No More Classic Wedding Cars?

[barnfind]

I don’t know if anyone has spotted this, (and it probably doesn't affect most forum members anyway) , but there are proposals afoot to enact legislation that will probably prevent the use of your classic car as a wedding car, without being subject to the requirements of private hire licensing. This is part of the Law Commission’s proposals for ‘Reforming the law of private hire and taxi services.’
If this goes through, all cars will have to pass local authority tests, all operators will require a license and be CRB checked, as will every driver, who will also require a medical and a Driving Standards Agency driving test.
This will be onerous and expensive and will probably put numerous classic and vintage wedding car operators out of business, as well as preventing private individuals from providing their cars for wedding use on an occasional basis.
The date for objecting to these proposals is quite soon, on August 10th and basically, whilst the classic car press have spent their time griping about the new MOT legislation, this has sneaked under the radar, and will have a potentially far wider effect on the Classic Car movement, than the abolition of MOT’s for pre 1960 cars.

 

[alewis]

Any idea where we can get more info ?

 

[Lobster]

I read a brief piece on this yesterday - I'll try and find the link somewhere.

IIRC it only applies to situations where it would be classed as 'Hire & Reward' ie you were being paid for your services as a wedding chauffeur and the legislation would be the same as that covering any other Hire & Reward operation.

 

[barnfind]

Putting it crudely, they are proposing to make classic wedding cars like taxis and private hire cars, in legislative terms. If you want to use your car for your daughter's wedding, then obviously it doesn't apply, but if you wanted to do the odd wedding with your classic, for reward, then its curtains unless you are prepared to pay several hundred pounds for licences from your Local Authority, and so forth. Many small operators will be unable to pass on the costs, and for the hundreds of individuals who perhaps do a handful of weddings a year as a hobby business, then it is potentially the end of the line.
Inevitably this doesn't just impact on the operators themselves , in that it may make their businesses unviable, but then the consequences also filter down through the food chain to all the support industries who provide the wherewithal to maintain these cars, and so on.
Have a look at this item, led not unexpectedly, by the owner of a company providing wedding cars.

http://www.classicandvintage.co.uk/blog/

It does seem that in spite of the fact that the Government needs everyone to be gainfully employed to pay tax, they don't seem to be able to get rid of this compulsion to regulate, whether it is needed or not, and whether it jeopardises jobs or not.

 

[jjad]

I think you might find that you wouldn't be insured anyway, if you were doing it for money.

 

[Lobster]

I think you might find that you wouldn't be insured anyway, if you were doing it for money.

Thats very true. If you were charging for even the occasional wedding you'd need to inform your insurer and I can't imagine many (any) classic insurer being very receptive to it without a very considerable price hike if they would offer cover at all.

 

[barnfind]

Actually many classic car insurers offer occasional wedding use for a fairly modest hike. Bear in mind that if you are in...ahem...late middle age... and you limit the mileage on your classic, you may well only be paying a hundred or so for your annual insurance bill, so that isn't a particularly big deal unless you are looking to make a full time business out of it.

 

[Cornish4]

Never mind all this anal stuff about wether or not classic car owners can or can't do weddings in their cars. On a lighter side check out Peter and Claire's wedding picture in this section.

 

[Lobster]

Agreed Brian!!

(although that insurers would allow it does slightly surprise me)

 

[Cornish4]

Hi David, I phoned our insurers last week just to inform them that I was using the 4 as a wedding car but wasn't being paid for it and they simply said that comes under "social domestic and pleasure", so no problem. Of course things might change in the future, but that is how it stands at the moment.

 

[Lobster]

I think its if you are being paid for it that it might become an issue.

 

[Weddinginsurancegroup]

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