IMPORTANT: New Trailer Regulations - outside UK

[goearth]

Hi All

As I have not seen it mentioned elsewhere, I just want to make you all aware of new trailer regulations that came into force on 28 March 2019.

Transporting a trailer outside the UK may require it to be registered, with it's own number plate.

The fee for registration is only £26; and can easily be done on-line. Note that if you have a used trailer without a serial number, this will cause issues, as the registration process requires the correct serial number.

The regs for when it does or does not have to be registered are complex, but basically registration is required for commercial trailers with a gross weight (i.e. fully loaded with RIB or other boat) over 750kg and all trailers with a gross weight over 3,500kg. You ARE allowed to register your trailer even if you think it falls outside these criteria. Unregistered trailers may also be subject to enforcement action while abroad from this date.

If a third party - e.g. a transport company - is transporting your RIB on your trailer, it is not yet clear if the trailer would be counted as being used for commercial purposes; but it could be.

These regulations apply across most of Europe - whether or not we leave the EU. Some countries (e.g. Italy) have very strict enforcement of the rules.

Our strong advice (and the advice we have been giving our clients) is simply to register your trailer if going outside the UK.

If you need any more info; please feel free to email me directly on martin.berman@boatsearch.earth.

Finally - thinking of buying a new trailer? We supply new ones at a discount to RIBNet members.

[Maximus]

What's not to like?...
More regs More paper and More Tax... we're already well set on the road to "Nirvana"... Just have to keep going!!
Even better!...a little down that road ...when 5g and A.I gets here...(won't be long!) the Boat AND trailer will "talk" to the authorities and Tax people directly FOR you!..how good will that be!.. sheer BLISS!

(Like the company name)

[goearth]

Hi Maximus

Understand the 'misgivings' about any new regs. However, it is very easy and unproblematic to register - all on-line - and registering may make actually it easier in some countries.

Anyway - as we do trailers, and transport across Europe -just thought we should tell people . . it's better to know now!

Glad you like the company name!!

[boristhebold]

Will be interesting to see how the new regs are enforced considering the lack of enforcements in my opinion of existing regs on trailers.

To make my point, as I live on south coast I regularly see people with boat trailers on the road and it is shocking the number of them without fully working light boards or without any licence plate or licence plate with a different licence on them or even worse boats on them that are not secured by any means or incorectly, seems police are not interested at all and its not like no accidents happen as they do and has resulted in deaths.

So dont think more regs are needed, the existing regs should be enforced and more checking of boats on trailers is needed.

[willk]

Originally Posted by goearth

The regs for when it does or does not have to be registered are complex, but basically registration is required for commercial trailers with a gross weight (i.e. fully loaded with RIB or other boat) over 750kg and all trailers with a gross weight over 3,500kg.

So basically almost no-one on RIBnet, as they are largely non-commercial and under 3.5 tons.

If you're such a stickler for the regs, you could consider renewing your Trade Membership as you are touting for business..

[Poly]

Originally Posted by boristhebold

Will be interesting to see how the new regs are enforced considering the lack of enforcements in my opinion of existing regs on trailers.



To make my point, as I live on south coast I regularly see people with boat trailers on the road and it is shocking the number of them without fully working light boards or without any licence plate or licence plate with a different licence on them or even worse boats on them that are not secured by any means or incorectly, seems police are not interested at all and its not like no accidents happen as they do and has resulted in deaths.



So dont think more regs are needed, the existing regs should be enforced and more checking of boats on trailers is needed.

Borris - these new rules apparently only apply outside the UK; I think you’ll find some countries are already much stricter on trailers than we are. They also only seem to apply to commercial use, so I’m not sure why GoEarth are recommending people do this if they are not commercial - could it potentially lead to confusion about whether you are commercial and should have a tachograph, or other commercial requirements? (You’ll also find if you are towing commercially the tolerance factor for dodgy trailers in the UK is much smaller)! Also not required in every EU country (eg although is for most - anyone going on the ferry to Bilbao or Ireland need not worry).

Details here: https://insidedvla.blog.gov.uk/2019/...-are-changing/. (Towards bottom of the page).

The registration number does not replace the towing vehicle registration plate.

The good news is this potentially makes it easier for UK sellers who want to sell a trailer (or more likely a boat on a trailer) to someone elsewhere in the EU who needs registration paperwork.

[goearth]

Really Willk. Sorry, but I find that your comments are unhelpful.

It is not a case of being a stickler for regs - just warning people who are taking their trailers abroad. IF you use a transport company, you MIGHT fall within the regs; AND it does no harm to cover yourself by registering to avoid having to prove (possibly in a foreign language!) that you are not operating commercially. Some countries are hotter on the regs than others. The problem is that if you get caught out by the regs, you have a serious shedload of hassle which it is quite easy to avoid.

As to "So basically almost no-one on RIBnet . .". Actually, most posts on RIBNet only apply to a small percentage of members; and my post was quite explicit about who the regs do (or might) and do not apply to.

