# Cheapest way of getting 'C' class on licence?



## Bimobil (Jun 16, 2008)

Hi!
If I want to upgrade my car licence to be able to drive MH's up to 7.5 tonne, does anyone know the cheapest way to do it?
It seems very expensive with the training companys Ive looked at on the internet.

Many thanks for advice.
Darren.


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## blongs (Jan 12, 2009)

I have a look every now and again at it and have bought the theory test book for the higher grade licence and have the forms from the dvla to add the C1 licence provisional.

I looked for a place locally to do medicals as well as there is one near where I used to live in Leeds.

I found this company in York and have seen their learner vehicles around on my way to work.

There website is very good and for me (and probably you) a C1 is the best. They refer to it as "ambulance driver training" and 7.5t is more than enough for me. I don't need 32t from a C licence.

C1

They also do medicals for £58.

They have a page

C1 procedure that goes through the steps to take as well.

They also advise on the website that doing C1 (7.5t) instead of C (32t) saves about £500 and 2 days.

Our MH is 3.5t and at the moment I have no intention of moving up in weights or changing the van at all so I have parked the project for now.

In the future there maybe an advantage as the pool of drivers who can do >3.5t diminishes and the target audience for larger motorhomes goes down depressing prices hopefully.

Hope this helps a little, you may want to search for a C1 licence training scheme and not C.

Ben


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## olley (May 1, 2005)

Most companies want around £1000 or more, I can't see any easy way of doing it for much less. If you have a mate who has a lorry he might let you train in that, and that would certainly bring the price down.

Ian


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## grizzlyj (Oct 14, 2008)

Hiya

The ambulance I've seen a while back for C1 was really not big at all, so quite easy to drive I would think?

I did my C maybe 2 years ago without really knowing what to expect. For about four days I had one to one with an instructor and the truck all to myself, for half a day I shared with one other who had failed and needed refreshing, and for the last few hours was the test. Although I foolishly payed more for a kind of guaranteed pass/free retake scheme, it would have been about a grand, and in retrospect I don't think thats too bad. If a C1 really is half that then that seems better still. Watching someone else for a morning was well worthwhile too.

You need to allow some time (in my case months!) for the theory bits, medical, and for the DVLA cogs to turn before booking lessons.

Depending what you're after driving, make sure you really, really don't want a C, because it will I think be cheaper to just do C straight off rather than C1 then C (C will still be several days, the truck is a big step up!).

Good luck

Jason


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## padraigpost (Dec 8, 2010)

You must have passed your driving test after 1997 to be restricted to 3.5 tonne. (3500Kgs.) if you passed before this you should already have class C1 on your licence which enables you to drive vehicles up to 7.5 tonne. class C is for large rigid trucks and C+E is for articulated vehicles. if you only wish to drive up to 7.5 tonne you only need C1. if you wish to drive the larger RVs. some are over 7.5 tonnes gross and you would need C on your licence.
Best of luck 
Don


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## Bimobil (Jun 16, 2008)

padraigpost said:


> You must have passed your driving test after 1997 to be restricted to 3.5 tonne. (3500Kgs.) if you passed before this you should already have class C1 on your licence which enables you to drive vehicles up to 7.5 tonne. class C is for large rigid trucks and C+E is for articulated vehicles. if you only wish to drive up to 7.5 tonne you only need C1. if you wish to drive the larger RVs. some are over 7.5 tonnes gross and you would need C on your licence.
> Best of luck
> Don


Thanks for the clear explanation, that's what I want,C1,maybe, if the wallet allows


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## DTPCHEMICALS (Jul 24, 2006)

Accidentaly we purchased a mh at 3500kg.
Ths allows son in law to use it.

It does seem odd that many mh`s are 3850 on basicaly the same fiat platform, just a bit longer and heavier that he cannot drive.

Dave p


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## loddy (Feb 12, 2007)

If your driving over 7.5 tonnes you can still only tow 750 kg on a C licence

Loddy


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

DTPCHEMICALS said:


> Accidentaly we purchased a mh at 3500kg.
> Ths allows son in law to use it.
> 
> It does seem odd that many mh`s are 3850 on basicaly the same fiat platform, just a bit longer and heavier that he cannot drive.
> ...


'Accidentally'? Very careless of you Dave - I hope you were insured! :lol:

More seriously, a lot of dealers 'downplate' vans and MHs to 3500kg just to enable the likes of your son-in-law to drive.

Mine was likewise, but I easily got a new plate from N+B for 3850kg for free.

