It is thought that a European ruling could cause people to require additional insurance for ride on lawnmowers within the coming months.
A charge of £100 a year could be faced by those who maintain their lawns with ride on lawnmowers, as a result of new regulations that are being considered in Europe.
The Secretary of State for Transport, Patrick McLoughlin has apparently been warned that this charge could be imposed on gardeners as a form of vehicle insurance, even if their lawnmowers never leave their garages.
A Slovenian man was injured after falling off a ladder that was hit by a trailer connected to one of the ride on mowers that are common in the garages of people with large lawns. As this event happened on private property, motor insurance companies refused to pick up the bill.
Experts have warned that the annual premiums charged to gardeners could be as high as £100 or even beyond.
Mr McLoughlin is supposedly set to fight against the movement, should it be ruled as necessary in the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg next month.
The main argument against this move is that home insurance can be used to cover accidents involving vehicles on private property so it is excessive to have to pay on top of that to insure vehicles that are only going to be used on private property.
A source close to Mr McLoughlin is reported to say: “We have home insurance in place for these kinds of things and it works fine. Once we have seen the ruling we’ll take whatever action necessary to head off anything that hurts people’s personal finances.”