Un SORN a motorhome

[Cliffy]

 

I have SORNed my van over the winter and I need to get it back on the road on the first of March, I have it booked in the garage on the 3rd.for a service.

I thought I would be able to inform the DVLA prior to the first of March but it looks like I can not do it online until the first as it becomes taxed as soon as I apply online. Is this correct? Has anyone had any problems un-SORNing on the day you need the van back on the road?

 

Thanks

 

 

 

[HymerVan]

I haven't done this but I think the way to withdraw a SORN is to re-licence. It sounds as though if your vehicle is subject to a SORN that you can't pay VED ("road tax") ahead of time but only with immediate effect. That is completely logical because there is a liability to pay tax UNLESS the vehicle is SORN'D. So I think your choices are to tax now or wait until 1st March 2016. I expect systems will be busy on that day but I have not previously had any problem buying VED online

[StuartO]

I recently did some complicated combinations of removing cherished numbers and SORNing, coupled with changing vehicles and moving house and therefore sending all the V5s in for amendment.  DVLA's website worked smoothly and they were pretty quick at turning round the V5s too. 

 

But you do sometimes have to ensure you get the sequence of actions in the right order because there are some things you have to do before others (like getting an MOT if it's run out) and some things are no longer allowed once you've done something else.  Once you've posted a V5 off the DVLA for an address change you are buggered for doing anything else on line until the new V5 comes back because you need the reference number from it.

 

Now that you can tax a vehicle on line and you don't need a tax disc, you can at least start driving as soon as you've paid on line.  MOTs are instantly notified to DVLA too, so I got an MOT in the morning and taxed my MH on line in the afternoon with no difficulty at all. 

 

You can take your MH for an MOT by appointment without taxing it, as long as it's insured and you could tax it using your smartphone from the driving seat at one minute past midnight on March 1st and then start driving, because taxation is valid instantly.

 

DVLA's need to improve their own efficiencies for cost saving reasons is reaping benefits in efficiencies for us too.

 

 

[Tall_Mike]

Recently had to do this with my motorcycle, - pretty much the same thing, - Bike was on a SORN with no MOT. It was however insured, has to be now in that you need continuous insurance

 

Firstly book the MOT - It's legal to drive / ride to the MOT Testing station without Tax/MOT, - but only that journey.

 

Took the bike to the MOT station and went home.

 

Garage called me and advised it had passed, -I got straight online and taxed it.

 

Returned to garage and collected bike, - Now legal with Insurance, Tax and MOT.

 

Clearly - The tax is backdated to the beginning of the month, - So doing it as near to the 1st of the month is a no-brainer.

 

Later I sold the bike, - had to reclaim the tax, this was "forward" booked so it's possible to loose a months worth of tax in the middle which the DVLA benefit from, and the new owner had to tax it. -

 

Fairly straightforward and the process works quite well, - the thing to watch is not letting the insurance run out which for a bike is easy to do, especially if the thing is in pieces in your shed,

[StuartO]

Tall_Mike - 2016-02-16 10:23 AM    ..... Bike was on a SORN with no MOT. It was however insured, has to be now in that you need continuous insurance..... - the thing to watch is not letting the insurance run out which for a bike is easy to do, especially if the thing is in pieces in your shed,

 

I don't think the requirement for continuous insurance works quite this way.  You can allow a vehicle's insurance to lapse providing it is SORNed, although it must be insured if you take it on the road at all, for example to have an MOT.

 

[colin]

Tall_Mike - 2016-02-16 10:23 AM

 

Recently had to do this with my motorcycle, - pretty much the same thing, - Bike was on a SORN with no MOT. It was however insured, has to be now in that you need continuous insurance

 

 

AFAIK the law on continuous insurance never came into effect, just about every classic car club objected to it.

[Tall_Mike]

I stand corrected - sorry guys, truly thought it had been introduced in this way - Taken from the AA Web site, shows how complicated things now are.

 

"To try to address the problem of uninsured drivers, the Road Safety Act (2006) introduced a new offence of being the 'keeper of an uninsured vehicle' - unless that vehicle is subject to a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN) or is in the process of being transferred to a new keeper by DVLA.

 

Continuous Insurance Enforcement (CIE) came into force in 2011. Initially CIE is not being introduced in Northern Ireland"

 

[b9k9uk]

Tall_Mike - 2016-02-16 10:23 AM

 

Firstly book the MOT - It's legal to drive / ride to the MOT Testing station without Tax/MOT, - but only that journey.

 

 

This is correct but it is strongly advised (only applies?) to pre-book the MoT so that if stopped by the police you have evidence that the MoT garage is your intended destination.

 

Also, check the small print of your insurance, every policy I have had states Vehicles must be Taxed and if required have a valid MoT Certificate for the insurance to be valid. It may well be different for MH insurance due to the habit of SORNing over the winter months. Something I have yet to learn about.

[George Collings]

After research original post deleted. It would appear Insurers can impose requirement for current MOT. Does the vehicle have to be transported to MOT station. Garage could drive but their trader policy may be shall we say thin.

 

The exemptions that may not be applied are listed in S 148 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1988

See

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/52/section/148

 

It might be worth a written question to the insurers.

Best bear MOT expiry date in mind when SORN begins

[Tall_Mike]

This then leads to all manner of questions, - Our MOT date is September - so fortunately if we where to SORN our van say from October to March it would likely have valid MOT, - while our van is in storage it is covered by our own insurance (checked that) so if the tea leafs come to call, we do have decent cover - minus the excess. -

 

I am aware that some storage places will also have their own insurance for Van storage, which is an enormous cost, one local farm whom we hoped to store our van had to give up storage because after a break in the premiums rose hugely.

 

But while on a SORN - Say the MOT date was in January, - would you find your vehicle uninsured as it sits in the storage field? once the MOT expires and become dependant upon the site's insurance ?

[Muswell]

It all sounds too much trouble for the sake of saving a few hundred which is not much in the overall picture. I would then be able to use the van for the odd excursion, even if only a day trip, and go for an MOT.

[Tall_Mike]

Would agree - our Van is taxed as a Private or Light Goods vehicle at a rate of £230 a year which is far cheaper than a fair number of cars, - for the hassle and the saving of no more than £115 it's hardly worth bothering, and then the messing around getting it taken off SORN and MOT. -

 

For the bike I never bothered with SORN and kept it taxed until recently, - Saving of only £40 a year.

and while on a SORN it's not possible / legal to move it even for 10 feet on a public road, sometimes even the depths of winter on a clear frost-free morning I would go out for a blast and if someone nicked it from the garage, having no insurance didn't appeal. - Although maybe it wasn't actually insured anyway depending upon the clauses in the policy.

 

It's just so darned complex getting to the deeper levels of all this ,when you start having to look at the Road Traffic acts and reading all the small print (I know you should - but doubt many do). Something is wrong.