Latest HMG Bulletin on towing

[Gafferbill]

To my knowledge, HGV trailers that have had to be registered already for some time if used internationally are not subject to an MOT either.

......all UK trailers over 3500kgs have a chassis number which has to be stamped or welded into the chassis metal (ie...not an easily remove label)
The trailer has to annually undergo a ministry examination at a DVSA HGV testing centre and pass the tests to be road legal.
The pass certificate must be displayed on the trailer to which it applies.

 

[Lutz]

......all UK trailers over 3500kgs have a chassis number which has to be stamped or welded into the chassis metal (ie...not an easily remove label)
The trailer has to annually undergo a ministry examination at a DVSA HGV testing centre and pass the tests to be road legal.
The pass certificate must be displayed on the trailer to which it applies.

Thanks for the clarification.
Trailers under 3500kg have to have a VIN as well, though too, and it mustn't be an easily removable label either.

 

[Buckman]

Thanks for the clarification.
Trailers under 3500kg have to have a VIN as well, though too, and it mustn't be an easily removable label either.

In the UK I don't think trailers under 3500kg require a VIN number as they are not classed as a vehicle? Trailers under 3500kg built before 2021 definitely do not have a VIN number.

 

[Lutz]

In the UK I don't think trailers under 3500kg require a VIN number as they are not classed as a vehicle? Trailers under 3500kg built before 2021 definitely do not have a VIN number.

Since when is a trailer not a vehicle? It always has been.
VIN numbers have been a requirement since the introduction of whole vehicle type approval for trailers in 2014 and it has to be displayed on the statutory plate.

 

[Buckman]

Since when is a trailer not a vehicle? It always has been.
VIN numbers have been a requirement since the introduction of whole vehicle type approval for trailers in 2014 and it has to be displayed on the statutory plate.

It doesn't have a means of self propulsion so cannot be a vehicle? ID for trailers was introduced in Oct 2012?

 

[Lutz]

It doesn't have a means of self propulsion so cannot be a vehicle? ID for trailers was introduced in Oct 2012?

A vehicle doesn’t have to have any means of self propulsion in order to fulfil the definition of a vehicle. If it has means of self propulsion it’s a motor vehicle.
Whole vehicle type approval for new designs was first introduced in 2012, that’s true, but it wasn’t effective for all trailers until 2014.

 

[Ferrodo]

Concerning this matter of registration of your caravan for Europe.
Having not got a definitive answer to all this I decided to just go ahead and do the deed anyway. Got through the DVLA application and got all the paperwork. Off I toddle to Halfords to get a number plate made up. Explaining what I needed got me the blank confused stare. They had never heard of it. Totally ignorant of it all. They tried to make up a plate to the DVLA spec but was unable to because they cannot produce plates with that amount of digits in that configuration.
So I will try again on Monday at a couple of local suppliers. Failing that I will just take the paperwork with me and catch the ferry to Brittany as I’ve always done for the past 12 years.

 

[otherclive]

Concerning this matter of registration of your caravan for Europe.
Having not got a definitive answer to all this I decided to just go ahead and do the deed anyway. Got through the DVLA application and got all the paperwork. Off I toddle to Halfords to get a number plate made up. Explaining what I needed got me the blank confused stare. They had never heard of it. Totally ignorant of it all. They tried to make up a plate to the DVLA spec but was unable to because they cannot produce plates with that amount of digits in that configuration.
So I will try again on Monday at a couple of local suppliers. Failing that I will just take the paperwork with me and catch the ferry to Brittany as I’ve always done for the past 12 years.

Seems a recipe for confusion. Outfit goes into parking area/facility with ANPR. Front standard UK plate detected. Different outfit leaves unless ANPR can detect the cars rear number plate.

 

[Gafferbill]

There is a link to specialist plate suppliers in .........
this Government document

Won't be getting one myself as I'm expecting it not to apply to non commercial trailers under 3500kgs.
I feel CAMC would know about any changes affecting caravans.
I know there has been reports of issued fines in Germany but not going there.

 

[otherclive]

Done a bit more delving and the HMG link below expects the trailer registration plate to be mounted on the rear of the vehicle as well as the towing vehicle registration plate. Specifically mentions caravans requiring them.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68b15fcf23468ce937e0e985/trailer-registration-numbers-and-number-plates-INF291.pdf

 

[RogerL]

Done a bit more delving and the HMG link below expects the trailer registration plate to be mounted on the rear of the vehicle as well as the towing vehicle registration plate. Specifically mentions caravans requiring them.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68b15fcf23468ce937e0e985/trailer-registration-numbers-and-number-plates-INF291.pdf

The link in that document to number plate suppliers includes the qualifier that "Not all suppliers sell all types of number plate" - so perhaps no suppliers are able to at the moment

 

[otherclive]

The link in that document to number plate suppliers includes the qualifier that "Not all suppliers sell all types of number plate" - so perhaps no suppliers are able to at the moment

Ive absolutely no doubt that this announcement has probably not been disseminated to the industry in advance.

 

[Lutz]

There is a link to specialist plate suppliers in .........
this Government document

Won't be getting one myself as I'm expecting it not to apply to non commercial trailers under 3500kgs.
I feel CAMC would know about any changes affecting caravans.
I know there has been reports of issued fines in Germany but not going there.

Fact is that, on paper, the requirements haven't actually changed recently. Since 2019 when the UK ratified the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic of 1968, it has always been necessary for all trailers over 750kg operating in international traffic to be registered, but this surfaced only recently with reports of people being fined in Germany. The concession that the requirement doesn't apply to non-commercial trailers under 3500kg is only valid in the EU for combinations where the towing vehicle is registered in the EU. This was obviously overlooked at the time the UK left the EU.

