Can You Drive a Motorhome on a Car Licence?

If you’ve been looking to enjoy road trips, staycations, or tour Europe in a motorhome, you’ve no doubt got some grand ideas. Whether they be random trips with no real plan or a detailed adventure taking in as much as you can, motorhomes certainly give you a great deal of freedom. With your home being on wheels, you can say goodbye to costly accommodation expenses, busy hotels, and other people! You simply get in and go!

However, a question often asked to us is whether you can drive a motorhome with a car licence. It makes sense. After all, they are two vastly different vehicles. You may be surprised to learn though that, in some circumstances, you can drive certain motorhomes with a standard car licence. It’s not quite as simple as that though, and in this blog, we explain why.

Can I drive a motorhome with my car licence?

You can, but it all depends on the motorhome and how long you’ve been driving. If the model you are interested in weighs less than 3,500kg then you are good to go regardless of the driving licence you hold. Should you hold a driver’s licence from before January 1st, 1997, you can go even larger! The motorhomes on these licences are permitted to weigh up to 7,500kg. Before we go much further though, it is perhaps worth explaining that even though you can drive a motorhome weighing up to 7,500kg on an old licence, drivers aged over 70 will need to pass medical and vision tests to keep their C1 licence.

Why can’t I drive a bigger motorhome on my current driving licence?

Predominantly safety. Large vehicles can be awkward to get to grips with, especially for newer, younger drivers. Following reviews by the government it was decided that 1st January 1997 was a cut-off point. If you hold a licence from before this date, you could continue with the larger motorhomes. If not, you’d have to apply for a category C licence, more of which we will go into later!

Many motorhomes on the market today actually come in at under 3,500kg making the need for a different licence unnecessary. This means your standard licence with category B entitlements will allow you to get behind the wheel of a motorhome and start enjoying road trips and holidays!

Understanding the different driving licence categories for motorhomes

If you are still with us, you’ll have seen that you can drive a motorhome weighing up to 3,500kg on your driving licence if it was issued after Jan 1st, 1997. If you have a licence issued before that date, the Cat C1 entitlement is automatically applied, allowing you to drive a motorhome weighing up to 7,500kg.

Driver’s licence issued after 1st Jan 1997

If you were issued your licence after 1st Jan 1997, you’ll have slightly different eligibility to those who obtained a licence before this date. This version of a standard driver’s licence allows you:

• To drive vehicles in the categories B, B1 and BE.
• To drive vehicles with a Maximum Allowable Allowance of 3,500kg.
• To tow a trailer with a Maximum Allowable Allowance of 750kg.

Driver’s licence issued before 1st Jan 1997

If you obtained your driving licence before Jan 1st, 1997, you’ll have some additional entitlements to those found on the more recent driver’s licence. This version of the licence will allow you to:

• To drive vehicles with a Maximum Allowable Allowance of up to 7,500kg.
• Have C1 entitlements which allow a vehicle up to 7,500kg with trailers up to 750kg.
• Drive a vehicle with the trailer fully loaded with a combined weight not exceeding 12,000kg.

As you can see, you may need to source a new licence if your chosen motorhome doesn’t match the criteria for the licence you hold. This can be done quite easily as we will show below.

How do you get the Cat C1 licence to drive a motorhome?

If your licence was issued from Jan 1st, 1997, onwards and you wish to drive a motorhome weighing up to 7,500kg, you’ll need a C1 driving licence. To do this is quite simple, think of it as starting afresh with driving. You’ll still need to complete lessons, a theory test and a practical test.

Before reaching that step though, you’ll need to:

• Check your eligibility. You’ll need to be over 18 and already hold a full and valid cat B licence.
• Take a medical assessment. Larger vehicles require a little more exertion both physically and mentally. Known as the D4, this test will be carried out by a doctor and an optician to certify that you meet the health requirements for driving such a vehicle. You can get your D4 form via the DVLA.
• Apply for a provisional C1 licence. Obtain a D2 form from the DVLA to submit your licence application. Complete this and send it back to the DVLA with the D4 medical assessment.
• You will need to start practicing in a vehicle similar to the motorhome you wish to buy. You’ll need to be under the full supervision of a driver who has held a Cat C licence for three years or more. They will also have to of passed their test after Jan 1st, 1997.

Theory test for a C1 licence

With all the above complete, you can book a theory test if you feel ready. The theory test for the C1 licence comes in three parts. Multiple choice questions, hazard perception and case studies.  The combined cost for all three tests comes to £60.

You’ll only be able to book the tests if you have lived in England, Scotland or Wales for at least 185 days in the last twelve months.

Practical test for a C1 licence

With any luck, you’ll have passed your theory test! You can now move on to the practical. It will set you back £115. This test is broken into two parts. One where you show your driving and safety skills and another where you demonstrate you can load and unload it safely as well as make emergency assessments when required.

You can pass with 15 minor faults in the driving part of the test as long as no serious faults occur.

Should you pass, you’ll receive a new C1 licence within 15 days or so.

Will I have to renew a driving licence for a motorhome?

If you have had to apply for a C1 licence to drive your motorhome, you’ll have different validity depending on your age and when you got the licence.

If you are aged under 44 and have obtained a C1 licence for your motorhome, you’ll need to renew it every five years.

Should you be over 44 years of age, you need to renew your C1 licence annually.

If you are aged 70 or over, the C1 licence is removed once hit 70 years of age. However, should the medical assessment form (the D4 we mentioned earlier) be issued, the C1 will be renewed for a further three years.

Should you be looking to start your motorhome adventure, contact our team at Euphoria Finance. We specialise in organising affordable motorhome finance for all drivers. So, whether you hold a standard licence and are looking for a motorhome weighing under 3,500kg or have recently obtained your C1 and want to go bigger, reach out to our team. Operating as a direct lender, we make motorhome finance easy, allowing those even with bad credit to be successful in a finance application.