SORNed car - what are my options?

[Angry Sheep]

So the Metro has spent the winter at my parents' house, SORNed and avoiding salty roads. Now I've just driven up to collect it, gone online to tax it and been asked for my V5 reference number. That's at my flat, 150 miles away.

 

The options as I understand it are:

 

1) Risk driving it while SORNed (punishable by having the car confiscated, from what I've read)

2) Phone the DVLA, explain the situation and hope they have a solution (unlikely because it's the DVLA)

3) Do a 300 mile round trip tomorrow to retrieve the V5 and tax it (looking likely)

 

Any thoughts welcome...

[anonymous user]

I assume there is no-one who can go to your flat and look at it for you?

[scaryoldcortina]

Drive it anyway. If you get stopped the police will only care if you have insurance, and by the time DVLA get a report from them that you were driving untaxed you will have taxed it. Because you are deffo going to tax it for march and not wait until next friday, right?

[For Fiats Sake]

I don't think you can do anything without the v5 or number off it.  When I was trying to by the polo of doom I tried to tax it on the phone and it wouldn't accept the number and that was it, no person to speak to or owt.

 

On other occasions I have had to drive untaxed for the day with no problems, don't think there will be that many traffic officers on duty this weekend anyway.  Surely mitigating circumstances if you were unlucky enough to be stopped?

[egg]

You'd have to be bloody unlucky, but you do see these roadside VED checks (mainly on motorways though)

[stephen01]

I'd risk it, you can phone them up however they will just try and sell a new v5. Had it in the past when my van needed taxing, v5 was temporarily misplaced. I can't believe that they can't or don't have access to a copy of the current V5 for car via the reg number as a reference.

[dollywobbler]

I taxed the Dyane by phoning them up, because I still hadn't received the V5 when I needed to tax it, so I'd try that option. 

 

In my case, I had to wait for the day they actually processed my application for a new log book. Once they had done that, they could charge me for tax. Do they really care who taxes a vehicle as long as SOMEONE does?

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Just drive it

[Christine]

AA recovery... eh, Fiat nutter? They were gonna recover the polo..  

 

just poke a  ball bearing in the fuel pipe 

[matty879]

I would ring them and see where you stand,i wouldn't risk driving it as the plod have anpr cameras on aroad lamp posts now,and probably have road tax on their database as well now.

[Angry Sheep]

Thanks for the ideas. I'd drive it locally but the journey I had planned involves the M6/M1 where there are sure to be cameras. From what I've read, they treat driving a SORNed car much more seriously than driving a car with expired tax.

 

Was also planning a run into Wales tomorrow but the weather's looking shit so I can't really be arsed with that.

 

Now thinking I'll leave it here for a few more weeks. All this because of a way of preventing someone fraudulently taxing my car for me...

[daveb47]

Can you book it in for mot near your home,then it is legal to drive to pre booked mot.?

[Angry Sheep]

Can you book it in for mot near your home,then it is legal to drive to pre booked mot.?

 

Hmm nice idea... does that work for tax? Might be taking the piss, driving 150 miles to a pre-booked MOT when the current one runs until July.

[dollywobbler]

Just give them a call. You might get a jobsworth who tries selling you a new log book, or you might get someone with common sense. Apparently they do have them in Swansea.

[daveb47]

Hmm nice idea... does that work for tax? Might be taking the piss, driving 150 miles to a pre-booked MOT when the current one runs until July.

You  have lost mot/didnt think it had one...........

[GoGently]

Borrow the plates of the neighbours car but perhaps a piggy back from a fellow shite member.

[JayW]

Road tax is only of concern to the DVLA. All the police care about is MOT and insurance.

 

The likelihood of them tugging you is SO slim!

 

Oh, and driving to a pre booked MOT doesn't suddenly give you free reign on tax. They are two very different things, this seems to have become a commonly held belief, it's wrong.

[catsinthewelder]

They are seperate things but you still need a current MOT to tax a vehicle so in order to get it to the test centre they need to keep open the 'driving to pre-booked test' loophole.

[JayW]

There isn't and never was a loophole.

This is part of the reason why you have to tax back to the start of the month.

If you take a car for MOT on the 30th of the month (untaxed), pass the test then tax the car the following day (on the 1st) you can still be done for no tax if you got snapped by the paps on the MOT day.

But, if you (correctly) tax back to the start of the current month it would be fine.

The correct and expected way is to trailer The vehicle to its MOT, but that's obviously not practical. The only thing pre-booking an MOT does is allow you to drive "by the most direct route" to the test station and back without fear of prosecution for not having a current test, it also doesn't indemnify you if you've got dangerous defects.

Insurance validity is also a grey area and varies between insurers.

