New MOT VHI declaration.

[mpbarrett]

see http://www.fbhvc.co.uk/legislation-and-fuels/vhi-declarations-and-advisors/

list of clubs that can advise on VHI declarations, for Triumph its the TR reg.

Hope they know about small chassis cars!

Mike

 

[PeterH]

It does say the list will be added to as more speciallists come forward. Perhaps TSSC should do so.

[Mad4classics]

The TR Register is a member club of the FBHVC. Don't think the TSSC is?

David

[Clive]

Yep, most (all?) the Triumph clubs seem to be....

But I doubt there will be many/any people asking for clarification.

[JohnD]

Franz Kafka said that the most frightening words were "I am a Government Inspector and I am here to help you".

Well, the Inspectors are here.

The Federation of British Historic Vehical Clubs, always our conduit to The Government, but this time on behalf of Our Rulers, has published Guidelines to Assist Owners [see above] in deciding if any changes in their vehilces are "substantial", and thereby making them ineligable for exemption.  And the FBHVC has published a list of Clubs whose experts may be consulted to advise on such status.    Fair enough, helpful even.  [See above]

But the list is accompanied by a preamble, which says that "This is part of a self-declaration process to be carried out by the DVLA by a keeper of a qualifying vehicle who does not wish to submit the vehicle to an MoT test." 

See: http://www.fbhvc.co.uk/legislation-and-fuels/vhi-declarations-and-advisors/

It's not a free choice, whether or not to put your car through an MoT.    You will have to make a "declaration" to the DVLA, no doubt annually and with a fee, with or without an inspection from an appointed expert, whose opinion will also attract a fee, OR put your car through an ordinary MoT.  That "declaration" will no doubt be a Hangman's Noose in Court if ever your car is shown to have caused damage or injury by failure of a part.     And, if the combined DVLA/Expert fee is less than the £55 of an MoT cost, I'll eat my spanner.

So, Tee-Hee, all you libertarians who chafed at the annual cost of an independant pair of eyes inspecting their maintenance.   You're going to have top pay MORE for your independance!

John

[NonMember]

Perhaps a little cynical, John?

While it may be tempting to suggest that the FBHVC list is a list of those clubs "opportunistic" enough to see this legislation as a chance to make a quick "consulting" buck, the behaviour of the DfT so far seems fair. I think, for the majority of owners of what most of us would consider "unmodified" cars, the self-declaration will be cheap, possibly even free, and largely devoid of legal mines.

[Guest]

When I read all the explanations, definitions, mis-understandings, policies, mis-information and so on and so on; I think that paying about £40- £50 once a year per vehicle is actually money well spent for not having to deal with much of the list I have given.

One has to ask if VHI hype is really worth saving £1 a week, per car, in the scheme of things.

[Anglefire]

Its got nothing to do with the money (My local one is £15) - but it is the risk that they don't know enough about the specifics of old classic cars anymore. Reving the nuts off my Spitfire is not something I want to have done - some oik driving my spit is not something I really want to happen either - they are all a bit quirky how they start and drive and if anyone is going to break it, I would rather it be me. 

[Guest]

I accept that Mark, perhaps like others I am lucky enough to have a couple of garages close to me that still understand classics and their idiosyncrasies.

Regards.

Richard.

[JohnD]

Anglefire,

Your Spitfire really, really isn't that delicate, and neither is my Vitesse!   I'm happy to stand by and let the 'experts' drive it onto the ramp, etc. but I do tell them the starting sequence on SofS, which is more complex than a Triumph with an ignition key - FIA, both ignition switches, fuel pump 1 - wait for the note change, Fuel pump 2 - wait 20 seconds to flush the air out, half choke, no throttle, start, THEN fan and water pump!

As for 'oiks', I'm an oik!

John

[ShaunW]

17 hours ago, JohnD said:

 FIA, both ignition switches, fuel pump 1 - wait for the note change, Fuel pump 2 - wait 20 seconds to flush the air out, half choke, no throttle, start, THEN fan and water pump!

Sounds like you've got a Merlin engine under your bonnet !

What's FIA?, 2 ignition switches?  2 fuel pumps and a seperate water pump? and what is SofS?

 

[PeterH]

Regardless of the pros and cons of keeping the car MOT'd, Just to be awkward I'm trying to declare mine as MOT exempt (I'll probably still get a voluntary MOT). But there's nowhere on the taxing website to do this. I e-mail DVLA on Monday asking how, I'm not had a reply yet. (Not holding my breath)

Peter

[dougbgt6]

Peter,

Reading on here it appears ALL cars 40 year old on 20th of May have been flagged as MOT exempt. At the next taxation date the flag will be dropped unless exemption is applied for. I guess this gives them a "widow of opportunity" to put the paper work infrastructure in place.

