Yes, if the motorhome's maximum authorised mass (MAM) is 3,500kg or less. A standard category B car licence covers vehicles up to 3,500kg with no more than 8 passenger seats. Most UK motorhomes and almost all campervans are in this bracket.

You need category C1 on your licence. C1 covers vehicles between 3,500kg and 7,500kg. Above 7,500kg you need a full category C (HGV) licence, which only affects the largest American-style RVs.

Look for the MAM (sometimes called gross vehicle weight) on the VIN plate, usually in the engine bay or a door pillar, and on your V5C logbook. It's the weight the vehicle is allowed to be fully loaded, not what it weighs empty, and that's the figure your licence is judged against.

Probably. Drivers who passed their car test before 1 January 1997 were normally given C1 automatically. Check that C1 actually appears on your licence using the free GOV.UK "View your driving licence" service. If it isn't listed, you can't drive a motorhome over 3,500kg.

Your licence must be renewed at 70, and C1 can't be renewed online: it has to be done by post, with a medical report from your doctor. Many owners of heavier motorhomes instead have them officially "down-plated" to 3,500kg so they can drive them on a car licence, but that reduces how much you can legally carry.

Payload is how much you can add to the motorhome (passengers, water, gas, food, bikes, luggage) before you reach its MAM. On many 3,500kg motorhomes it's smaller than people expect. Driving overweight can mean a fine and points, may affect your insurance, and makes the vehicle brake and handle worse. If in doubt, take it to a public weighbridge fully loaded.

You apply for provisional C1 entitlement (with a medical), pass the large-vehicle theory test (multiple choice, hazard perception and case studies), then pass a practical test in a C1 vehicle. We plan to add C1 training: get in touch to hear when it launches.