Downplating

blueshadow replied on 25/05/2021 07:33

Posted on 25/05/2021 07:33

Hello, 

we have an old compass caravan ( bought privately) the mplw is 50kg above our tow weight which is fine as parts of the caravan have been taken out (much lighter than manufactures weight)  and we tow it 200kg less than the MPLW, and our train weight is 400kg less than max when we went to public weigh bridge. (Even with a few extra lockdown pounds on us)

however I’ve read if MPLW is higher than your tow weight your insurance is invalid? Is this true? If so is there anyway to privately change MPLW plate weight? 

Lutz replied on 25/05/2021 07:51

Posted on 25/05/2021 07:51

I have never heard of any such restriction applied by insurances, although some apparently require the plated laden weight of the caravan to be less than the kerbweight of the towcar, although it beats me where they get the kerbweight figure from because it's not documented anywhere.

One cannot privately change the weight plate on a caravan. If the caravan was manufactured after 2014 the manufacturer would have to confirm that the lower laden weight is covered in his type approval documentation and only the manufacturer can issue a new plate.

blueshadow replied on 25/05/2021 08:12

Posted on 25/05/2021 08:12

Many thanks for your response, I’m afraid it’s social media I got that from, but there is so much misinformation on it, I thought I should ask here. 

Im a bit of a worrier by nature. I check and double check so in theory I’m sure I’m much safer at towing than some who wing it. 

You have put my mind at ease, our caravan is well under our kerb weight, no problem there. With a train weight of 2.1t it’s a very small set up compared to most, and being new to caravanning and towing I’m glad of it. 

near Malvern Hills Club Campsite Member photo by Andrew Cole

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