Doug

[PeterH]

Doug

I hope you are right.

The DVLA MOT checker lists my car as having an MOT that expires on 3June. After that date I don't want to be done for driving a vehicle with no MOT. (I know I should get it MOT'd before then to be on the safe side - I'm just being Bloody Minded.)

Peter

[NonMember]

8 hours ago, ShaunW said:

Sounds like you've got a Merlin engine under your bonnet !

What's FIA?, 2 ignition switches?  2 fuel pumps and a seperate water pump? and what is SofS?

I'm tempted to say FIA is the bane of my working life, but they're not really, it's the teams that make it awkward.

Federation Internationale d'Automobiles - the governing body of most motorsport. John's SofS ("Son of Silverback", I believe) is a circuit racing Vitesse and thus has lots of (FIA-regulated and otherwise) additional features. I'm sure he'll be along with the correct details soon.

[JohnD]

Thank you, NM and Shaun!  Yes, SofS is my race/road car. so it has an FIA cut out switch for safety, which supplies two toggle switches, in parallel for redundant relibility, to power the ignition.    It runs on Lucas Pi, so that's Pump 2, while Pump 1 keeps the swirl pot full.    I leave the electric fan and water pumps off while starting, to preserve full volts at the starter!   Does make start-up more tedious than turning the ignition switch, and could make life difficult for a tester who didn't know the routine.

JOhn

[WDV]

@PeterH I was thinking that same thing, mine's MOT is up in July.  The way I understand it, ALL cars 40 year old are exempt, but then it also says you have to declare it meets the rules each time your “road tax” needs renewal – That is not until next April. To be on the safe side maybe I do one last MOT.  I believe if your car is original spec, an inspection is NOT required. 

Would be interesting to hear the outcome of that DVLA email

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/mot-changes-20-may-2018

 

 

[yorkshire_spam]

I thought FIA was Fédération des Idiots Astronomiques ?

[PeterH]

Reply from DVLA

Thank you for your email enquiry dated 21 May 2018, concerning a MOT exemption.

Under new legislation that came into effect on 20 May 2018, certain vehicles constructed or first registered more than 40 years ago are now exempt from MOT testing, unless they have been substantially changed.

As long as the DVLA have a date of manufacture/first use on the vehicle record which shows the vehicle is over 40 years old, the on-line tax renewal system should pick up that the vehicle is MOT exempt. I believe this action was taken when you taxed your vehicle. To make sure the exemption has gone through when you were taxing your vehicle I would advise you to contact the DVLA directly on 0300 790 6802.

I hope this information has assisted you with your enquiry, but if you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact us again.

[TomL]

Hi Peter H,

I had the same issue as you; I have filled out the declaration but it was not clear what to do with it until, I assumed, such time as your tax is due, when you are meant to present the declaration at a post office.  My MOT is due now but tax not until April 2019.

Thank you for posting the DVLA reply.  It's still however not entirely clear to me what you're meant to do.

I have just checked the car's details on the DVLA website and the MOT box is green (which is good, I assume) and says "MOT no results returned"...

Tom

[Nick Jones]

https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/

Mine says " this vehicles MoT expires soon" - which is true.  Otherwise the page looks the same as normal.  

I've also just re-taxed it - which was just the same as usual.

Nick

[DanMi]

same here there was nowhere to state that the car is not substantially modified. I guess we will see it later. They have said that all will be MOT exempt until after the first time you renew the tax, so I guess that will be next year.

[Nick Jones]

MoT booked.......  I drive the car alot and often fairly hard.  Family members go in it.  I'm happy to pay for a sanity check on my work.........  Exemption is just daft IMO.

Nick

[thescrapman]

You can not declare as a VHI until next taxing it, so in the case of tax expiring end Apr 2019 the car will be without an MOT or VHI declaration for upto 11 months. The DVLA have flagged every over 40 year old car as not needing a check on the police computers, when the tax comes due the flag will change to MOT or declaration needed, and post Tax due date will change to an offence being committed if no MOT or VHI declaration. Then you get nicked.

[ShaunW]

Thanks scrapman, that's the sort of simple clear answer the govt should have front and center on the site when you type your reg in. I'm in the clear until 1july18, not long but I can relax now about a little test drive this weekend. I've enough to worry about listening for squeaks and rattles without having to listen out for sirens too.