I am interested to learn more about the regulations regarding ‘financial standing’ Does the term ‘financial standing’ require accounts, balance and turnover for example? Or should there be (as I have been led to believe) a minimum amount in the bank? Thank you in advance for any help … Tel
right,to be honest it’s a bit of a nonsense really,yes you have to show x amount of money for each vehicle and/or trailer you want on your o’license be it going on your actual license or in the margin but you only have to show these funds are at your dispossal should you need them so it can be in the form off a credit card,overdraft facility,loan etc weather you could actually afford to pay this money back if you used it dosn’t come into the equation. there are factors like if you’ve been bankrupt etc but basicaly you only have to show the funds on paper.but heres the thing apply for as many vehicles/trailers as you possibly can weather you think you’ll use em or not.i 've just realised i’ve dropped a right clanger when applying for mine,basically i put down one vehicle and one trailer in the margin but the tc came back and said i needed to show available funds for the trailer as well as the wagon even though the trailer was to be in the margin which meant showing another two n half grand which i didn’t have at the time so like a plonker i wrote back and told them to take the trailer off,now i’ve decided six months later to go artic and have been told to use a trailer i’ve got to apply for a major variation which basically means starting from scratch,i’ve got to advertise,get my o’center checked out and show the funds all over again etc as well as potentially waiting nine weeks for it to get sorted 
paul b:
but heres the thing apply for as many vehicles/trailers as you possibly can weather you think you’ll use em or not
Not forgeting you must have the space (s) available to you in the yard you are using.
Not a problem if you own the land but if you are renting you will need to get a letter from your landlord stating you rent enough space for the amount of vehicles you want to put in your margin.
My landlord would not do this unless I actually rented the extra spaces so instead of renting space I’m not using I’ve only got 1 vehicle & 1 trailer on my licence
true enough,your landlord sounds a right nice fella 
Port of Tilbury
Financial standing is a joke, having to show £K’s sitting in a bank account for 3 months before you can get a licence. The whole process is a joke, renting spots and giving reg numbers for wagons you don’t even own yet. They don’t even know what they are doing themselves and take ages to do anything, what hope have we got. Just imagine when the WTD and digital tacho’s come in, JOY.
you don’t need to show your money in an account for any amount of time infact you can put the money in,get a statement and then take the money straight back out again! but your right it is a complete joke.
You don’t even need to show the money, a line of credit such as enough of a credit limit on a credit card or an agreed overdraft with the bank will do.
Well why do they say you need 3 months bank statements then?
And how do you get 3 months statements if you are a new business?
And if you have to use the finacial repute to do say a gearbox that means you no longer have the finacial repute so in theory you could lose your O-licence because you have repaired your motor
And why do we have to have a yard & inspection every 6 weeks when others in Europe dont one big happy family? my arse
Silver_Surfer:
Well why do they say you need 3 months bank statements then?
they do,but if your a new venture you’ve got the option of just showing x amount of available funds,this all gets a bit tricky if you have to alter your o’license after trading for awhile then you must show your last three months accounts tp prove financial standing but what one man band could show he’d had nine or ten grand in an account for three months if say he wanted to add another vehicle?
I can only comment from recent experience. My company has been in operation for about 5 years and I supplied 3 months bank statements as proof of financial standing, which seemed OK - as I now have the licence.
Is it a bit of a nonsense? Well for me yes. Whilst I had ample in the account for the licence application, things have changed since I’ve bought my unit! I’m not looking such a good financial bet at the moment 
we had the money in a savings account - but they would not allow that - as it was a joint account and not the business account. Also they stated something like I might not give permission for the money to be used by my husbands business - even though the company isn’t limited and as his wife I would be responsible for any debts of his. Also the fact that I am the transport manager didn’t matter either.
So we had to swap the money into the business account - get a statement ( computer printed online statements not accepted - as these could have been tampered with!!!) sent it off and then moved the money back into the savings account again.
What a farce!!!
So I had £10k sitting in the business account for 3 months before applying, bugger. And get this, I paid the VAT on my unit purchase so this sent me overdrawn, (I have a £10k overdraft), I will be getting £6k vat rebate next week and £10k worth of invoices. BUT I now want to expand my licence and although next week, I will have £10k positive in the account, for the last couple of months I have been about £5k overdrawn, give me strength. Financial standing? Probly not.
this is where it falls down,the goverment or more to the point the traffic offices seem to have this rose tinted veiw of the haulage game where everyone earns a mint from day one,we should all be running brand new wagons and all have purpose built operating centers for parking and maintanence.
in reality anyone involved in a new business who’s had to lay money out on plant,machinery,vehicles etc would be doing incredibly well to be in the black after the first year or even the first two years.
how many could say, if they packed in tommorow that they could actually clear all the business debts and come out with something?
not many.
Here, here, you should run for traffic commisioner!
paul b:
this is where it falls down,the goverment or more to the point the traffic offices seem to have this rose tinted veiw of the haulage game where everyone earns a mint from day one,we should all be running brand new wagons and all have purpose built operating centers for parking and maintanence.
You mean we’re not■■?:shock:
paul b:
in reality anyone involved in a new business who’s had to lay money out on plant,machinery,vehicles etc would be doing incredibly well to be in the black after the first year or even the first two years.
keep going
paul b:
how many could say, if they packed in tommorow that they could actually clear all the business debts and come out with something?
not many.
not me 
Here’s another good one.
I have a licence for one truck, plus a margin of one, both for international.
I bought a 4x4 which I occasionally use to tow a 3.5T car trailer for hire/reward.
So I had to fit a tacho in the 4x4 (big money), declare it on my O’Licence and display a green O’Disc in the windscreen.
Not sure if this uses up my margin or not. I only exceed 3.5T when the trailer is hooked up to the 4x4.
The other good one is that if I do any “private” mileage in the 4x4, then the tax man says it’s a company car and I will have to pay tax on a benefit of list price x 30% (ish). List price on a 1997 Landcruiser is 45K, so the taxable benefit is nearly 15K. I only have it in the balance sheet for 10K !
Re the financial requirement, I’m still unsure whether you only have to prove this when you apply for a new licence, apply for major change, or when you renew ■■?
spaceman:
I bought a 4x4 which I occasionally use to tow a 3.5T car trailer for hire/reward.So I had to fit a tacho in the 4x4 (big money), declare it on my O’Licence and display a green O’Disc in the windscreen.
I seem to remember somthing about only having to do this if you were pulling a trailer whose unladen weight was more than 1020kgs
NSH — no, I looked into it.
My 4x4 will tow 3.5T, and the trailer is plated for 3.5T (2.6T payload).
Even if the trailer is empty, if you’re hire and reward, then you are classed as “going equipped”! So all these 4x4’s you see with trailers carrying unregistered cars should be on tacho. How many do you see taking a 45? I’ve parked in busy layby’s for a break, and have been asked by HGV drivers if I can move up a bit to let them get in — they are really surprised when I apologise and explain I’m on tacho (and have C+E, so know what I’m on about!).
What is strange is that if I wasn’t an O licence holder, then I would still need a tacho in the 4x4 (over 3.5T) and comply with driving hrs, but wouldn’t need an O’Licence!