SORN car tax rules?

[Olderisbetter]

Someone in the extended family got a letter the other day from the DVLA saying they were being fined £100 for having an uninsured vehicle, the car is taxed and has an MOT, it is not on a sorn so the DVLA assume its being driven which is not the case, when did this become a thing because its news to me. I thought it was OK to have a vehicle stored with no insurance if it was taxed or on sorn. The car is in a private lock up and not been road used in months, it seems after 40 years of driving I had no clue about this rule

 

[addjunkie]

The car needs to be insured for it to be taxed…just sorn it! You could contest, if its been off road for a reason but suspect itll be a bit of a post office type battle

 

[ukracer]

Someone in the extended family got a letter the other day from the DVLA saying they were being fined £100 for having an uninsured vehicle, the car is taxed and has an MOT, it is not on a sorn so the DVLA assume its being driven which is not the case, when did this become a thing because its news to me. I thought it was OK to have a vehicle stored with no insurance if it was taxed or on sorn. The car is in a private lock up and not been road used in months, it seems after 40 years of driving I had no clue about this rule

Correct.
I was done by DVLA for having a mini that was over 25 years old so qualified for free tax.
It was stripped and in pieces in my unit. It was sold from my unit after being built up. I had photos etc of it going but as it was sorted or insured (it was insured by my trade policy) but did not require specifying.

So they did me for no insurance.
I appealed twice and ended up with a peppercorn fine of £10 for some obscure reason.

 

[qwakers]

yeah, more than a decade ago...

when did continuous insurance enforcement start - Google Search

i cant believe people still don't know about it.

 

[MoreWellie]

and sorn it before the end of the month as they only refund whole months

 

[beeRS]

I took my car off the road in 1995, so long before SORN existed. I have it in bits and have no tax or insurance on it. I still have V5 up to date and was told that I don’t need to SORN it as it came off the road so long ago.

 

[optima21]

I took my car off the road in 1995, so long before SORN existed. I have it in bits and have no tax or insurance on it. I still have V5 up to date and was told that I don’t need to SORN it as it came off the road so long ago.

I think SORN came in about 1998, I used to have to hate going to the Post Office at Christmas time to SORN a car in pieces. These days you can do it online, but with SORN it is continuous now, so once SORN'd you can forget about it, until you want to drive it again.

 

[winchman]

I was fined £11 as I didn't SORN a vehicle despite I had the receipts to prove it it was easer just to pay the £11 what a random amount?
Its further interesting as to why it still shows up as not SORN
I called and was told as it had been off the road since before SORN started?
It all started when i applied for the V5 as it had a private plate on it I wanted to keep

 

[prepman]

I took my car off the road in 1995, so long before SORN existed. I have it in bits and have no tax or insurance on it. I still have V5 up to date and was told that I don’t need to SORN it as it came off the road so long ago.

If you've not had a warning from DVLA then it's good. They have warned me in the past. On later domestic vehicles it used to be a 12 month re-SORN required, on agricultural (my tractor) it's for life.

 

[prepman]

Someone in the extended family got a letter the other day from the DVLA saying they were being fined £100 for having an uninsured vehicle, the car is taxed and has an MOT, it is not on a sorn so the DVLA assume its being driven which is not the case, when did this become a thing because its news to me. I thought it was OK to have a vehicle stored with no insurance if it was taxed or on sorn. The car is in a private lock up and not been road used in months, it seems after 40 years of driving I had no clue about this rule

Just jogged my memory to SORN my Kuga Done!

 

[Robotstar5]

Must do some reading up on this, my bike's been sitting SORNed in my garage for 3 or 4 years and I was thinking of not renewing the insurance this year, would DVLA send me a fine?

 

[ajlelectronics]

Must do some reading up on this, my bike's been sitting SORNed in my garage for 3 or 4 years and I was thinking of not renewing the insurance this year, would DVLA send me a fine?

No, Sorn is fine.

 

[Nomad]

About 5 years ago I got a letter from DVLA to say my taxed & mot exempt bike had no insurance - the law at the time said I needed to insure it or declare it sorn.

Things I learned :
No need to insure a vehicle if it's on Sorn. you *DO* need to insure if it's taxed.
DVLA were sending out reminder letter then (things might have changed by now)

 

[addjunkie]

Must do some reading up on this, my bike's been sitting SORNed in my garage for 3 or 4 years and I was thinking of not renewing the insurance this year, would DVLA send me a fine?

Ive one the same…Im thinking a more radical approach and sell it, come spring!

 

[Robotstar5]

Ive one the same…Im thinking a more radical approach and sell it, come spring!

I'm thinking the same, I may even take it for an MOT before the insurance runs out in March.

 

[Dilkris]

I got fined also for the same - I thought it was not necessary to SORN the vehicle as it was classified as an historic vehicle and therefore tax exempt.
Result? No difference - pay the money.
Its on SORN now.

 

[Bravheart]

Once bought a forklift and got a non insured fine. It was never out the yard, doesn't need an mot, zero rated for tax and covered by the general insurance policy. Because I filled out the registration document there was no cross reference itemised record of insurance so pay up and look happy.

 

[ukracer]

About 5 years ago I got a letter from DVLA to say my taxed & mot exempt bike had no insurance - the law at the time said I needed to insure it or declare it sorn.

Things I learned :
No need to insure a vehicle if it's on Sorn. you *DO* need to insure if it's taxed.
DVLA were sending out reminder letter then (things might have changed by now)

That's interesting . I had not thought about that. I have a vehicle with free tax but also sorted and it not insured by me.

 

[prepman]

Still with DVLA threadi'sh.....A elderly neighbour has bought a Cat S vehicle and is a bit confused about it. I personally wouldn't touch one, but it isn't my problem. The car has obviously been bought by the seller from the Insurance company and has repaired it. Things haven't gone smoothly with DVLA who lost the reg application. There are all manner of unanswered questions.
Having tried a search to find out what the legal situation is it all gets a bit worrying,
After a repair who accredits the vehicle? VOSA? Don't know if the seller is in the association of repairs VBRA?
Who is responsible for notifying the DVLA of Cat S?
Will the insurers be automatically notified of Cat S from DVLA database? (Succesfully Taxed)
NB car is less than 3yr old so no MOT,

 

[qwakers]

1) no one. your insurer may simply ask for a new mot.
2) the insurer that paid out. if they dont then its not cat s
3) yes