Planning a summer road-trip? Overloading your car could invalidate your insurance
Last updated: 29/08/2025
Last updated: 29/08/2025
With the sun shining, many Brits are gearing up for Bank Holiday and summer road trips. Whether it’s a staycation, a festival, travelling to the airport to go on holiday or a wedding, these all involve the dreaded task of fitting everything in and packing the car.
However, what many don’t realise is that overloading your car (or packing it poorly) can incur a hefty fine and even invalidate your car insurance.
Every year in the UK, hundreds of motorists get fined for overloading their car, with the police and DVSA taking the matter seriously. A Freedom of Information data request to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), commissioned by Tempcover, found that in 2023/2024, nearly a thousand people were stopped by the police for unsafe loads, with 45% of them fined for the offence - a 52 per cent increase in fines from the previous year.
To help Brits avoid overloading their car with unsafe and dangerous loads this summer (and reduce the risk of being pulled over on the way to their destination), Claire Wills-Mckissick, a temporary car insurance expert at Tempcover, shares her advice on how to spot and avoid packing your car dangerously.
While it might seem like a tedious task, drivers are legally obliged to check their car doesn’t outweigh its maximum load, or MAM (Maximum Authorised Mass). This includes, but is not limited to, the combined weight of all passengers, the car and its contents. The MAM can be found in the drivers manual of the vehicle, or under the bonnet or on the VIN plate.
If the driver exceeds the weight without checking, they can be liable to:
Alongside the legal implications, driving with a heavy load can also be incredibly unsafe, putting you, other road users and your passengers at risk. This is because it affects how the vehicle works and can impact the handling of the car, particularly when it comes to stopping distances and reduced driver control.
The signs that your car is overloaded:
You can often tell if your car is overloaded by observing certain signs.
Pay attention to the distance between the car's body and the ground, particularly at the rear. Also, check the appearance of the wheel arches; if the tyres look very close to or are tucked under the arches, this could indicate excessive weight.
If you experience difficulty steering, turning, stopping, or starting, it's worth considering that your car might be overloaded. These changes in handling can be a key indicator of exceeding the safe weight limit.
You should also watch out for issues with braking, or your tyres or your suspension system sagging, as these are signs of an overloaded car.
Top tips on the best way to pack your car to avoid a fine and invalidated insurance:
When planning your journey, it's important to consider the total weight of passengers and luggage. You don't need to weigh every person or bag but do take a common-sense approach. Estimate the average weight of each adult and their luggage, and then allow a sensible buffer to stay comfortably under your car’s maximum load capacity.
To reduce luggage weight, consider sharing bags where possible or renting bulky items like bikes at your destination. And while it's natural to want to pack for every possibility, being selective about what you bring can make a big difference.
If it looks like you’ll exceed your car's limits, consider borrowing a larger vehicle and using temporary car insurance from Tempcover.
For those unavoidably heavy items, it's key to consider even weight distribution when packing. This means placing heavy suitcases low and central in the boot, with smaller items reserved for excess space around them, or in the passenger footwells to avoid blocking your rear view.
Luggage flying around the car can be a finable hazard, particularly as it risks obscuring your view which is a separate offence in itself. To prevent this, use bungee cords and seatbelts to secure all items.
Low tyre pressure is a separate offence which can risk you a fine, but in this case it’s vital to ensure your tyres are inflated to their correct PSI, or even a little bit higher. This will ensure safe weight distribution, and account for the slightly higher weight of a packed car.