 

[Gafferbill]

..........perhaps the UK police should start fining EU caravanners for not displaying their towing vehicle's registration number on the rear of their caravans when they tow in the UK

 

[Lutz]

..........perhaps the UK police should start fining EU caravanners for not displaying their towing vehicle's registration number on the rear of their caravans when they tow in the UK

The requirement for trailers to be registered is an international, not an EU one. There is no international requirement for the registration number of the towing vehicle to be displayed on the back of the trailer.

 

[RogerL]

The requirement for trailers to be registered is an international, not an EU one. There is no international requirement for the registration number of the towing vehicle to be displayed on the back of the trailer.

And under the Vienna Convention, the UK allows vehicles legal in their own country as visitors without having to comply with our Construction & Use regulations - unlike the Gemans it seems.

 

[Ferrodo]

The link in that document to number plate suppliers includes the qualifier that "Not all suppliers sell all types of number plate" - so perhaps no suppliers are able to at the moment

Halfords certainly don’t

 

[Lutz]

And under the Vienna Convention, the UK allows vehicles legal in their own country as visitors without having to comply with our Construction & Use regulations - unlike the Gemans it seems.

The Vienna Convention is also quite specific that all trailers over 750kg in international traffic have to be registered. The convention doesn't provide for any concessions in that respect. The Vienna Convention is not a carte blanche that allows everything abroad that meets the requirements in your home country, so it's got nothing to do with Germans specifically. It could happen anywhere. Besides, registration requirements have nothing to do with Construction and Use regulations.

 

[Gafferbill]

Statement issued by CAMC....

On Tuesday 26 August the club became aware of the DVLA's apparent change of advice in regard to the registration of trailers for travelling abroad in their general update email. It's not clear what has prompted this content change on the gov.uk website, as we aren't aware of any change in law or the interpretation of the law.


British caravanners have historically been able to travel to Europe without the need to register their caravans and this did not change in 2018 when the UK ratified the UN 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic and the trailer registration process came into UK law. This trailer registration was primarily for commercial trailers weighing more than 750kg and the advice of the UK government has been that only non-commercial trailers over 3,500kg also need to be registered, which exempted all conventional touring caravans.

Although the gov.uk website text was changed on 26 August 2025, the DVLA online trailer registration system has not changed and still shows that only non-commercial trailers over 3,500kg need to be registered, if you follow through the sequence of questions on that webpage.

There has been no consultation with the caravan industry and no advance notification of any change of advice. We are investigating further with the DVLA to seek clarification on why they have changed some, but not all, of their information and to ascertain what is actually correct.

 

[Lutz]

Statement issued by CAMC....

On Tuesday 26 August the club became aware of the DVLA's apparent change of advice in regard to the registration of trailers for travelling abroad in their general update email. It's not clear what has prompted this content change on the gov.uk website, as we aren't aware of any change in law or the interpretation of the law.


British caravanners have historically been able to travel to Europe without the need to register their caravans and this did not change in 2018 when the UK ratified the UN 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic and the trailer registration process came into UK law. This trailer registration was primarily for commercial trailers weighing more than 750kg and the advice of the UK government has been that only non-commercial trailers over 3,500kg also need to be registered, which exempted all conventional touring caravans.

Although the gov.uk website text was changed on 26 August 2025, the DVLA online trailer registration system has not changed and still shows that only non-commercial trailers over 3,500kg need to be registered, if you follow through the sequence of questions on that webpage.

There has been no consultation with the caravan industry and no advance notification of any change of advice. We are investigating further with the DVLA to seek clarification on why they have changed some, but not all, of their information and to ascertain what is actually correct.

If that is the statement that the CAMC issued, they would be well advised to read the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic of 1968. Nowhere is there any reference to any special provisions or exemptions for non-commercial trailers. That is solely an EU concession which has nothing to do with the Vienna Convention. As such it only applies to EU member states and that means not to the UK any more. That was obviously overlooked by the UK government at the time.

 

[Buckman]

Now that we are going back into the EU by the back door, will all this still apply?

 

[ProfJohnL]

I have re-read this entire topic, because it seems contradictory. In the first instant in #1 Dusty references a UK Gov't web site " Emergebcy Alert" notification which at face value does warns ALL trailers over 750Kg may need to be "registered" before being towed in "most" European countries. The document does not include any differentiation between commercial or noncommercial purposes.

Fundamentally the provision it purports to represent is not new it was started on 25 October 2018 and the list of European countries where registration is required was added in 2019.

So what has created the furore now? As I have never towed abroad I had never looked into the matter, but I have observed many British caravanners hitching up to journey to parts of Europe and they have never mentioned having to obtain a registration document.

Only in #14 Otherclive makes reference to

I suspect the mention of German police fining someone was solely a mix up in the post Brexit heat. Be nice to know when it occurred.

Despite googling "german police fine british driver for not having his trailer registered" the only reference was another forum where there was a hear-say reference to the incident, but nothing even remotely concrete.

I totally agree, with Otherclive and I'd like to know the reason the police were questioning it. I speculate there was some other reason why the police were involved, for example a collision or suspicion of stolen property, or even contraband.

In the forum there have been questions about formal registrations of UK caravans, but these have usually been in relation to the purchase or import of a UK built caravan into other countries where there may be import taxes and insurance and proof of ownership issues that might arise. and in some countries trailers do need their own registration plate.

In #17 AndrewAventur reports he has tried to register his caravan, but the online system told him it wasn't necessary.

This poses a dilemma where separate sections of the Gov't website are clearly at odds with one another.

Sadly no one on this forum knows the answer.