yes your on the right track, one thing that you may also want to confirm is if the cockpit is personally owned you or belongs to an ‘entity’…
so if its your own cockpit, your own vehicle and your licence is correct and the weights are ok then you should have no issues….
however if its somebody else’s tow car or trailer, or cockpit then regardless of licences or weights you have a different rules. If for instance the cockpit is owned by an aviation group (registered charity or business status) then you cannot claim its personal use, you also need to be aware that the insurance for towing use (private policies wont cover commercial towing use) has to specifically cover ‘hire and reward’ too, some private use policies wont cover you for commercial use either!
The problems started when manufactures started tip over the established 3495kg max vehicle weight with all the big SUV, 4×4 and small vans. Under EEC law these are in reality LGV’s by weigh although the use can still be personal, to add insult to injury the automotive manufactures have walked away from the responsibility of making these vehicles legally compliant, for a large proportion you can not get a tacho for them!
If your in doubt when stopped…
be sure you have the correct licence category
be sure your tow vehicle has the correct towing capacity
be sure your trailer is not overloaded
be sure you are moving a personal item (with equipment you own if possible)
be sure your insurance covers trailer use
if your tow vehicle is a company car be prepared to demonstrate that there is no business use (especially if your 50kms or more from the registered keepers address)… especially if your using a van!
Lastly VOSA excepts this has become a minefield and from the people I have spoken with the inspectors are not looking to catch people out just catch those trying to get round the law!… even VOSA gets it wrong and were in court a while back for using an illegal trailer for transporting a seized vehicle to their storage compound :D:D:D:D
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