SORN - Insurance

YeoBlade

YeoBlade

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I'm may have confused myself here, if I have a vehicle taxed, but not insured, (it's not being used so in the garage)do I have to SORN it for insurance purposes in some way or is SORN only for not taxed vehicles.

I can't keep up with all the changes now, that by default one is automatically guilty. :mad1:
 
A SORN is required when you choose not to re tax the vehicle. It should not be kept on a public road at that point (yours isn't i know that) If a vehicle is Sorned the insurers should be made aware, out of utmost good faith along with its location.

Channa
 
You can SORN a vehicle at any time and get a refund of any UNUSED months tax , it need not be insured whilst off road but consider vandalism and fire risks ?
 
I copied this from another Forum , this chap had a shock, big brother IS watching you :D:D My Hobby 725 is kept in storage, the vehicle tax expired end of November 2015 so I declared the vehicle SORN (Statutory off Road Notification). The vehicle needed an MOT test in February 2016 so I checked online for the correct procedure:

When you need to make a SORN - GOV.UK

"When you can drive your vehicle

You can only drive a vehicle with a SORN on a public road to go to or from a pre-booked MOT or other testing appointment. You face court prosecution and a fine of up to £2,500 if you use it on the road for any other reason" [end quote].

The vehicle's MOT expired on 2nd Feb. 2016. I pre-booked an MOT test at a garage in Birmingham and took the vehicle for it's test on 19 Feb 2016. The van passed and I was issued with a new certificate, I then returned it to storage.

You can probably guess what happened next; on 3rd March 2016 I received a letter from DVLA Enforcement Centre, dated 29 Feb 2016, stating:

"We have photographic evidence showing that at 10.27hrs on 19/02/2016 the above vehicle (reg no printed at head of letter) was in A38 Corporation Street Aston B4 being used/kept on a public road whilst a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN) decarartion was in force.

A) If you were the keeper ... an out of court settlement of £113.00 is required to avoid court action." [end quote].

Payment to be made by 17 March 2016 or court action will follow.

On the back of the DVLA letter, it states; Your statement, (which you have to fill in and return); Part 1 you confirm the that you were the keeper on the relevant date, Part 2 give details if you disposed of the vehicle.

Part 3 states; "Please supply any further information you may feel is relevant, enclosing any supporting documents." I filled this in, stating:

"The vehicle was being driven to an MOT testing station for a pre-arranged MOT test. Enclosed is the MOT test certificate (copy) dated 19 Feb. 2016, as proof. The vehicle is now back in storage."

The issues here are;

1) Found guilty and issued with a fine on the evidence of a camera; I have to prove my innocence.

2) Policing by camera; back in the day if you were stopped by the Police on your way to a test an explanation and maybe a phone call to the MOT testing station would confirm that you were acting legally.

3) Big brother cameras; every vehicle checked and every journey recorded.

4) A simple check with the MOT database by DVLA would have confirmed that the vehicle had been tested on the date of the alleged offence and thus avoided issuing a fine.

5) The letter from DVLA does not say you have a perfectly valid and legal excuse (see part 3 above) you have to work that out for yourself. You cannot phone them to discuss it; a recorded message tells you to put your representations in writing only.

I await a response from DVLA.
 
yeoblade said:
I'm may have confused myself here, if I have a vehicle taxed, but not insured, (it's not being used so in the garage)do I have to SORN it for insurance purposes in some way or is SORN only for not taxed vehicles.

I can't keep up with all the changes now, that by default one is automatically guilty. :mad1:
Click to expand...

As others have said, it might be advisable to have insurance cover for vandalism, fire, theft, etc. even if the vehicle is being kept off the road.
HOWEVER, unless the vehicle has been SORNed it MUST be insured for driving:
"You do not need to insure your vehicle if it is kept off the road and declared as off the road (SORN). This rule is called ‘continuous insurance enforcement’.

If not, you could:
##get a fixed penalty of £100
##have your vehicle wheel-clamped, impounded or destroyed
##face a court prosecution, with a possible maximum fine of £1,000"
Vehicle insurance - GOV.UK

Tom
 
I thought that there was a tie up between road tax and the insurance databases, in that if it is taxed then it must be insured even if it is off the road to be legal . I would have SORN it, and retax only when you have the need to actually use it. It can be insured and not taxed but not the other way?????
There was a bloke not far from me who rebuilt classic american cars as a living and they came with a fleet of lorries and police and took the whole stock of cars ready to be rebuilt, crushed the lot. He had not SORNed them as he thought they did not need it. I got fined £100 for the same thing for a Yamaha TZR 250 in a pile of bits whilst being rebuilt over a couple of years. It was SORNd but in those days the SORN ran out after a year I did not know you had to renew it. The tax would have been £30ish so a fine was a bigger profit for them.
 
TJBi said:
As others have said, it might be advisable to have insurance cover for vandalism, fire, theft, etc. even if the vehicle is being kept off the road.
HOWEVER, unless the vehicle has been SORNed it MUST be insured for driving:
"You do not need to insure your vehicle if it is kept off the road and declared as off the road (SORN). This rule is called ‘continuous insurance enforcement’.

If not, you could:
##get a fixed penalty of £100
##have your vehicle wheel-clamped, impounded or destroyed
##face a court prosecution, with a possible maximum fine of £1,000"
Vehicle insurance - GOV.UK

Tom
Click to expand...

Thanks Tom, that was my understanding, so:

If your vehicle is not insured you must SORN it, making it impossible to have a taxed but uninsured vehicle in your garage (unless you want a fine)

I was reading that gov. link but it dosen't make it clear
 
I only tax my camper when I want to use it then sorn it when I put it away but keep it insured at all times.

Simples and necessary because scum-bag van napper don't care whether they are taxed or not when the steal them.
 
Caveat!!!

A chap I know bought a newish motorhome on finance and put it into 'secure' storage and cancelled his insurance,within 3 weeks it was stolen!! The storage site did not have insurance except for third party liability ie personal injury,AND the vehicle owner still has to continue the vehicle payments!
So keep the vehicle off road-untaxed,but insure it!
 
i bought a vehicle last week , so far dvla website wont let me sorn it using the doc no on the new keeper bit cos they havnt processed the change of ownership yet.


i wont be taxing it till the first of next month at the earliest.
 
molly 2 said:
I may be wrong but I thought you now have to sorn un insuredy vehicle.
Click to expand...


it has to be taxed or sorn at all times


you can have a taxed uninsured vehicle on private property.... they aint going to worry about you paying the road fund license though you musnt use it on the road without insurance
 
ricc said:
you can have a taxed uninsured vehicle on private property....
Click to expand...
No, you can't. As has already been said earlier in the thread, if it's taxed, it must also be insured, even if you don't intend to use it on the road.

Steve
 
klaatu said:
No, you can't. As has already been said earlier in the thread, if it's taxed, it must also be insured, even if you don't intend to use it on the road.

Steve
Click to expand...

Yeap

You can have:

Insured but NOT taxed ( need to SORN )

But NOT
Taxed but NOT Insured. ( in your garage or whereever. ) :rulez:


Anyway, it was my twist 'n go that became uninsured because I moved the insurance to my GIXER 600 (having 9 yr NCB on that policy.)

As the twist 'go is only £17/PA to tax it isn't worth the effort , finacially, to SORN it.

Anyway simpler just to insure it , even with 0 NCB, new policy was only £75.

I got done a fews ears back for SORN, mate gave me his old MZ after MOT failure,for my son to use as a field bike, said it was SORNEDed, it WAS but change of owner meant a new SORN, so was fined due to my ignorance :mad1:
 
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