advocate separate MoT tests for caravans being introduced in the UK, because I know that the majority of caravanners do take great care in maintaining and have pride in their vehicles, having brakes tested on a rolling road, and insurance requiring that gas hoses and tyres are changed, are not necessarily bad ideas. Perhaps UK insurance companies could offer better discounts for caravans that do meet those requirements?"

 

[Hutch]

Looking at gov websites, At present only trailers over 1020 kg, with powered brakes require to have an annual MOT, with a lot of Caravans now having the Alko ATC units could these possibly be classified as "powered brakes" due to the electronics unit ????
Hutch.

 

[Gozza]

Personally I'd favour better driver training / testing as a first step: I know that for newer drivers, certain combinations of tug/trailer do now require an extra test, but many combinations still don't require it - and with anecdotal evidence suggesting that unless you're a member of one of the clubs or a reader of magazines you probably don't know about the requirement, it's a matter of guesswork how many drivers who SHOULD have done the extra test, have actually done it?

I was lucky, I grew up in a caravanning family so when I first sat behind the wheel with a big white box on the back I had an experienced tower in the passenger seat to talk me through some exercises and point out the things I needed to think about. But you've only got to read these forums and some of the things we all witness when we're out and about to realise there are some people towing who don't have the first idea what they should be doing.

I suspect better driver education would lead to more owners getting their 'vans properly serviced, which would make caravan MOTs even less necessary.

 

[RayS]

The earlier proposal for testing covered all trailers not just caravans. This would have included many agricultural impliments as well as livestock trailers and was opposed by farming organisations as being unnecessary and unworkable.
Annual servicing by a workshop having AWS accreditation seems to be accepted by insurers as evidence of 'roadworthy condition' and should also provide reassurance to the owner

 

[Raywood]

Having spent many years investigating accidents I never had an accident that I suspect would have been prevented by an MOT type test. This does not mean they do not happen but the numbers must be incredibly small and I feel the costs involved in setting up a system could be spent more productively elsewhere.
The rolling road requirement in the Dutch test would also mean we could no longer use mobile engineers who would be put out of business. It would put huge pressure on the repairers with workshops way beyond their present capacity and so would need a long lead in time to make it possible to implement at all and push up costs considerably.