Illegal towbar?

bod1467

Are you breaching the terms of use for your company car by fitting a tow bar? (My company's car policy does not allow tow bars without prior written approval).

tfspark

bod1467 wrote: »

Are you breaching the terms of use for your company car by fitting a tow bar? (My company's car policy does not allow tow bars without prior written approval).

I did ask both my company and the car leasing company if it was ok to fit a tow bar and the both said yes.

I also have separate caravan insurance.

burlington6

tfspark wrote: »

Not sure wether this should be in this section or the consumer rights section.

This is a long story but I'll ask the basic question first and gauge the response.

I took delivery of my new company car in May 2014. The next day I had a tow bar fitted by a local trailer and tow bar company. The day after that I took my caravan away on holiday.

As the height of the tow ball is quite low it has always been a struggle to hitch the caravan but once on the 'van tows as expected.

A couple of weeks ago someone pointed out that my tow ball was very low and was probably illegal.
After a bit of research it seems there is a european directive that regulates the height of a tow ball and mine is below the minimum requirement.

Unsure if this is a legal requirement I popped into my local constabulary to be told that I could be causing a traffic offence and if prosecuted would get at least three points and a fine up to a maximum of £2000 depending on the circumstances.

Has the fitting company fitted an illegal tow bar and does that make it unfit for purpose?

Do I have any redress from that company even though it is now fourteen months later?

I would just like them to rectify the situation at no cost to me.

I look forward to anyones comments.

The police actually know very little about the law.

forgotmyname

Drop plate MUST NOT be used to raise the ball and wont be type approved for use with your towbar anyway.

What is the actual height from the centre of the ball to the ground?

(Centre being the side not the top).

Spotted yours is 330. Some of the detachable and swan neck bars have been supplied with the wrong arms it seems.

tfspark

forgotmyname wrote: »

Drop plate MUST NOT be used to raise the ball and wont be type approved for use with your towbar anyway.

What is the actual height from the centre of the ball to the ground?

(Centre being the side not the top).

330mm, but please see post #12 by me earlier.

Minrich

burlington6 wrote: »

The police actually know very little about the law.

How would you know that ?

benten69

Minrich wrote: »

How would you know that ?

Because they are not lawyers! I saw one of those police stop chase programs where one of the traffic cops gave a new licence holder points & a fine for towing, saying her new licence doesn't allow her to tow anything which is totall rubbish.

She can legally tow anything up to a total COMBINED weight of 3500kg as long as the tow vehicle weighs more than what is being towed as detailed here.... https://www.gov.uk/towing-with-car

He never took her to proper weighing scales at VOSA to check the total weight, he just spouted some rubbish, then gave her a ticket and being a young new driver she didn't know any better and took it on the chin.

The car was a medium sized 4x4 weighing no more than 1800-2000kg and the trailer was small with minimal items in it, no way in a million years would the combined weight have been over 3500kg!

Police make up the laws as they go along, a bit like the ones who say "I had to do 90MPH to catch you, so you must have been speeding!" where as if they had half a clue about math they would realise that to catch someone doing 70mph who is far ahead, then yes, they will have to go a fair bit over the speed limit to catch up in a reasonable distance. Half of them don't have a clue.

loskie

is the greenline a lowered model to make it more aerodynamic and eco?
I so the car(well specific model) is possibly not type approved to have a towbar fitted but a Superb standard model will fit.

Maybe?

Minrich

benten69 wrote: »

Because they are not lawyers! I saw one of those police stop chase programs where one of the traffic cops gave a new licence holder points & a fine for towing, saying her new licence doesn't allow her to tow anything which is totall rubbish.

She can legally tow anything up to a total COMBINED weight of 3500kg as long as the tow vehicle weighs more than what is being towed as detailed here.... https://www.gov.uk/towing-with-car

He never took her to proper weighing scales at VOSA to check the total weight, he just spouted some rubbish, then gave her a ticket and being a young new driver she didn't know any better and took it on the chin.

The car was a medium sized 4x4 weighing no more than 1800-2000kg and the trailer was small with minimal items in it, no way in a million years would the combined weight have been over 3500kg!

Police make up the laws as they go along, a bit like the ones who say "I had to do 90MPH to catch you, so you must have been speeding!" where as if they had half a clue about math they would realise that to catch someone doing 70mph who is far ahead, then yes, they will have to go a fair bit over the speed limit to catch up in a reasonable distance. Half of them don't have a clue.

Great example of how ALL the Police know little about the law! and they are not Lawyers - Do lawyers know all the law ? From you minimal experience what other actual experience do you have of any Police officers and what you saw on the telly ? I guess you are about 19 and got caught speeding recently .

marlot

benten69 wrote: »

Because they are not lawyers! I saw one of those police stop chase programs where one of the traffic cops gave a new licence holder points & a fine for towing, saying her new licence doesn't allow her to tow anything which is totall rubbish.

She can legally tow anything up to a total COMBINED weight of 3500kg as long as the tow vehicle weighs more than what is being towed as detailed here.... https://www.gov.uk/towing-with-car

He never took her to proper weighing scales at VOSA to check the total weight, he just spouted some rubbish, then gave her a ticket and being a young new driver she didn't know any better and took it on the chin.

The car was a medium sized 4x4 weighing no more than 1800-2000kg and the trailer was small with minimal items in it, no way in a million years would the combined weight have been over 3500kg!

Police make up the laws as they go along, a bit like the ones who say "I had to do 90MPH to catch you, so you must have been speeding!" where as if they had half a clue about math they would realise that to catch someone doing 70mph who is far ahead, then yes, they will have to go a fair bit over the speed limit to catch up in a reasonable distance. Half of them don't have a clue.

If she only had a b licence, then an offence is committed if the plated weights go over 3500kg (excluding the special case with a trailer plated less than 750kg). no need to go to a weighbridge.