SORN

[southerly95]

Would anyone know whether a car that has a current tax disk but out of MOT has to be declared SORN whilst repairs are carried out?

[moggyadventurer]

I would imagine if it is taxed it is technically on the road - even if not roadworthy. From a dvla perspective it is taxed, therefore on the road and not sorn. I am sure others may verify this shortly.

[chrisd87]

For now at least, there's no need for it to be declared off the road until the tax runs out.

Not sure when it's being introduced, but we're soon to have another delightful piece of bureaucracy foisted on us called 'continuous insurance enforcement', whereby it'll be illegal to own a car that's taxed but not insured, even if it's off the road. You might therefore need to declare it off the road when this comes into force. In fairness, as you are online it takes all of a couple of minutes on the DVLA website.

[southerly95]

Thanks for replies, it is insured and taxed as we have one policy for the three of them and it's not being used on the road. I guess the prob would only come if it was used on the road as the insurance would be invalid. Regards, John

[bmcecosse]

Except - you will need to take it to the MOT place when the time comes. So just let the tax run - but don't forget when it runs out to declare SORN then!

[old sea horse]

Continous insurance came in on 1st January 2011 which affects us in this way: If the vehicle has a current excise licence but no insurance and is not Sorn'd you will receive an automatic fine! If you have no insurance you will have to return the current tax disc and declare the vehicle Sorn to avoid this, irrespective of whether it has an MOT or not. Having both insurance and tax but no MOT is fine as long as the vehicle is not being used or if it is, only to a pre=arranged mot test within reasonable travelling distance of your home i.e. live in Aberdare but travelling to Aberdeen for your MOT? this wouldn't entertain the majistrates much! Sam

[LouiseM]

If the vehicle has a current excise licence but no insurance and is not Sorn'd you will receive an automatic fine!

Well not exactly. If, following a check of the DVLA database against insurance databases,it appears that your vehicle is taxed but uninsured and not declared SORN you will be sent a letter to clarify the position. If you have valid insurance you should provide the details to DVLA or if not make a SORN declaration. A penalty is only considered if you ignore the letter and take no action. It's part of a crackdown on the huge numbers of uninsured vehicles that are on the roads at the moment.

[chrisd87]

pre=arranged mot test within reasonable travelling distance of your home i.e. live in Aberdare but travelling to Aberdeen for your MOT? this wouldn't entertain the majistrates much!

Common misconception - there's nothing in law regarding the distance. I researched this subject a while ago when I rode a motorcycle over 100 miles to an MOT. The only requirements are that the test be pre-booked, and that the vehicle is used on the road only for the purposes of taking it to and from the test.

[rayofleamington]

Common misconception - there's nothing in law regarding the distance. I researched this subject a while ago when I rode a motorcycle over 100 miles to an MOT. The only requirements are that the test be pre-booked, and that the vehicle is used on the road only for the purposes of taking it to and from the test.

Another common misconception is that this rule still exists! It was printed on the reverse of the MOT sheet that you were allowed to drive to and from an MOT without an MOT. However it was stopped many years ago - so if the car has a modern MOT which runs out, you are in no-mans-land! If the last MOT was a paper one and you still have the paperwork you might be able to use that in court.

Needless to say if you do have a pre-booked test and are insured and licensed to drive I doubt plod will see this as a major issue - however if you try driving 500 miles to the MOT they may take a different view! With or without an MOT, the police can book the driver (AND the registered keeper if that's not the same person) for any safety faults with the car.

Because of the 'to and from' allowance, the MOT (fail) sheet was updated to state something like "the vehicle is not safe to drive because of ####". People had used the 'allowed to drive' comment to drive cars that were clearly not roadworthy and sometimes dangerous.
I don't think they put the not-safe comment on the computerised fail sheet though, but as the comment about being allowed to drive is not on there, they don't need to!

As for a letter relating to a non-insured car that is taxed - I'm still waiting and not recieved anything! Needless to say the car is not being driven, but considering that alarge amount of cars for sale have already had there insurance swapped over to another car, the rule is not being followed, as most are still taxed...

[LouiseM]

As for a letter relating to a non-insured car that is taxed - I'm still waiting and not recieved anything!

The new 'continuous insurance' regulations don't come into force until April so give it time!

[old sea horse]

I quoted from an article in Classic Car Weekly, on DVLA's own website, and I quote: 'From early 2011, if it appears from the database comparison that a vehicle has no insurance or no Sorn, a letter will be sent to the registered keeper', failure to act will attract a fixed penalty of £100, then worse!

[faversham999]

now put off till march

[rayofleamington]

I read last year that it was 1st Jan, however for a system this daft maybe it'll be 1st April ;-)

[chrisd87]

Another common misconception is that this rule still exists! It was printed on the reverse of the MOT sheet that you were allowed to drive to and from an MOT without an MOT. However it was stopped many years ago

The rule definitely does still exist - just because it's not printed on the back of the certificate any more doesn't mean it no longer exists! Directgov says:

It is generally an offence to use on a public road, a vehicle of testable age that doesn’t have a current test certificate, except when:

* taking it to a test station for an MOT test booked in advance
* bringing it away from a test station after it has failed the MOT test, to a place of repair
* taking it to a place, by previous arrangement, where problems that caused the vehicle to fail its MOT test, can be repaired
* bringing it away from a place where the problems with the vehicle have been repaired