1) The vehicles MUST be designed, constructed or adapted to comply with the domestic minibus requirements, AND registered as such.

2) The vehicles must be hired as self drive, and not under conventional hire and reward.

Now, here are the important bits. A normal 4 x 4 SUV based limousine WILL NOT COMPLY with schedule six domestic minibus requirements in its unaltered form. Changes range from easy and inexpensive to near impossible and horrendously expensive, depending on the first choice of base vehicle. It is important the vehicle complied before you adopt this route. VOSA ((Vehicle Operator Services Agency) know of the needs, and if you operate a vehicle that does not comply then you will get your collar felt, and rightly so.

On the terms of the hire you must hire the vehicle out as self-drive. If you offer the services of a chauffeur either in the package, or separately then you will be guilty of providing a vehicle for hire and reward. You will be prosecuted by VOSA for operating a public service vehicle (PSV) without a certificate of initial fitness (COIF). This carries a schedule five penalty of up to £5000.00 and six points on both the drivers of the vehicles licence and the operator's driving licence.

Finally insurances: If you intend to hire your 9 to 16 passenger limousine as self-drive, then you need specific self-drive insurance. Your normal hire & reward insurance policy will not do. Again VOSA are hyperaware of the requirements and it is up to you, the operator to ensure that you remain legally covered. "

IT SHOULD ALSO BE NOTED THAT THE FIRST SELF-DRIVE INSURANCE POLICIES DO NOT COME INTO EFFECT UNTIL 1ST DECEMBER 2006, AND THAT CURRENTLY 99.9% OF THESE VEHICLES DO NOT COMPLY.

FORD EXCURSIONS WITH COIF'S

There are now a few 140" Ford QVM (Qualified Vehicle Modifier) Excursions adapted to get a COIF (Certificate of Initial Fitness), as a 13 passenger carrying vehicle. At this time Ford Excursion limousines that have undergone the necessary modifications and approvals are able to obtain a UK COIF. Hummers, Navigators, Escalades and similar SUV vehicles cannot obtain a UK COIF, so to carry more than 8 passengers continues to be illegal. There are some with limousines with EU COIF's but these cannot be used in the UK for hire and reward for over 8 passengers.
(The information in the above paragraph is provided by Mr. Bill Bowling, Legislation Officer of the National Limousine Association)

Limousines and the Law.

In England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales limousines are all restricted to a maximum of eight passengers no matter how large the vehicles are. There are NO exceptions to this rule. The reason for this is that to carry more than eight passengers the vehicle has to be registered as a Public Service Vehicle (PSV) and have a Certificate of Initial Fitness issued (COIF). However NONE of the American limousines, (Including the large 4wheel drive Navigators, Escalades, Excursions, etc) comply with the requirements and are therefore restricted by law to a maximum of eight passengers.
If any operator tries to convince a client otherwise, they should:-

A) Not book with them
B) Inform the Police
C) Inform the National Limousine Association (UK)
D) Report them as illegal operators to the Vehicle Inspectorate on 0870 60 60 440

It is in every ones interest to ensure that the paying public are protected from unscrupulous operators. In the event of an overloaded, unlicensed limousine being involved in a serious or fatal accident, the repercussions could be drastic and the ultimate losers would be the customers and the bona-fide limousine operators.