Drivers Who Do Not Have Minibus Entitlement (Category D1)
If your driving licence does not allow you to drive minibuses, there are certain circumstances where you still may be able to do so.
You may drive a minibus with up to 16 passenger seats if:
- you drive on behalf of a non commercial body for social purposes but not for hire or reward, unless operating under a permit;
- you are aged 21;
- you have held a car (category B) licence for at least 2 years;
- you are providing your service on a voluntary basis;
and
- the minibus maximum weight is not more than 3.5 tonnes excluding any specialist equipment for the carriage of disabled passengers. Minibuses up to 4.25 tonnes will be permitted in certain circumstances.
- if you are aged 70 and over, you are able to meet the health standards for driving a vehicle (i.e. minibus) which comes within the D1 class;
When driving a minibus under these conditions you may not receive any payment or consideration for doing so other than out of pocket expenses or tow any size trailer; you may only drive minibuses in the UK.
Drivers aged 70 or over will need to make a special application which involves meeting higher medical standards.
