car cover on a SORNed car?

[dieselnutjob]

A family up the road from me had someone crash into their Rover 75.

They are having trouble getting the insurance company to pay out, and the tax is up at the end of the week.

 

If they don't SORN it how big will the fine be when the DVLA database realises?

 

If they do SORN it and it gets found on the road then what is the consequence?

 

If they SORN it and stick a cheap car cover on it how likely are they to get caught?

 

There a few cars with covers on parked in the streets in this area, and no one ever touches them so I personally suspect that they would get away with that. But before they do that they need to know the consequences of getting caught I suppose.

[Split_Pin]

If the car is on SORN it doesnt have to be insured but it MUST be off the public road.

 

2 of my cars are in this position.

[dieselnutjob]

I know that. What I don't know is what the penalty is for breaking the rule.

[HillmanImp]

I know that. What I don't know is what the penalty is for breaking the rule.

 

Elephant rape.

[Wilko220]

Min £1,000 fine if it goes to court, according to the DVLA website. Otherwise would appear to be the automatic £80 penalty.

[Split_Pin]

TBH I wouldnt bother trying to circumvent these particular rules, especially if the car is parked on a busy road.

 

Penalties are pretty steep, check out the Direct.gov website.

[ruffgeezer]

Dvla can clamp and remove an unlicensed vehicle usually when Mrs Miggins, the piss stained tramplette from up the road, who has nothing better to do than be a miserable, gin soaked wastrel since "dear Arthur" popped his clogs, reports it for having no tax.

[dieselnutjob]

to be fair the guy is between a rock and a hard place.

 

The car is crashed so worth nothing, and can't be sold.

 

If he just scraps the car then how does he get an insurance payout?

 

He can't insure it because he had to get a replacement car and put the insurance on that.

 

The only option I can see is to store the car off road until the insurance pay out, but, he has no where to store it. If I was in his situation I would put a cover on it, SORN it and hope that nobody notices.

 

I would like to help the guy if pos because he has been helping me. But I don't have anywhere to store it either.

[Alexg]

I'd not sorn the car until the last possible moment, i.e. if it's due at the end February wait until the end of March. In the meantime just wing-it with a car cover over the top.

[dieselnutjob]

if it's due at the end February wait until the end of March

 

I don't understand.

 

Surely if the tax runs out end of Feb then it has to be SORNed last day of Feb ??

 

Is there one months grace before anything bad happens?

[Alexg]

Unofficially yes. I've sorned and taxed a car 4 weeks after the tax expired, but as it's back dated to the beginning of the month there were no problems.

[trigger]

My Alto's tax was cashed in on the 17th Dec (IIRC) by the last owner yet I didn't tell the DVLA until the end of January, they moaned to us saying we'd get a charge when we rang them up and they said to post the SORN form off ASAP, we did that and got a let back saying to they had back dated SORN to the 1st Jan and they was no charge.

[e287yba]

The period of grace extends to the middle of the second untaxed month, using "the database" - world of shit follows then . All I would otherwise suggest for the OP is removal of number plates and tax disc from their friend's car, plus judicious coverage of the VIN (if visible through the windscreen, bottom nearside corner) and use of the suggested car cover - but the database will hunt the RK down like a dog and shoot him/her without hesitation .

 

Ideal situation is to declare SORN after parking on private land (NB: the driveway/garden/environs of a council or housing association property will NOT do ).

 

But this issue is one for the insurance company to sort, and not the RK if the car is a write-off?

[Alexg]

Thinking about it, the simplest solution is to re-tax the sodding thing. When the insurance company pull their finger out remove the disk & cash it in. it might end up only costing £20, probably worth it to have your mind at rest.

[dollywobbler]

If he's going through an insurance claim, why hasn't the insurance company taken the car away for assessment? I'd usually say 'never let them take the car' but if it's mullered and a liability, that's actually what needs to happen. The cost of the claim will no doubt go up because someone will charge megabucks for off-road storage, but that's the insurance company's problem.

[dieselnutjob]

If he's going through an insurance claim, why hasn't the insurance company taken the car away for assessment?

 

There is also a language barrier. It has actually worked in my favour because as the car was lying around I was able to borrow it to do some work on Rover diagnostic protocols development. I would hate for my benefit to turn into him getting into trouble so I said I would find out exactly where he stands and let him know.

[simmo]

Did he get this sorted out? Is the car drivable/towable? What's its current value do yo think? Has he said if the insurance company will want to keep it?

[dieselnutjob]

I will go and see him this evening. I did tell him that I would be interested in buying the salvage, but he seems to just want the insurance company to pay out and be shot of.

 

He's actually achieved neither.

[simmo]

Ok, good luck with him

[dieselnutjob]

It's not good. They only had 3rd party insurance. They are claiming off of the other parties insurance but the other party says it wasn't his fault.

 

I suspect that they are not going to get anything out of this except a fine off the DVLA.

 

The car is a W reg Rover 75 diesel with 110000 miles. It is still driveable and the engine seems good. It would need a front wing and door, and I would say a suspension strut. I have no idea if the A pillar has moved at all. The door doesn't close properly but whether this is just door damage or shell as well I can't say.

[simmo]

Sounds like grief for him but if you do a deal and he can't claim against the insurance it may avoid the car having DVLA marker against the car, as a write off. If the insurance do inspect it they can be a bit funny about damaged pillars. They reckon they can't/won't be repaired properly as a reserved salvage repair but if its not that bad its probably open to debate.

[dieselnutjob]

I was interested in buying the salvage as it would have been useful to me as a testbed for my software. However the guy was kind enough to lend me the key for nearly a week so in the end I got most of my development done in the end anyway.

 

It appears that you can buy one of these for £800 or £900 so the value_of_parts + cost_of_repair < value_of_repaired_car

 

therefore not worth repairing