November 2026

by Robin Astle.

From HISTORIC, the FBHVC magazine Issue 11

Historic Crime and Historic Vehicles

DVLA by Ian Edmunds

Policy Review

It is a slightly surreal outcome of the world of embargo dates and press lead times that, as I type, the information below it is confidential and cannot be shared with anyone. However, by the time you read this it will be slightly old news!

Having trailed them for some time I can now confirm the latest historic vehicle registration policy revisions from DVLA. At an HVUG meeting held in the intense heat of late June, DVLA were able to share their conclusions on the subjects of ‘reconstructed classics’ and vehicles originally supplied in CKD (completely knocked down) form. In my view it is all good news and we record our further thanks to DVLA for the effort that has gone into this exercise.

The major change to the reconstructed classics category is that the provisions have been amended to permit a vehicle with a separate chassis to retain its provenance when fitted with a newly constructed body. The only requirement being that the body is typical of the period of the vehicle in terms of style, method of construction and materials used.

The general procedure will be unchanged with support required from a suitable club that the vehicle, including any new body, is a true reflection of the period and of the marque. As is current practice the vehicle will be registered with an age-related registration and a rebuilt marker placed on the record. DVLA forms V627/1 and V627/3 will be updated to suit.

For vehicles originally supplied in CKD form the policy revision is very simple but no less welcome for that. DVLA will now accept the despatch date from the ‘mother factory’ as the date of manufacture for registration purposes. An age-related VRM will normally be issued.

These changes came into effect on 3 August, and any applications received by DVLA from 13 July identified as likely to achieve a more favourable outcome under the updated policy were held until 3 August for processing.

I have not attempted to set out all the details of these changes here but the DVLA guidance booklet INF318 [DVLA guidance leaflet (INF318)] will be updated to cover them as will the relevant part of gov.uk [ https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-registration/reconstructed-classic-vehicles ] To assist in keeping everyone abreast of these very valuable revisions, we hope to have a supply of the revised INF318 booklet on our stand at the Classic Motor Show in November as we did last year. We are grateful to DVLA for supplying these.

I am told there will be a few other minor revisions to the guidance that reflect the feedback received over the last year. Although it’s not confirmed, I am hopeful that the largely missing information on applying for a first registration with an age-related number that I mentioned in the last edition will have been addressed at the same time.

DVLA inform us that their next task in processing the information from the Call for Evidence concerns kit-built and kit conversion vehicles. Whilst much of this is of no concern to the historic vehicle community (e.g. first registration of newly built kit cars utilising new or modern components) certain aspects are potentially important in the historic context. DVLA have promised to keep us informed of progress.

DVLA are obliged to publish annual report and accounts, and for this year the Federation was asked if we wished to contribute a quote for the section on customer service. We were very pleased to do so and repeat our appreciation of the revisions they have made and the beneficial effect they will have for historic vehicles and also of the obvious effort that went into their preparation. The report is available using this link Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency Annual Report & Accounts 2025-26. Our quote appears on page 18, together with what appears to me to be a rather unusual Bugatti.

NOVA – Notification of Vehicle Arrival

Whilst all this has been going on, I have also managed to learn a little more about NOVA. The basis is that as a form of policing of the NOVA procedure, HMRC requires the DVLA to complete a NOVA check as part of the first registration process for any vehicle first registered in the UK on or after 15 April 2013.

There are few exceptions to this, the main one being where a vehicle was manufactured in the UK and there is no evidence the vehicle has been exported. As, even with older vehicles, it is not always apparent where a vehicle was manufactured, written confirmation from the manufacturer that the vehicle was built in the UK may be required. I suspect this ‘built in the UK’ requirement is at the root of the apparent inconsistency with which the NOVA issue is handled.

Association of British Insurers (ABI) Code by Lindsay Irvine

Vehicle Salvage

You may recall that a couple of editions ago, I described changes to the ABI Code of Practice on Vehicle Salvage which no longer designated HVs and “cherished vehicles” as special cases to be assessed out with the provisions of the Code. If an HV was written off on economic grounds and a damage assessor placed it in one of the two categories (A or B) in the Code, this would prevent the owner repairing it, regardless of cost. Once placed in such a category, the Code mandated that it would have to be crushed even if the owner had an apparent contractual right to retention of the salvage under the insurance policy.

Having corresponded with the ABI about the issue, in mid-May at their HQ, I met with their senior policy adviser together with their technical expert. In summary they accept we should have been involved in the development of the current edition of the Code and have promised this will be corrected for the next edition whose drafting process will begin later this year. Whilst not undertaking to restore the previous position, they concede that there should be some provision for HVs in the Code.

