carlfraz wrote:

Got my new log book through...and..............number of seats including driver 5...Phew!!!!

Found my logbook today, (House is in a mess with renivations) and found it does not say FL2 or 5 seats.

Spoke to my dealer, who dismissed that it was a Insurance problem, blamed people on the forum for over reacting.

Very disapointing attitude, I must say,

I know an insurance company will have to be very petty to dismiss a claim over this, when the car has 5 seat belts, But since I used to work for a Insurance company (think little red car/phone) they tought us that even the littlest thing could be used to not pay a claim.

whose responsibility is it to correct this? mine or theirs?

If mine does the DVLA have a form to complete?

Mine just says 'FREELANDER HSE A' which I suspect meant to carry on as '.........Auto' but ran out of room.

I telephoned Jackie at LR customer care today to find out what was happening regarding the 4 or 5 seat issue on the V5 form. Initially she didn't know anything about it until I explained the problem. After a short gap she told me LR are looking into it. She appreciated that this could be an insurance issue and LR would be writing to everyone affected. So since the 2nd August when Tups74 first reported this issue nothing much has been achieved.
Maybe a few more phone calls to LR will make them take notice. Their number is 08705000500

waaxh03

Waaxho3 & All,

Quick and small confession: I actually brought this to the attention of Land Rover on 22nd June 2007, but only let you guys now once I had found out the factors and realised the implications of this matter, I must say that the Traffic Division for my local Police force were very good with advice......... and so were Norwich Union (my insurance company) but Land Rover and the dealers were useless, despite my local dealer raising it with Land Rover when I informed then on 25th June 2007 (after checking their demos - no surprise, they were all 4 seaters)

Take Care all,

spoke to my dealer today about the 4 seat issue. He said the only people who could make a change to the V5 is the DVLA and I should send my V5 back to them with the error highlighted.

For those of you waiting a call back from Landrover admin, what are you expecting them to do ? Have they indicated that they may be able to do something themselves with the DVLA.

I suspect it will be upto us as individuals to get this error amended as the V5 documents are now 'personal' to us and with data protection etc, I'm not sure what LR can do themselves.

Mine's going off in the post today - I'll let you know when I get a response. (I did try to call DVLA, but ended up listening to a recorded message, telling me to send the V5 form in !!!

Gnat, Let us know if you succeed - I think V5`s will take a bit longer than normal at the moment because of the new registrations.
I will be surprised if you can just send up a V5 and ask for the number of seats to be amended to your requirement. I`m sure it must come under something like the Type approval certificate listing the number of persons allowed to be carried, as tested.
Hence, I suspect that the manufacturer will need to provide input to the DVLA giving the permissible figures.
But nothing that the DVLA do would surprise me, so if your way works, I`ll be following you down that road.
With regard to the insurance issue, I am sure that npinks is right that insurance companies will wriggle out of claims however they can, and these days personal injury claims will be far higher (in £`s) than vehicle repairs etc, so 5 people in a car rather than 4 means a much higher (+25%) possible whipcash claim. Don`t drive faster than your angel can fly!

nicam wrote:

I will be surprised if you can just send up a V5 and ask for the number of seats to be amended to your requirement.

Oh come on, maybe if you'd asked for 6 instead it would of been ok, but 7 would have been pushing it

The dealer is the one we have contract with, if we bought a five seat and now find the log book shows 4!!
Do we ask for some refund?( I am using as a 4 seat car)
Do we return the car for a 5seat car?(might be worth it to see their faces)
In the event of an insurance claim do we go back to the dealer?
This is a difficult situation which could result in real problem street!
Some one has to take resposibility David

I agree, but I'm not sure what the dealer can do apart from alert people who have an incorrect V5 and to report this issue back to Land Rover so they can liaise with the DVLA to get the information correct on the central DVLA database - they must have provided the information in the first place (# seats, weight, co2 etc etc).

I think the solution lies with the DVLA hence that's who I'm going to concentrate my efforts on. Wish me luck

I can't help thinking that there's a danger of people blowing this out of all proportion, based on what they think might happen, rather than something that actually has happened. The FL2 is evidentally a 5-seater vehicle, an administrative error means that on some v5s it says it is a 4-seater. When you told your insurers you were driving a FL2, they will have quoted you based on their assessed risk associated with the vehicle, used as the manufacturer intended. If they have based this assessment wrongly on it being a 4-seater, then this is an issue between them and whoever told them it was a 4-seater. They do not base their risk assessment on individual v5s. Even if an insurer did try to wangle out of a claim, it's not exactly difficult to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the vehicle was designed to carry 5 people, is it? The manual, LR's documentation, the three seatbelts in the rear, the centre headrest etc.

I suspect that's why LR, dealers and DVLA aren't getting as excited as us about this; because they don't really see it as the issue it's being made out to be. It's also over-simplistic to say that your contract is with the dealer so the dealer should sort it out; the v5 is legally the personal responsibility of the vehicle owner, and as I think a previous poster pointed out, DVLA may refuse to discuss this with your dealer due to Data Protection restrictions.

OK, so it's easy for me to dismiss this because my new v5 says 5 seats. However, if it did say 4, I don't think I'd be having sleepless nights over it.

But if you are still worried about possible insurance issues, why not just pick up the phone to your insurers and ask them, rather than speculate? Maybe also ask them to record on your file that you have notified them that your vehicle is a 5-seater.

Last edited by NightFox on 6th Sep 2007 5:30 pm. Edited 1 time in total

I agree with nightfox - this is all starting to wear a bit thin. Stop moaning about the issue and do something about it rather than waiting for LR or whoever to sort it out for you. Just send your Reg Doc back to DVLA and ask it to be amended as per the homologation clearance. Then, confirm your insurance by either checking your schedule or ring the company. Simple huh?

PS Tups has a lot to anwser for - he starts this thread off then goes off and buys a shed!

how many seats are supposed to be in his shed

boiledgnat wrote:

how many seats are supposed to be in his shed

The DVLA wants to know what make of shed it is and if it has bucket seats.

I've taken the easy option. I phoned the fleet office and told them I was aware of this issue and asked them to check it out. Since they deal with all insurance matters they can see all sides of the issue. If they feel its important then I'm sure I'll hear from them.. If not, well they would be the ones dealing with any insurance claims so they can worry about it. I think there are over twenty FL2 in our fleet so that may determine if they want to pursue it or not.