This came up at the South Brum meet last night and hoping I can pick your brains about it...

I passed my test in 2001 so only have cat B on my licence. I am looking to be able to use the car trailer next year so need to get the E entitlement for it. Whats the best way for me to get this?

Can I do a simple test and get it B+E entitlement?

Do I need to do C / C1 and then get the trailer entitlement?

If above, then do I do the C or C1? Is there much difference in terms of time needed/cost etc? Any benefits of one over the other?

If I can do one of the above so I can then also drive a minibus I would be interested too.


And finally, any recommendations in/around Worcestershire or Southwest Midlands to do it?

Cheers all

What are you towing? The rules are rather confusing for towing trailers on the later licences. If you are towing your kit car, on a smallish trailer, with a normal sized car, then you will almost certainly be within the allowed limits on your license.

Try here.

thats what I thought but the guys at the meet didnt seem to agree....

and yes, I am thinking about my kitcar on my trailer (though no idea how much that weighs as no plate on it).

you can tow a 750kg gross weight trailer with any car (braked or unbraked) as long as the car is rated to tow that much

or you can tow a trailer on which the maximum gross weight is less than the empty kerb weight of the car your towing it with, but only if the maximum gross weight of both together is still less than 3500kg
(what kind of car have you got ?)


you can do a B+E test, but if get any of the otehr (bigger) licences later you won't get the +E without another test

on the other and if you do the biggest first (i.e. C+E) then you get it on everything bellow that


if you do decide to do the B+E test, its not a walk in the park
basicaly its the same standard as the C+E just with a smaller vehicle - so I'd recommend one of the courses (~week of lesons followed by the test)

[Edited on 7/9/2010 by mcerd1]

[Edited on 7/9/2010 by mcerd1]

with a cec coming in at around 600kg that only gives you 150kg max for the trailer.

You will be hard pushed to do this.

not so big wasa!

Few beers here so give me some leeway, but...

You could have a tow car rated at 2200kgs, with a trailer at 1100kgs gross, and be just fine.

I was towing an absolutely massive trailer last weekend, and only just fell outside the law (3550kgs train weight).

quote:

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The Directgov websh**e

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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quote:

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on the other and if you do the biggest first (i.e. C+E) then you get it on everything bellow that

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Originally posted by Danozeman
That is not so. You need to do a test for EVERY catagory on your licence. Its all a money making scheme.

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FS I never understand why this is so complicated to understand.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/DriverLicensing/CaravansTrailersCommercialVehicles/DG_10013073

everything you need to know is there. Outwith those rules you need B+E.

Did my B+E in July. They class it as a vocational driving qualification and are strict. The test is about 30 mins at a HGV centre where you reverse into an offset garage, hitch, hitch and answer verbal questions. There is then an hour on the road.
As mentioned it is a similar standard to the C1 etc.

Passes first time obvs.

JC

Category D is buses, and goes on the number of seats

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Originally posted by JoelP
not so big wasa!

Few beers here so give me some leeway, but...

You could have a tow car rated at 2200kgs, with a trailer at 1100kgs gross, and be just fine.

I was towing an absolutely massive trailer last weekend, and only just fell outside the law (3550kgs train weight).

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Originally posted by bmseven

quote:

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Originally posted by JoelP
not so big wasa!

Few beers here so give me some leeway, but...

You could have a tow car rated at 2200kgs, with a trailer at 1100kgs gross, and be just fine.

I was towing an absolutely massive trailer last weekend, and only just fell outside the law (3550kgs train weight).

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Only true if you passed your test prior to 1 January 1997 (E entitlement gy default)
Otherwise you can only legally tow a trailer with a max weight of 750Kg

Clear as mud HERE

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Originally posted by bmseven

quote:

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Originally posted by JoelP
not so big wasa!

Few beers here so give me some leeway, but...

You could have a tow car rated at 2200kgs, with a trailer at 1100kgs gross, and be just fine.

I was towing an absolutely massive trailer last weekend, and only just fell outside the law (3550kgs train weight).

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Only true if you passed your test prior to 1 January 1997 (E entitlement gy default)
Otherwise you can only legally tow a trailer with a max weight of 750Kg

Clear as mud HERE

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I agree Alistair, it really isn't that complicated and I wish people would just read the official links instead of spreading false rumours! It's only the hearsay that makes it complicated.

You can happily tow over 750kg on a 'B' licence only, within the restrictions as stated in the above link:

quote:

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•a vehicle with an unladen weight of 1.25 tonnes and a MAM of 2 tonnes coupled with a trailer with a MAM of 1.25 tonnes could be driven by the holder of a category B entitlement. This is because the MAM of the combination does not exceed 3.5 tonnes and also the MAM of the trailer does not exceed the unladen weight of the drawing vehicle

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Indeed, its one of the few bad things about 'the internet'. Spread of information is great but not when it's by people who don't know what they're talking about.

Yeah, in reality the heaviest thing that is workable is something like a vectra which is 1431kg empty and 2030 fully laden which would in theory allow a trailer with an MAM of 1431kg (which covers most single axle trailers youd want to tow a locost)

You do however run into issues with max towing weights set by the manufacturer, which for the vectra is 1300kg!