Do you want insurance for a lawnmower or mobility scooter?

Do you have a sit-on lawnmower, or use a mobility scooter to help you get to and from the shops?

If so, then you might well be in line for a nasty shock.

Golf buggies, sit-on lawnmowers and mobility scooters can all be utilised with out insurance coverage under present UK laws.

Lawnmowers, for instance, only want cover if they are driven in public areas, whilst mobility scooters can be driven on roads with no insurance coverage.

But a selection by a Brussels court indicates that any person wanting to use these so-known as ‘niche’ automobiles could now require car insurance coverage to do so – all due to the fact of a European Union (EU) Directive from 1972.

Sounds crazy does not it? But it could nevertheless finish up getting the law.

What’s going on?

Beneath UK law, niche motorised cars such as mobility scooters and sit-on lawnmowers do not need the identical level of insurance as vehicles and vans.

Now, although, it would look that the EU wants all autos of this kind to have at least third-celebration vehicle insurance coverage, in maintaining with an EU directive that dates from April 24, 1972.

The directive in question is about “insurance against civil liability in respect of the use of motor vehicles” and states that ‘vehicle’ signifies “any motor car intended for travel on land and propelled by mechanical power, but not running on rails”.

Why is this taking place now?

You might properly be wondering why a directive that has been in location for 43 years is all of a sudden getting dredged up and brought to bear on British gardeners and golfers.

The cause is a 2014 court case brought by Damijan Vnuk, a farm worker from Slovenia who injured himself falling off a ladder that was hit by a tractor.

Motor insurers refused to cover his claim because the incident took location on private house and involved a vehicle getting employed as an “agricultural machine”.

However, the European Court of Justice ruled in September that Vnuk’s accident should have been covered by compulsory car insurance.

And that indicates that any moving automobile used in the EU need to now have motor insurance coverage, regardless of no matter whether it is becoming utilized on public and private land.

This is at odds with existing British laws that only need such automobiles to be insured only if they are on a “road or other public place”.

What this signifies for you if…

You have a mobility scooter

The government strongly advises mobility scooter drivers to take out insurance to cover accident or theft.

Nevertheless, they do not have to be insured by law.

And while the final Government looked set to make insurance coverage for mobility scooters a legal requirement, it is now unclear when this will come about.

Mobility scooter customers without insurance are nevertheless legal for the moment as a result.

Taking out cover now could save you from a pricey claim should you be involved in an accident, though. You can get third celebration insurance coverage with breakdown cover for about £90 a year.

You have a sit-on lawnmower

Sit-on lawnmowers – and other comparable vehicles such as quad bikes – currently need insurance if they are to be driven on public roads.

Cover of this kind charges about £100 a year, and might soon grow to be a legal requirement for all lawnmower owners.

Other possibilities obtainable in the meantime consist of public liability insurance for expert gardeners, and property contents personal liability cover for home owners with motorised lawnmowers.

You have a golf buggy

At the moment, only golf buggies employed on public roads require car insurance.

Even so, if the EU gets its way, those utilized solely on golf courses will also require to be covered with third celebration insurance.

The issue if that takes place is that couple of insurers provide cover for buggies that are taken off the golf course.

Although you can get insurance that contains personal liability insurance for about £25 a year, even specialist policies do not cover you for journeys on public roads.

Image: 

 Quingo Plus Mobility Scooter,E10 by Sludge G is licensed below CC BY-SA 

Do you want insurance for a lawnmower or mobility scooter?