We shouldn’t have to insure our unused cars

This law doesn’t help those of us trying to sell our old vehicles. I’m in the middle of two cars and am frantically trying to find the best way of keeping legal without forking out a huge amount on a car I no longer want. Currently its going to cost me an extra £220 for one weeks worth of insurance for a car I’m trying to sell. Its only £500 to insure it for a whole year.

Talk about a government yet again not thinking things through properly.

why can the police not do anything if a car is not tax mot or insuread when it is used on the road unless they see it on the road . i was told the police dont do anything them self you have to report it to DVLA . i dont break the law how come others can drive with no mot tax or insurance .

It is not true, as stated in the article above, that “The only get-out is if you formally register your motor as being off the road, by submitting a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN)”. You also do not have to insure your car if your vehicle has been kept off-road since before SORN came into force on 31 January 1998 (like my 1977 Spitfire that is no longer roadworthy but which I can’t bear to get rid of!), but articles like this, and other sources of information — even warnings enclosed with tax reminders, for instance — do not tell the whole story and are misleading people.

Can an Vehicle be Sold Sold As SEEN if the vehicle has an SORN on it

I do not know what all the fuss is about, the easy answer is use the SORN, I have a 1963 MGB and have used the SORN for some time now, so get into SORN.

Hi Larry
Sorn is not the problem Not if you intend keeping the car or simply watching the grass grow round it over over the next twenty years. The problem arises if you are trying to sell a car that has been sorned Say you have a rare car that is road worthy but the mot has expired because its been layed up for 12months for repairs/restoration you know it would pass an MOT if you could get it to the test center but other than trailering it there and back there is no legal way to do so unless your a trader. At least under the old system you could cover the no tax element by pre booking the test some insurance companies say it is ok to drive to a test some say definatly not without a current mot. I suspect if you had an accident the ones that say yes would wash their hands and leave you on your own As it happens my old car is sorned still has mot on it. And wasn’t sold because I couldn’t offer a test drive to any prospective buyers as it wasn’t insured, and I wasn’t prepared to sell for an amount less than it was worth so I kept it. Sitting there eventually it will develope a problem and won’t start and some one will end up giving me £100 for scrap its not worth a great deal maybe £1000 but no one will pay that unless they drive it and convince themselves that its worth that money. I know most cars we buy privatly we are most likely not covered to test drive the and we take a risk but in the old days your car didn’t get siezed and taken for disposal.

Hi nevertellanyone.
Your right insurance on petrol is not the way to go. But maybe Tax is that would level the playing field. If you drive a gas guzzler then you pay more just like you do now with the £475 per year for said cars.
Maybe something more radical like new number plates but instead of a dealers name it has you insurance policy number and the expiry date on it or a bar code that the police can read. and when you go to collect the plate you have to show a valid mot for the vehicle.

Now today the Tories have announced plans to levy tax on what roads we use so if you have a little 850cc band B car and you run it up and down the motorway you’ll pay the £475 rate if you already pay that rate then you can drive anywhere so no increase if you Drive a Bently Merc or a Jag.
So what this means is if you want to pay the ammont you pay now you’ll have to stick to minor roads to get to work or go on holiday so your 3hr getaway drive becomes 17hrs when your stuck on a “B” road with all the other people that want to pay lower tax? Out of touch? time for a chage me thinks

Hello everyone.

Got a question for you all… I’m leaving the country next month and want to sell my car whoe’s MOT and TAX is due in June 2013. I have already cancelled my insurance so what options do I have to sell the car? Should I get it taxed? I am new and don’t know much about the law but what I red above is scary.
I will really appreciate if someone can guide me step by step about what should I do to sell the car before I leave the country.