We will keep you up to speed on further developments. However, if any problems do occur in relation to an insurance write off resulting in possible loss of the vehicle against your wishes, then do let us know.

On show

The second insurance topic is in the form of another update, this time in relation to what may be coined “arena cover”. The issue was described in some detail in Historic Issue 8 and in brief it concerns what insurance cover an HV owner might have when attending a show or event. Typically, as well as providing Road Traffic Act statutory coverage for the use of a vehicle “on a road or other public place”, HV policies are usually endorsed with cover for rallies, shows and club events. I gave an example of the typical wording in HV policies in Issue 5 but also suggested that owners might wish to confirm that they have some sort of public liability (as opposed to Road Traffic cover) to indemnify them from the less likely but potential claim arising from their static vehicle.

As I wrote previously, one of our long-standing supporters (who I can now reveal is Steve Parker, the insurance officer for the Military Vehicles Trust (MVT)) had been told by his broker, that notwithstanding such cover for attendance at shows, the cover did not extend to a closed off “arena” area within the show ground where vehicles are presented to and commented on to spectators. I previously speculated that such “avoidance” arose from the fallout from the now notorious Vnuk European Court of Justice case (now reversed by the Motor Vehicles (Compulsory Insurance) Act 2022 (see Edition 3, 2022). I said that some underwriters (many of whom are Europe based) are anxious to ensure Road Traffic cover is excluded from non-public/private areas whilst offering public liability cover for such areas. I am happy to state that at least in respect of military vehicles, Steve has resolved the issue with his broker with the addition of suitable wording into their policies.

In the expectation of further developments within the insurance community, I will postpone full details at this stage but expect a further update in the next edition of Historic.

Fuels by Nigel Elliott

E10 Post Implementation Review Stakeholder Survey

The Department for Transport has launched a survey seeking stakeholder evidence on the real-world impacts of E10 petrol implementation.

The E10 legislation was introduced to increase the renewable ethanol content of standard 95-octane petrol, moving the main petrol grade from E5 to E10. The intended objectives were to:

• reduce greenhouse gas emissions from road transport by increasing the use of renewable ethanol in petrol;
• provide a clear and consistent market-wide change, rather than relying on individual fuel suppliers or retailers to introduce E10 voluntarily;
• maintain access to E5 as a protection grade for vehicles and equipment that are not compatible with E10;
• ensure the transition was deliverable for fuel suppliers, terminals, forecourts and consumers, including through appropriate exemptions or derogations where needed;
• support demand certainty for UK bioethanol production and associated co-products, where relevant.

The Post Implementation Review will assess whether these objectives have been met, whether the impacts of the legislation were broadly as expected, whether any unintended consequences have arisen, and whether the current requirements remain proportionate.

The FBHVC has responded to the DfT’s survey supporting the continued requirement to provide the Super E5 protection grade at UK service stations.

Super Unleaded E5 Protection Grade

Jet petrol stations have been trialling a 99 RON E5 protection grade Jet Ultra 99, prior to a general roll out across their retail network. The Jet brand is owned by Phillips 66 and they operate the Immingham oil refinery. The new 99 grade is produced from conventional fossil components at Immingham with the addition of 5% ethanol required by the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO). Jet Ultra 99 is formulated with advanced detergents and anti-corrosion additives to deep-clean engines and protect vital parts. Because it is an E5 fuel (containing up to 5% ethanol), it is fully compatible with classic and older cars that cannot run on standard E10.

Costco have also introduced a 99 RON Super E5 protection grade that is available from some Costco sites.

The following 99 RON Super Unleaded E5 Protection grades are now available in the UK. They may not be available at all service stations, depending on the distribution system and available tanks and retail pumps:

• Costco 99
• Esso Synergy Supreme 99
• Jet Ultra 99
• Shell V-Power
• Tesco Momentum 99
• Texaco Supreme 99

All these fuels meet the BS-EN228 Super grade specification and have a minimum Research Octane Number (RON) of 99 and a minimum Motor Octane Number (MON) of 86 compared with 95 RON and 85 MON for Premium Unleaded E10 petrol.

It’s good to see an increasing number of fuels suppliers moving to a 99 RON grade that will allow safe operation of older, higher compression ratio engines, such as the early Rover V8 10.5:1 CR engines. Many modern vehicles with adaptive learning engine management with knock sensors, can also take advantage of the higher octane by running more ignition advance resulting in improved performance and fuel economy.