Yes, I am a Trade Member - but that has nothing whatsoever to do with warning people of the risks of falling foul (especially in some counties) of the new regs. Read the WHOLE post. The fact that I am a Trade Members simply means that I have more experience of this sort of issue;and am currently helping a client with these new regs.

That was published as a service to people;and it's unfortunate that you cannot see that. The whole point of RIBNet is surely to provide (or ask for) advice - and then it's up to you to ignore it if you wish!

So - I will not shut up if I think that there is important advice to put out there.

[willk]

Originally Posted by goearth

Really Willk. Sorry, but I find that your comments are unhelpful.

It is not a case of being a stickler for regs - just warning people who are taking their trailers abroad. IF you use a transport company, you MIGHT fall within the regs; AND it does no harm to cover yourself by registering to avoid having to prove (possibly in a foreign language!) that you are not operating commercially. Some countries are hotter on the regs than others. The problem is that if you get caught out by the regs, you have a serious shedload of hassle which it is quite easy to avoid.

As to "So basically almost no-one on RIBnet . .". Actually, most posts on RIBNet only apply to a small percentage of members; and my post was quite explicit about who the regs do (or might) and do not apply to.

Yes, I am a Trade Member - but that has nothing whatsoever to do with warning people of the risks of falling foul (especially in some counties) of the new regs. Read the WHOLE post. The fact that I am a Trade Members simply means that I have more experience of this sort of issue;and am currently helping a client with these new regs.

That was published as a service to people;and it's unfortunate that you cannot see that. The whole point of RIBNet is surely to provide (or ask for) advice - and then it's up to you to ignore it if you wish!

So - I will not shut up if I think that there is important advice to put out there.

I don't see where you're a Trade member - says member on your profile. I think that your "advice" is poor - a scattergun application of maybes and possibly and mights, made solely to give you an opportunity to sell your kit. All just IMHO of course.

Get yer purse out and cough up!

[beamishken]

Originally Posted by goearth

Really Willk. Sorry, but I find that your comments are unhelpful.

It is not a case of being a stickler for regs - just warning people who are taking their trailers abroad. IF you use a transport company, you MIGHT fall within the regs; AND it does no harm to cover yourself by registering to avoid having to prove (possibly in a foreign language!) that you are not operating commercially. Some countries are hotter on the regs than others. The problem is that if you get caught out by the regs, you have a serious shedload of hassle which it is quite easy to avoid.

As to "So basically almost no-one on RIBnet . .". Actually, most posts on RIBNet only apply to a small percentage of members; and my post was quite explicit about who the regs do (or might) and do not apply to.

Yes, I am a Trade Member - but that has nothing whatsoever to do with warning people of the risks of falling foul (especially in some counties) of the new regs. Read the WHOLE post. The fact that I am a Trade Members simply means that I have more experience of this sort of issue;and am currently helping a client with these new regs.

That was published as a service to people;and it's unfortunate that you cannot see that. The whole point of RIBNet is surely to provide (or ask for) advice - and then it's up to you to ignore it if you wish!

So - I will not shut up if I think that there is important advice to put out there.

Have to agree with Willk there seems to be little relevance to many ,if any rib net members.
For the majority of boat owners the towing limit effectively stops at 3.5t. The rules and regs to tow over 3.5t pretty much put it outside the capabilities of most boat owners.
And if you are paying a commercial company to deliver your boat then surely adherence to the road traffic laws of the country they are driving through is their responsibility and best left to them. I can imagine the conversation if a trailer was impounded abroad and the owner had stated it was 100% legal, its then the owners problem . However if you hand over the rig and the contractor doesn't get it right then its up to the contractor to ensure adherence to the rules. Obviously it means when choosing a delivery contractor you have to ensure they are 100% reliable.

[Bigplumbs]

Never register for anything unless you have to..... All it get you is a name on a list that people use to try and make money from in some way or another

[Poly]

Originally Posted by Bigplumbs

Never register for anything unless you have to..... All it get you is a name on a list that people use to try and make money from in some way or another

I’d happily register for time travel to return to September 2016 and share this advice!

[Bigplumbs]

Originally Posted by Poly

I’d happily register for time travel to return to September 2016 and share this advice!

I suspect you are referring to my date of joining this forum...… Yet another uncalled for, unnecessary and rude comment from a so called Admin. Perhaps you should read the rules of this forum


Also perhaps look at who contributes to this forum and who does not...… I am sure you would like the forum to be even slower with fewer threads than it already is/has

[goearth]

I'll ignore the paranoid comments in some of the above.

