Can I Drive a Tow Bar Vehicle on a Standard UK Licence?
Can I drive a tow bar vehicle on a standard UK licence?
A question we often get here when renting out tow bar vehicles is if they can drive a tow bar vehicle on just a standard UK licence. While the answer is generally yes, it’s quite a bit more nuanced that that as it depends generally on both the weight of the vehicle as well as the weight of whatever it is that you’re towing. This is then complicated further in how the licence was changed back in 1997, meaning there may be a different answer depending on when you passed.
Differences between Licences
In 1997, with the introduction of the photocard licence that we all know today, a significant number of changes were made to the standard licence. If you passed before 1997, your licence automatically gives you the ability to drive categories B+E, C1, C1E and D1E in addition to the standard category B – but if you passed after 1997 however this will only give you the B category. So with a newer licence you are still fine to tow vehicles as long as the total MAM (maximum authorised mass – basically a fancy way of saying weight!) is under 3500kg (3.5 tonnes), or the vehicles MAM is under 3500kg and the trailer’s is under 750kg. Anything larger however may prove a problem – here’s a breakdown of the categories below:
| Licence Category | Description |
| B | You can driver vehicles up to 3500kg MAM with up to 8 passenger seats, with a trailer up to 750kg. You can tow heavier trailers though if the total weight does not excess 3500kg MAM. |
| BE | You can drive a vehicle with a MAM of 3500kg with any size trailer |
| C1 | You can drive a vehicle up to 7500kg MAM with a trailer up to 750kg. |
| C1E | Same as C1 except the trailer can be over 750kg, as long as the combined MAM is under 12000kg. |
| D1E | You can drive minibuses up to 16 seats, with a trailer as long as the combined MAM is under 12000kg. |
Of course if you have any doubts or questions just feel free to contact us on +44 (0) 113 880 0748 or email us to sales@thealternativeagency.co.uk. Feel free to take a look at our rent a van with tow bar page for more info too!