Geoff


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## DTPCHEMICALS (Jul 24, 2006)

Yes accidentaly.
I was unaware of weights and driving restrictions on licences at that time.
No one at Brownhills asked how long I had held a licence when we were making the purchase.
Dave p


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*HGV*

Would it not be better to bite the bullet and simply go for HGV?

That way you could drive almost anything?

TM


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## loddy (Feb 12, 2007)

I think it cost me about £1400 inclusive a couple of years ago

Loddy :wink:


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## desedmon (May 20, 2012)

Getting a C1 licence is quite straightforward, I lost mine when I turned 70 and I needed a new C1 licence in order to drive an Autotrail plated at 3,800kg.
Get the D4 app form from the DVLA site, get you doc to fill in the medical, he may charge £100 and submit to the DVLA. They returned me mine as I wear specs so I had to get an eye test which was free which I then resubmitted.
All ok - no test - no training costs - no delay.


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## padraigpost (Dec 8, 2010)

I think you will find that if you have never had C1 on your licence you will have to undertake a test unlike desedmon who stated he had had C1 on his licence and only lost it on turning 70 so it is a simple matter to take a medical to get it back


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## Jean-Luc (Jul 21, 2005)

Have a look HERE, it looks like from 20/01/2013 those with a B licence will be able to drive vehicles up to 4,250kg after taking 'undertaking obligatory training' there is no mention of a test being necessary.


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## PaulW2 (May 30, 2010)

Jean-Luc, I read that to mean that your trailer may be heavier than 750kg provided that the car/trailer combo isn't more than 4,250, not that the vehicle itself can be more than 3,500kg.

(I think if one is going to train for a C1 it's as well to do a C. The cost will be much the same.)


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## jamest (Mar 9, 2011)

Damn I was all excited then. When I read it I also thought it meant car + trailer combo of 4,250kg.


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## Jean-Luc (Jul 21, 2005)

jamest said:


> Damn I was all excited then. When I read it I also thought it meant car + trailer combo of 4,250kg.


I think the benefit of the new regs will be that a person with a B licence will be able to tow a trailer up to 750kg.,which can be un-braked to keep costs down, behind their 3,500kg mh.
This is probably what's driving the development of Ezetow type trailers.


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## rayc (Jun 3, 2008)

Jean-Luc said:


> jamest said:
> 
> 
> > Damn I was all excited then. When I read it I also thought it meant car + trailer combo of 4,250kg.
> ...


They can do that now. Trailer 750kg and under it is 3500kg + 750kg giving a train weight of 4250kg. If the trailer is over 750kg then the train weight is 3500kg i.e. the trailer is included inthe 3500kg.

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


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## Jean-Luc (Jul 21, 2005)

rayc said:


> Jean-Luc said:
> 
> 
> > jamest said:
> ...


So, what is the change on 20/01/2013 all about, what will be new/different :?:


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## rayc (Jun 3, 2008)

Jean-Luc said:


> rayc said:
> 
> 
> > Jean-Luc said:
> ...


See here: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/DriverLicensing/DG_201202

For existing drivers there is no change to their entitlement as it was as when they passed their test i.e pre 1997 they got group BE and post 1997 they got group B.

New Group B drivers after Jan 2013 will get exactly the same entitlement as the current Group B i.e. no change.
New group B + E drivers will be restricted to trailers with a MGW of 3500kg. 
To tow a trailer over 3500kg with a group B vehicle then Group C1E is required.


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## rtaff (Jul 7, 2012)

Does the weight restriction mean the actual weight of the vehicle, or the vehicle weight plus load it can carry, or vehicle weight plus everything that's actual in it (including people/passengers?)


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## rayc (Jun 3, 2008)

rtaff said:


> Does the weight restriction mean the actual weight of the vehicle, or the vehicle weight plus load it can carry, or vehicle weight plus everything that's actual in it (including people/passengers?)


The simple answer is:

For licencing purposes it is MGW's that count. For example on a group B only licence with a tow car with a MGW of 2,000kg you can tow a caravan with a MGW up to 1500kg. In theory as long as the train weight does not exceed 3500kg the lower the tow vehicle MGW the heavier the MGW of the trailer could be but note that the kerbweight, i.e. unladen weight, of the tow vehicle must be greater that the MGW of the trailer in any event.
Currently with a group BE licence you can tow a trailer with a MGW in excess of the vehicle MGW. From January 2013 the trailer MGW will be limited to 3500kg.