This is why it is daft to, say, collectionize a shiter from Slough to Swansea without an MOT "because you're taking it to a pre-booked test" because there are a hundred more direct test centres along your route. It just wouldn't stand up in court.

This loophole is a falicy, always has been.

 

Doesn't mean we don't all run the gauntlet occasionally... Just, ignorance isn't bliss...

[JohnK]

I passed a DVLA roadside tax check thing in a works Galaxy the last week of Feb. I had twigged we hadn't renewed the tax a week or so earlier and I meant to get on with it but forgot about it in the midst of everything - that was until I barrelled past the bloody camera on the A19.

 

I got it taxed up when I got back to the office, dating back to 1st Feb and touch wood haven't heard anything about it.

[Eddie Honda]

Just catching up here...

 

The correct and expected way is to trailer The vehicle to its MOT, but that's obviously not practical.

Depends on the condition of the vehicle.

• There is firstly an option if the vehicle already has a MOT to get a vehicle within the calendar month prior to expiry, thereby enabling continuity.
• If out of MOT but the vehicle is roadworthy, then it can be driven to/from pre-arrange test.
• If out of MOT and not roadworthy, stick it on a trailer to avoid a barrel load of construction and use offences.

The only thing pre-booking an MOT does is allow you to drive "by the most direct route" to the test station and back without fear of prosecution for not having a current test, it also doesn't indemnify you if you've got dangerous defects.

Dangerous defects, or specifically those that come under construction and use offences (brakes, steering, tyres, bits hanging off, etc.) can be prosecuted for at any time, valid MOT or not. That's agreed.

 

However, let's get this route myth sorted. Looking at the relevant legislation: VERA 1994(aka Vehicle Excise and Registration Act) http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1994/22/schedule/2/crossheading/vehicle-testing-etc

 

The law does NOT state "by the most direct route". Nor does it mention "reasonable"; nor does it mention "direct"; nor does it mention anything to do with distance, time or whether there is a full-moon or not. The key phrase in VERA is "solely for the purpose of"

 

This is why it is daft to, say, collectionize a shiter from Slough to Swansea without an MOT "because you're taking it to a pre-booked test" because there are a hundred more direct test centres along your route. It just wouldn't stand up in court.

 

This loophole is a falicy, always has been.

As pointed out above, it's not a complete fallacy. Let's say you lived in an area where in a ten mile radius there were 100 MOT stations and the "more direct" test centre was Kwik-Fit. You would never be prosecuted for taking it to the furtherest one out - missing 99 other nearer ones. Nor would it be an offence using a by-pass which was longer distance-wise, but quicker. Providing you were going to the pre-arranged test (or even pre-arrange repair at another garage following a fail) and were doing the trip "solely for the purpose of" take it to, or from said place, it wouldn't be an offence. If it was, they would have put in extra wording in law.

 

If a person is stopped on the way to a pre-arrange test, all the plod could do is to decide

• whether or not any C&U offences had been committed or
• that the purpose of the trip wasn't solely for the purposes of taking it to/from a pre-arranged test or
• I'm bored and I'll find something else to do you for

From that, what I think you're suggesting is that it becomes more difficult to justify what the sole purpose of the trip is from A to B, the further you go. It could be argued that the getting a newly bought car home was the sole purpose of a trip and the testing a secondary consideration or the other way round and the getting it back was merely co-incidental.

 

It's ultimately not the plod's decision, or that of the CPS/PF. It's for the court to decide on the basis of fact and degree whether the exemption is satisfied or not.

 

If you take a car for MOT on the 30th of the month (untaxed), pass the test then tax the car the following day (on the 1st) you can still be done for no tax if you got snapped by the paps on the MOT day.

That doesn't logically follow. When taking a car solely for the purpose of a pre-arranged test on the last day of a month, for the purposes of VERA 1994, it is exempted from VED on those two trips. So providing that is all that is done that day, I can't see how they would have grounds for doing anyone. (They might of course send/issue a ticket, but it could be legitimately challenged on the exemption basis)

 

Interesing case law: Secretary of State for Transport V. Richards (1998) JP 682 QBD

 

TL;DR - Stopping for petrol and then again for tabs on the way to a pre-arranged MOT and trying to get some tax on the way home and failing isn't taking the piss.

[barefoot]

Fallacy?

 

I asked the following question on the 'Ask a Rozzer' interweb page;

 

Subject: Question Asked from England and Wales FAQ Web Site

Barefoot has requested that the following question be added to the PNLD FAQ web site.

Does it matter how far away I book the MOT?
For example, can I buy a car without MOT from Birmingham and drive it to a pre-arranged MOT in my home town of Exeter?

