Dangerous Trailor hired, advice please?

Beetle_lover

hi, right im going to try and cut this very long story as short as i can lol.

i have a new shaped 1.9TDI beetle, got a tow bar fitted as i wanted to tow my 1972 beetle to a show.

went and rented a trailer( all the guy asked was what type of car we had and said it would be fine to pull it)

went to pick my old car up, had a few problems with ownership details as i was taking it off private property and the police had to be called, they did the relevant checks and the police officers actually helped me push the car onto the trailer

we were travelling from newcastle to coventry, got there fine, went to show and then on the way back i got pulled over..

the policeman said he thought the load was too heavy for the car (even though the old beetle had no engine in so was way under a ton)

he started looking for the VIN number on the trailer and couldnt find it, this is where my problems started!!

then when the relevant checks where done the officer found that i wasnt able to tow the trailer on my license, turns out if you read up the rules on towing on just a B catergory license it is very confusing and unfortunately i made a mistake (3 pointd and £60 fine)

i was told that my car and trailer would be seized costing me £150 and £20.00 per day storage.

i asked if i could call someone with the correct type of license to come and get the trailer to avoid these costs and was told no, i was also told that i would not be charged for the first day and that as it was bank holiday monday they were not open so i could not sort out getting that car picked up the same day i later found out that this was a lie!

the officer wanted a vehicle inspection done as he could not find the VIN number and when i rang the compound to find how this went i was told that i was not allowed to collect the trailor and it was deemed unfit to be on the road as the brakes did not work and the hitch was lose!!!

so i had to try and find another trailer, driver, car with tow bar etc, in the end i had to take a recovery truck which cost me £100 as the car was in nottingham.

in the mean time the trailer owner had travelled to the compound, picked up his trailer( paying £150 plus storage)

im just a bit confused as to what to do now as yes it was my fault the trailer got seized(even though the trailer owner thought the same as me about me being able to tow it!)

but the thing is if the trailer was safe i could have got somebody to pick it up the day after saving me a lot of time/money/stress.

i paid £120 to hire it and it was unsafe! it could have caused a huge accident and i feel like this guy that clearly does not know enough about this type of business has got away with renting faulty equipment. and he would probably continue to do this.

my boyfriend thinks i should just drop it as he feels i could get myself into more trouble(as apparently the cars train weight would have been over if it got weighed, yet another mistake from the confusing tow laws!) also the owner of the trailer company has our name and address.

any advice would be gratefully received, sorry if i have rambled/left anything out.
:mad:


thanks

Hintza

Live and learn I think and keep your head down.

You were not legally entitled to drive a car and trailer.
It was probably overweight
Sounds like the owner of the trailer has coughed up for the pound fees (he could try and recoup them from you).



This could be a can of worms.

colino

I would chase the person who hired the trailer to you to pay for all of your costs. Unfortunately though the fine and points are down to you (just like a hire car) as you are the driver and should have checked the unit and your right to use it before you set off.
I would have thought if its a reputable outfit they would pay you off to keep you quiet, and I'm still wondering how the trailer deemed unfit for the road was collected by them.

Hintza

The towing capacity of your car is 1,000kg and the old Beetle and trailer were probably over that weight. Old Beetle (complete) weighs at least 950kg.

I think you are very lucky to get to the show at all!!! I will leave my response at that for fear of being rude.

vikingaero

The issue of fault for not having entitlement to drive lies with you.

The issue of fault for the towed load being overweight is also the drivers.

The policemen who help you push the vehicle onto the trailer may just have been local beat bobbies with no technical knowledge of vehicles. The policemen who stopped you were probably traffic officers with in depth knowledge of motoring laws.

The absence of a VIN is concerning and along with the lack of entitlement to tow, overweight, means that the Police were entitled to impound.

I think it would be fair for the trailer owner to refund you for the defective unit.

System

I didn't think a trailer needed a VIN if it weighed less than 1000kg unladen

Takoda

I seem to remember reading somewhere that the person towing/driving is responsible for the condition of the equipment if stopped by the Police. Someone will correct me if I'm wrong on that but it has always led me to check the condition of certain items on hire/courtesy cars VERY carefully.

Gloomendoom

OP there's not a lot you can do. Most of your problems stem from you having the wrong licence (yours) and the wrong tow car (yours). You were the driver, so you are responsible.

As far as the VIN goes, I think the policeman was looking for the plate with the max laden weight on it. VIN plates are only required on new trailers from some time this year IIRC (thanks to new Euro rules).

If it makes you feel any better, I have similar tale of woe from a few years ago, when I borrowed a car trailer from a friend of a friend, and a 4x4 to tow it with from my boss.

On the way home, after collecting a £400 scrapper, the trailer got a snake on that I couldn't recover from. I ended up losing it completely on a bridge, blocking one side of a dual carriageway and writing off a three month old, £35,000+ 4x4. The £400 scrapper hadn't a scratch.

It turned out that the trailer brakes were faulty. I had no way of knowing (although it turned out later that the owner did).

I took my points and fine, and put it down to experience. It cost me about a grand to clear up. I was just thankful nobody was hurt.

forgotmyname

Old trailers did not need vin plates, Think they became compulsory 1985 or 1995?

Problem is down to your new licence, You can only tow a max GVW trailer of upto 1000kg whether loaded upto the limit or not.

The trailer could weigh 200kg empty but if plated to carry 1001kg its illegal for you.

I have hired trailers many times, I wanted a trailer to carry a landrover they would not let me take the empty trailer away in my rover 800 as the max laden weight would be in excess of my cars towing limit, even though i was going to use a range rover when loaded. Had to go home get the rangerover then go back.

Sound like your hire company think more about money than safety.

Hired one from a cheap place once, that was once too many, One flat tyre & one with not enough air in when i went to collect.

marlot

The best explanation of the trailer laws (for those who passed their test after 1 jan 1997) is under option 4 of this link: http://www.iwt.co.uk/customer-care/faq-categories/1358

Hintza

Can anyone supply a link to the appropriate website on the regulations for a VIN on a trailer?