However, beamishken raises an important point when he says:

"And if you are paying a commercial company to deliver your boat then surely adherence to the road traffic laws of the country they are driving through is their responsibility and best left to them. I can imagine the conversation if a trailer was impounded abroad and the owner had stated it was 100% legal, its then the owners problem . However if you hand over the rig and the contractor doesn't get it right then its up to the contractor to ensure adherence to the rules. "

That is the issue - if you are paying a commercial company to tow your boat (RIB or any boat) abroad, then of course a GOOD commercial company will check and know if it complies with the regulations. A cheapo, less professional one (and they do exist!) might not know or care. However, in either case it is YOUR (the trailer owners) responsibility to correctly register the trailer.

As several people have asked me, here is the url to the regulations:

https://assets.publishing.service.go...n-guidance.pdf

Please don't shoot the messenger! I am not saying that I like the new regs.

Just to be clear - while I know that only a small minority of people will be affected by this, for them it is potentially important; and I was just trying to be helpful in clarifying an obscure piece of regulation that most people will not know about. In fact, I was speaking to one trailer manufacturer yesterday, and even they didn't know about it!

I will, however, give credit to Willk for the one thing he got right. We WERE a (fully paid-up) trade member, but it had expired, and we didn't notice. That was our fault. I'll consider renewing.

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by goearth

Hi All



As I have not seen it mentioned elsewhere, I just want to make you all aware of new trailer regulations that came into force on 28 March 2019.



Transporting a trailer outside the UK may require it to be registered, with it's own number plate.



The fee for registration is only £26; and can easily be done on-line. Note that if you have a used trailer without a serial number, this will cause issues, as the registration process requires the correct serial number.



The regs for when it does or does not have to be registered are complex, but basically registration is required for commercial trailers with a gross weight (i.e. fully loaded with RIB or other boat) over 750kg and all trailers with a gross weight over 3,500kg. You ARE allowed to register your trailer even if you think it falls outside these criteria. Unregistered trailers may also be subject to enforcement action while abroad from this date.



If a third party - e.g. a transport company - is transporting your RIB on your trailer, it is not yet clear if the trailer would be counted as being used for commercial purposes; but it could be.



These regulations apply across most of Europe - whether or not we leave the EU. Some countries (e.g. Italy) have very strict enforcement of the rules.



Our strong advice (and the advice we have been giving our clients) is simply to register your trailer if going outside the UK.



If you need any more info; please feel free to email me directly on martin.berman@boatsearch.earth.



Finally - thinking of buying a new trailer? We supply new ones at a discount to RIBNet members.

So just for the sake of clarity:-
I regularly tow my RIB in Europe.
It’s not commercial.
MAM of the trailer is 2750kg
Actual weight of boat/trailer is 1960kg.
It is a Eu homologated trailer.

Do I need to do anything?

[goearth]

Hi Pikey Dave

First of all - a caveat - I cannot give formal legal advice, as I am not a solicitor, so please don't take this as the last word.

The problem is that in theory you do NOT need to register. The regulations say:

"This prohibition [against unregistered trailers] applies to commercial trailers with a gross weight over
750kg and all trailers with a gross weight over 3,500kg. Unregistered trailers may
also be subject to enforcement action while abroad from this date"

So - in theory, you do not need to register. HOWEVER, if you travel regularly, you might get picked up and asked to prove that you are not commercial. I agree that this might be a small (or even very small) risk; but I don't yet know how, if or how strictly the regulations will be enforced.

Therefore, at the moment at least, we are advising our clients to register their trailer. We are giving this advise on the basis that:
- we accept that the risk may be small (or even very small)
- but the cost of registering is small and relatively easy
- the potential hassle (and cost) if you are caught could be large.

Please refer to the actual document for more details - I gave the web address in the post above.
Hope this helps.

Cheers

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by goearth

Hi Pikey Dave

First of all - a caveat - I cannot give formal legal advice, as I am not a solicitor, so please don't take this as the last word.

The problem is that in theory you do NOT need to register. The regulations say:



So - in theory, you do not need to register. HOWEVER, if you travel regularly, you might get picked up and asked to prove that you are not commercial. I agree that this might be a small (or even very small) risk; but I don't yet know how, if or how strictly the regulations will be enforced.

Therefore, at the moment at least, we are advising our clients to register their trailer. We are giving this advise on the basis that:
- we accept that the risk may be small (or even very small)
- but the cost of registering is small and relatively easy
- the potential hassle (and cost) if you are caught could be large.

Please refer to the actual document for more details - I gave the web address in the post above.
Hope this helps.

Cheers

Had a look at the doc.

https://youtu.be/nR0lOtdvqyg

[jwalker]

Originally Posted by Poly

I’d happily register for time travel to return to September 2016 and share this advice!

Hey Poly, that was a joke! .

Well done!

[Fender]

This is one of those 'interesting' threads - and I'm not even involved!!


Oh......................

[Bigplumbs]

Originally Posted by jwalker

Hey Poly, that was a joke! .

Well done!

Yup I agree what a joke


Danny Baker thought the same

[Bigplumbs]

Originally Posted by Fender

This is one of those 'interesting' threads - and I'm not even involved!!


Oh......................

Thats probably why it is interesting