33 replies to this topic

[tommy13]

Browsing through the Norton owners club mag I have found an article relating to new insurance laws. It is based on a press release supplied to them by Footman James. This may affect classic vehicle owners more than the general motoring population.

From this month all vehicles which are not subject to a SORN declaration must have valid insurance. This means it is no longer possible to let the insurance lapse while you complete repairs before putting your vehicle back on the road.
If your vehicle is taxed it must be insured and if you want to take it off the road for a short period you must surrender the tax disc and make a SORN declaration.
The authorities will regularly compare DVLA records with lists of vehicles which are SORN and the motor insurance bureau (MIB) database. In the event of a vehicle being identified that is neither insured nor has a SORN declaration then the registered keeper will receive a letter. If the keeper takes no action at this point then a fine of £100 will be levied. This may be raised to £1000 following court prosecution and could ultimately lead to the vehicle being clamped, seized or even destroyed.
The reason for this is to try and reduce the number of uninsured drivers on the road, currently estimated at 1.5 million. The cost of accidents involving uninsured drivers is over £380million which adds £30 to every insurance policy.

http://www.direct.go...n...DM&CRE=Furl

http://www.askmid.com/

[Calman]

So say i have a car at home on the drive (Repairs for arguments sake) Even if i declare sorn due to no tax i still have to insure it? Or have i got it wrong?

[RobFox]

To me this seems quote a good idea of reducing uninsured drivers although now they may just drive with no tax as well

Although what happens if you where to buy a car with tax and they drop it off on your drive. Then say you have a daily driver and are going to use the new car but not for say 1-2 moths for whatever reason. You would then have to declare SORN ( loose your tax disc ) then pay for a new one a bit later?

[E-Tizzle]

i think hes saying that if you take a car off of the road (even for a short period of time) it must still be insured. unless you declare it as sorn.
so basically, you cant just let the insurance run out because you are not using it on the road for that time period, it must be sorn or insured all the time.

i think thats correct?

[The_Mistro]

this is going to affect young drivers more than anybody else i think! espec with such high insurance premiums! and the fact the DVLA take so long in giving you your money back from a tax disc in the first place!

[tommy13]

If it's declared SORN then you don't need it insured. As far as I can see it's aimed at catching people who's insurance expired before their road tax.

[danrock101]

going to make a differnce when buying and selling cars hugely. Going to increase the number of cloned plates and dodgy tax disks too

[1984mini25]

This was brought up a few weeks ago. But its basically means if a car is taxed it also HAS to have valid insurance, It has to have both. And you can’t have insurance on a car that is sorned and is off the road either.

But the problems come when like me in a few months time I plan to take my car off the road, as I won’t be able to afford to renew the insurance. But the car would also still have a months worth of tax on it before that runs out. So what I’ll have to do is let the insurance run out and then at the same time, send the tax disk back, get a refund and declare it sorn at the same time.

Or if you have the problem of your tax running out before the insurance, you can no longer declare it sorn and let the insurance run out to save not losing out on any no claims, fees etc.

[mikey72]

I think it's more aimed at people who drive fast sports cars "owned" by their mum or dad, on the driving other cars extension on their own policy for a 1l corsa that hasn't moved for months.
Now dad will have to insure the impreza himself too.

[Carlos W]

This was brought up a few weeks ago. But its basically means if a car is taxed it also HAS to have valid insurance, It has to have both. And you can’t have insurance on a car that is sorned and is off the road either.

So you can't have fire and theft only insurance???

[1984mini25]

If its taxed you can have whatever type of cover you like or can afford.

[Guess-Works.com]

Hmmm... I can see the logic but there aint half a number of pitfalls which will scupper this...

eg... I have trade insurance, I have some of my cars detailed on the policy, but the vast majority I don't, however, I'm insured to drive ANY car which is in my custody, and like wise ANY car is insured which is within my custody.

[Carlos W]

I can't find the bit that says the vehicle has to be tax'd to be insured! (Maybe I'm just being thick though!)

I really need to SORN my bike as the insurance has run out, but it's got a bit of tax left on!

[danrock101]

it's made up my mind about owning 2 minis, my mk3 will definatly be back up for sale now when my engine is fitted, can't be bothered with the hassle or expense of owning 2 cars.

[mikey72]

I can't find the bit that says the vehicle has to be tax'd to be insured! (Maybe I'm just being thick though!)

I really need to SORN my bike as the insurance has run out, but it's got a bit of tax left on!

http://www.direct.go...rance/DG_186696

It needs to be insured if it's not sorned.

Reading it, it can be insured, and sorned.

It can't have road tax, if it's not insured.

Would have been better just to have a sticker from the insurance comany.

Edited by mikey72, 05 January 2011 - 10:03 PM.