Is it the 'actual' weight or the 'plated' gross weight that defines the limits Randa?

I can see a driver starting off his day fully loaded and having to keep to lower limits and part way through the day dropping below the weight as he delivers stuff and therefore able to utilise an extra 10mph.

The '3.05 tonnes unladen weight' is just that. So if a van or motorhome weighs below 3.05 tonnes unladen then it has the same speed limits as cars. Most panel van conversions and motorhomes are within that weight limit. Indeed most have Gross Vehicle Weight limit of 3.5 tonnes to allow use by dodderes like me that are over 70.

If they weigh over 3.05 tonnes without anything in them then they attract the 50mph on single carriageways and 60mph on dual carriageways, like caravans, though unlike caravans they can still do 70mph on motorways.

When we bought our T5, I remember reading a lengthy debate on the T5 facebook forum on whether the speed was restricted. One member wrote to his local police force and got a very ambiguous reply. To be on the safe side we generally stuck to the lower speeds. We are inclined to pootle a bit anyway when towing so it never really bothered us, and of course the diesel consumption was a lot kinder. I'll see if I can find the letter from the police but it's some time ago now.

Edited to add - as I recall, it was the M1 or N1 class that was the issue. We went through a right parlarva to change our T5 classification to motor caravan on the V5 (for insurance purposes) after we had it converted, but you cant change the class. Ours was N1 (goods vehicle) and the advice from police was that only M1 vans (principally passenger vehicle like a caravelle or califrornia) were classed as cars and could do the higher speeds. Quite a few N1 class T5 drivers have been caught speeding and have successfully challenged it in court, as there are contradictory provisions. Our N1 T5 was bought new as a Kombi, which had rear seats and side windows and this contradictory provision (I can't recall where it was) provided that vans under a certain weight with side windows and rear seats were classed as cars.

The same anomalies apply fir road tax with T5s. We used to pay £140 a year for ours but some people have bought T5s to convert to campers to then find out that the road tax is £450! with varying amounts for other T5s inbetween.

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