mot testers?

Question

Company I work for has 14 seater ford minibus, instead of taking it 40 miles to be motd,a mechanic has took two seats out because the boss reckons it can then be motd at garage 500 yards away
as a private vehicle, my insurance firm told me last year that I could no longer insure my caddy as a private vehicle, had to be commercial, making it a hundred pounds less than my quattro turbo,worth at least 30 times more than the caddy, can this be right?need to know as my gal sometimes drives minibus, no guesses please, I need to know the facts of law on the matter, thanx guys; Masta.

thanx for that guys,the minibus never has
more than 6 people in it at any time, but its the taking out of the two seats to mot it at
garage locally which I dont get, I was under the impression it worked by weight,vehicle is used to ferry workers to and from work only, masta.

Answer 1

First off, your boss is breaking the law. If a commercially used minibus has 14 seats, it is M.O.T.'d as Class V. - a twelve seater is Class IV. If it is used as a Class V vehicle, it MUST be M.O.T.'d as one - changing the M.O.T. Class without notifying the D.V.L.A. is an offence, and makes the M.O.T. null-and-void.

Secondly, if you use your Caddy for hire or reward at any time, you must have commercial vehicle insurance. If you never get paid to drive it, then you only need private insurance.

Thirdly, your lass is entitled to drive a minibus capable of carrying no more than 17 passengers, providing she is over 21, and passed her test before 1st January 1997.

See the links below for further info:

Answer 2

The vehicle must be tested as presented, so if the number of passenger seats (the drivers seat is never counted as it has to be there) doesn't exceed the limit for that class it will be tested. The number of seats are recorded on the Mot computer, so the authorities can check if the vehicle is stopped. This will become a problem for the driver and the owner if the vehicle is being operated in a different class to which it was tested in. Even if there's only six passengers the vehicle will have the capacity for more and will be treated legally that way. Every day I test MPV's which either have one of the rear seats removed, or the are stored away and can't be put in position to test. When that happens I note on the advisory notice that I couldn't test the seat.

Answer 3

depends what the minibus is used for.
if it's for hire, then it needs a PSV test full stop.
If it is used privately, then he can do that no problem, as long as all forward facing seats have seatbelts.
Rear facing seats dont need belts, but if they are fitted they are testable.

As for your Caddy, I'd shop around. NFU or CIS are both cheap on commercials and will insure them for private use.

Answer 4

SRS lamps are literally not testable, although that's reported contained in the guide that an advisory note could be issued about it. major beam caution lamps could be modern-day and artwork. not all automobiles have parking brake caution lamps so that they don't look to be a testable merchandise. they actually have a tendency to be include with the low brake fluid factor caution lamp, so it will be puzzling to assert the handbrake replaced into the reason if the fluid factor can't be seen.