For C&U regulations it is the actual weights that count i.e. if a vehicle had a maximum train weight of 5000kg then that would be the sum of the actual weight of the tow vehicle plus the actual weight of the trailer.


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## InfaRed (Nov 9, 2010)

All these different classes prompted me to take a look at my license.
I have B, BE, B1, C1 and C1E so I don't think I need to worry about weights for a while, until they change it all again!


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## Westkirby01 (Jan 25, 2009)

Excuse my ignorance is asking. Do you need to go through a training company? Can you not just book a test? Having had the requisite medical, cannot someone drive you to the test in a required vehicle and then allow you to take the test?


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## rayc (Jun 3, 2008)

Westkirby01 said:


> Excuse my ignorance is asking. Do you need to go through a training company? Can you not just book a test? Having had the requisite medical, cannot someone drive you to the test in a required vehicle and then allow you to take the test?


My understanding is thatyou may supply your own providing it fulfills current DSA test standard criteria. I am no expert on C licence catergory testing but this exampe for cars is the type of thing DSA would check for.
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/LearnerAndNewDrivers/PracticalTest/DG_173040

I presume that DSA would be able to answer your query.


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## grizzlyj (Oct 14, 2008)

Test vehicle requirements below from http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motorin...vingtestsforlorriesbusesandcoaches/DG_4022527

I wonder how easy insurance would be to find for a learner on a bigger vehicle? There can't be many campers you could drive that would satisfy the Class C requirements. I was also told for Class C it needs to have a range change, but the above link just says at least 8 gears.

My experience of Class C with some stuff pertinant to C1 too;

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftoptitle-83375-passing-the-class-c-test.html


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## grizzlyj (Oct 14, 2008)

Westkirby01 said:


> Excuse my ignorance is asking. Do you need to go through a training company? Can you not just book a test? Having had the requisite medical, cannot someone drive you to the test in a required vehicle and then allow you to take the test?


You might struggle to know the specifics required that will be examined without an instructor to show you?

Like with a car and reversing around a corner being one item always tested, bigger vehicles have different things always tested, and you won't know the ways you will be expected to do them.

Before leaving the test centre for my C test I had to do an emergency stop, and a reverse to the left within some cones, stopping with the back within a 3' long box. I don't know what a C1 needs, but you would need to know and practice those specifics. But extra driving outside of minimal lessons is a possibility?


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## rayc (Jun 3, 2008)

grizzlyj said:


> Westkirby01 said:
> 
> 
> > Excuse my ignorance is asking. Do you need to go through a training company? Can you not just book a test? Having had the requisite medical, cannot someone drive you to the test in a required vehicle and then allow you to take the test?
> ...


I am all for safety but I wonder how much is relavent to driving a MH which has a MGW of 4250kg? My Rapido is supplied with a MGW of 3500kg, 3700kg or 4250kg. It is the same size and for all aparent purposes the same vehicle no matter which is chosen. To drive the 3500kg a car licence will do but the other two require C1. You could tow a trailer weighing 750kg behind a 3500kg MH, giving a train weight of 4250kg, with a B licence only but to drive a 3700kg or 4250kg MH even without a trailer then you need C1. 
I know rules is rules and there must be a cut off weight somewhere but sometime regulations defy logic. A bit like a Ducato based MH having higher speed limits in some cases than the same chassis on a panel van.


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## Jean-Luc (Jul 21, 2005)

This is all very confusing and not helped by the DirectGov New Rules which make no mention of the proposed additional limited towing permission which can be attached to a basic B category (see L403/21 and the second paragraph under 'category B') HERE

The 'New Rules' only refer to B and BE.
B stating 'No Change' which means the existing rule _Category B vehicles may be coupled with a trailer up to 750kgs MAM (allowing a combined weight up to 4.25 tonnes MAM) or a trailer over 750kgs MAM provided the MAM of the trailer does not exceed the unladen weight of the towing vehicle, and the combination does not exceed 3.5 tonnes MAM_ remains.

While BE states _If your trailer weighs over 750 kg and the combined trailer and towing vehicle weight is more than 3,500 kg, you'll need to pass a further test. The trailer you tow must not be heavier than 3,500 kg. This test will be shown on your driving licence as category BE._ which means that with the BE a combination of a towing vehicle of 3.500kg can be coupled with a trailer of 3,500kg. giving a combined train weight of 7,000Kg.