 

The answer was;

 

 

PNLD <[email protected]>

7/30/13

   

 

to me

 

 

 

 

 

Barefoot

There is no set maximum distance in law as to how far away the MoT testing station should be but it would be for you to prove that you have booked a pre arranged appointment. With ANPR cameras and travelling such a long distance means that you are likely to get stopped by the police on at least one occasion and we would advise that you have some form of evidence with regards to the appointment.

We would advise that you consider booking an MoT in Birmingham for the same day you go to collect it, in the long run it may save you a lot of time and effort.

Regards,
PNLD

[Guest Hooli]

There isn't and never was a loophole.

 

This is part of the reason why you have to tax back to the start of the month.

 

If you take a car for MOT on the 30th of the month (untaxed), pass the test then tax the car the following day (on the 1st) you can still be done for no tax if you got snapped by the paps on the MOT day.

 

But, if you (correctly) tax back to the start of the current month it would be fine.

 

The correct and expected way is to trailer The vehicle to its MOT, but that's obviously not practical. The only thing pre-booking an MOT does is allow you to drive "by the most direct route" to the test station and back without fear of prosecution for not having a current test, it also doesn't indemnify you if you've got dangerous defects.

 

Insurance validity is also a grey area and varies between insurers.

 

This is why it is daft to, say, collectionize a shiter from Slough to Swansea without an MOT "because you're taking it to a pre-booked test" because there are a hundred more direct test centres along your route. It just wouldn't stand up in court.

 

This loophole is a falicy, always has been.

 

Doesn't mean we don't all run the gauntlet occasionally... Just, ignorance isn't bliss...

Sorry but a lot of that is wrong.

 

I was taken to court years ago for no tax on the way to a MOT, it was kicked out when I produced a copy of the garage's diary showing the appointment. The car wasn't taxed for another couple of months as I'd missed a chunk of welding.

 

Insurance is still valid, the law says the insurance company can't remove it - all they can do is reduce it to 3rd party only. I know from the same court case.

[Dave_Q]

"We would quite like it if you went to the nearest MOT centre, but actually, there's fuck all we can about it."

 

I must say though, even though the law clearly doesn't state that a 150 mile trip to a prebooked test is illegal, I'd expect the vehicle would get a thorough going over if pulled so do be sure it's road legal.

[Eddie Honda]

(2014) After a year or so without MOT or tax, I took this:

 

Daf3181_zpsfc833332 by E Honda, on Flickr

 

after PBK and Co had attacked it with a hammer to fit a light unit and tape up the jaggy edges...

 

2014-07-27_17-58-57_223 by E Honda, on Flickr

 

66 miles on the M11/M25/M40 (across 4 polis force patches), stopping off for some petrol, smokes and a bottle of Irn-Bru and never got stopped nor any letters in the post.

 

I can only conclude that they were all too busy catching muggers and rapists at the time*.

 

After passing the test, I proceeded ½ mile up the road to the Post Office and bought a tax disc. Then drove another 272 miles through another 6 or 7 force areas to catch the boat. Still no interest. Not even from the North Wales car that went slowly by.

[nigel bickle]

What are we all running scared of?

 

I thought nothing of a 200 mile train trip recently, to collect my un- MOT'd Espero.

I insured it, booked and confirmed an MOT at home, prior, & drove it back from Devon to Sussex.

 

Had I been stopped? I could prove insurance, new acquisition, etc. It appeared road legal, and previous MOT history suggested so.

 

Outstanding Tax would be for Doovla to sort. As I had just bought it, no back tax penalty applicable.

 

Had it failed ( it didn't) it wouldn't have been taxed, but would have been exempt. No tax due.

 

Because it passed, I taxed it back to the beginning of the month ( double tax taking bastards) so no offence had been committed.

 

No tax isn't an issue. If the cars sound, just drive it back.

If it's still scary, drive it at night. DVSA tend to operate 10-4..

[Dave_Q]

^Now that's a TOP TIP.^

 

Mustard mitt have done a few fairly long collections of untaxed/tested cars but mainly in the days before ANPR.

 

I probably would again, I'm confident that if you're clear on your rights you'll be on your way in no time, if you did somehow manage to get pulled over by one of the 3 police officers that cover the whole motorway network.

[barefoot]

...and of course, always, always drive any newly acquired cars with random bits of black insulating tape

stuck to the number plates to change them just a little bit.

[cort1977]

Agree with Nigel.

 

I drove from Kerry to London a few years ago with an MOT booked in London.   Was insured but no MOT and therefore no tax.   Must have driven past loads of ANPR on the M4 and at the ferry port but never heard anything.

 

Respectfully, the opinion of one copper does not set a legal precedent and you are hardly likely to get pulled over anyway with the reduction in traffic patrols these days.

[Squire_Dawson]

I think they're more interested in dodgy-looking prestige cars than old chod. If you do get pulled I find honesty is the best policy.