However the paragraph in the Commission Directive refers to a proposed addition sub-Category B, known as a B+ and stated that

Without prejudice to the provisions of type-approval rules for the vehicles concerned, motor vehicles in this category may be combined with a trailer with a maximum authorised mass exceeding 750 kg, provided that the maximum authorised mass of this combination does not exceed 4 250 kg. in case such a combination exceeds 3 500 kg, Member States shall, in accordance with the provisions of Annex V, require that this combination shall only be driven after: - a training has been completed, or - a test of skills and behaviour has been passed.

The above would seem to clearly indicate that the proposed B+ licence can be issued after a simple training session has been completed, a test is not mandatory under the Directive, but the Gross Train Weigh can not exceed 4,250kg. and the towing vehicle GVW can not exceed 3,500kg.
However, the important change is in the removal of the 750kg. limit for the trailer which will, for example, allow a person with a 3,000kg, GVW motorhome tow a 1,250kg GVW trailer.


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## Jean-Luc (Jul 21, 2005)

grizzlyj said:


> ......................I am all for safety but I wonder how much is relavent to driving a MH which has a MGW of 4250kg? My Rapido is supplied with a MGW of 3500kg, 3700kg or 4250kg. It is the same size and for all aparent purposes the same vehicle no matter which is chosen. To drive the 3500kg a car licence will do but the other two require C1. You could tow a trailer weighing 750kg behind a 3500kg MH, giving a train weight of 4250kg, with a B licence only but to drive a 3700kg or 4250kg MH even without a trailer then you need C1. ..............................


This is an issue currently under discussion at EU level by the FIA who are lobbying for a special licence sub category B to facilitate drivers to drive motorhomes in excess of 3,500GVW, but a resolution is not expected before 2015.
The initiative is prompted by the demographic change which is seeing the sector who hold C1 licences under'grandfather rights' being replaced by those with a B licence and its impact on the leisure vehicle market.


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## rayc (Jun 3, 2008)

Jean-Luc said:


> However the paragraph in the Commission Directive refers to a proposed addition sub-Category B, known as a B+ and stated that
> 
> Without prejudice to the provisions of type-approval rules for the vehicles concerned, motor vehicles in this category may be combined with a trailer with a maximum authorised mass exceeding 750 kg, provided that the maximum authorised mass of this combination does not exceed 4 250 kg. in case such a combination exceeds 3 500 kg, Member States shall, in accordance with the provisions of Annex V, require that this combination shall only be driven after: - a training has been completed, or - a test of skills and behaviour has been passed.


Experience of previous changes show that the UK Government would very likely insist that training and testing would take place. Personally I cannot see the point of the B+ as it will most likely be just as costly as obtaining a BE licence.
Once again it defies logic, it will be legal with a Group B licence to tow a trailer with a MGW of 1250kg with a tow vehicle of MGW 2250kg but increase the tow vehicle to one with a MGW in excess of 2750kg and Group B+ is required. Some people would say the heavier tow car would be be a more suitable tow ratio.
In any event it appears that the introduction of group B+ is not to be implemented in the January 2013 changes.


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## Jean-Luc (Jul 21, 2005)

rayc said:


> ...................................Once again it defies logic, it will be legal with a Group B licence to tow a trailer with a MGW of 1250kg with a tow vehicle of MGW 2250kg but increase the tow vehicle to one with a MGW in excess of 2750kg and Group B+ is required. Some people would say the heavier tow car would be be a more suitable tow ratio.
> In any event it appears that the introduction of group B+ is not to be implemented in the January 2013 changes.


The logic here is to permit a combination of a heavy car or SUV to tow a decent size caravan which could exceed the 3,500kg GTW rule but is not greater than 4,250 GTW.

This change has been driven by the FIA and the leisure vehicle industry and I would expect The Caravan Club to have an interest in The UK adopting the Directive without undue delay.

As I said the proposal to allow motorhomes up to 4,250kg to be driven without having to qualify for a full blown C1 licence are in the pipeline but are not expected to become law until sometime post 2015.


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## rayc (Jun 3, 2008)

Jean-Luc said:


> rayc said:
> 
> 
> > ...................................Once again it defies logic, it will be legal with a Group B licence to tow a trailer with a MGW of 1250kg with a tow vehicle of MGW 2250kg but increase the tow vehicle to one with a MGW in excess of 2750kg and Group B+ is required. Some people would say the heavier tow car would be be a more suitable tow ratio.
> ...


Many thanks, as I will be 70 in 2017 and having a 4250kg MH I have a personal interest in this. Ray


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