Statutory Off Road Notification

[Git]

Has anyone been done for not declaring or know somebody that has?

I have a couple of bikes in my garage that should really have been declared off road a good while back, if I were to declare them now a few years later than I should have do you think they will try and do me?

[NickD]

They tried to fine me last year for a bike I had recently sold, and that was within days of the tax running out. It was a case of no warning, no questions, just give us your money, so I would say with currently taxed bikes they're pretty much on the ball. But I have got a couple of log books for frames, engines etc that I'm using for projects, and none of these have been declared off road. I've heard nothing about these from the DVLA and I'm guessing this is because the tax ran out years ago. I'd let sleeping dogs lie, and only bother about it if, or when you're going to put them back on the road.
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I was only doing what it said on my licence officer....
Tear along the dotted line!

[Kickstart]

Hi

You only need to SORN vehicles that have been taken off the road since the SORN rules came in.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[Minky_monkey]

I forgot to do my car just before they raised the price to £80. It cost me £40 at the time.

[map]

Got the tax/sorn reminder after taking the 125 off the road to give it a make over. Trouble was I was going to Germany on company business, took all my bills/mail and sent the SORN bit from Germany.

Got a notice/fine later and wrote a letter explaining what I'd done. I was a good boy thought and sent a cheque for the fine with the text 'Paid under protest due to documentation lost in the post' (FYI you can put anything anfer the name of the payee, amount and ONLY text on a cheque).

I was pleasantly suprised to have the cheque returned and an explaination that they accepted my reason for the missing sorn

Since then haven't had to declare sorn (watch this space, bound to bugger something up now that'll keep the bike(s) aff the road)
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...and the whirlwind is in the thorn trees, it's hard for thee to kick against the pricks...
Gibbs, what did Duckie look like when he was younger?

[Robin]

Can't remember if I posted this on here earlier, but here it is again.



Please feel free to forward this to all it might concern and post it on as many forums as you can. I'll be putting it on all the forums I post on. The DVLA are quite happy for me to publicise this as much as possible. I think it might affect quite a few people who could very easily be caught out by this.







I’ve just received the annual SORN declaration for the trike (no problem with that), in with it came a handy little pamphlet outlining the new VED rules(INS163/2).

If you have a vehicle that has been off the road since before Jan. 1998 then you do not have to declare SORN on it, BUT they are changing the registration document (V5) and when you tax your vehicle, or declare SORN then you will be issued with the new registration document (V5C). No problems so far.

“From the 1st July 2005 all existing Registration Documents will no longer be valid”.
A direct quote from the DVLA pamphlet.

I immediately phoned the help-line and talked to a very helpful lady, with a welsh accent, who gave me some details about what this might involve.

If you have a vehicle that is not taxed or SORNed then that vehicle will need to be at least re-registered (at a cost of £19 for a new V5C), or possibly the registration may be lost. This means that if you do want to put it back on the road after July 2005 then you will at least have to pay for a new V5C, or the number might be re-allocated and you would have to go through the whole hassle of registering as either a new vehicle (possibly complete with SVA implications), or you might have to apply for an age related plate and all the hassle that goes with that.

Basically if you have a vehicle ‘waiting restoration’ i.e. the bike you have shoved in the back of the shed, or even just a frame that still has a V5 then you need to submit a SORN document ASAP or risk losing the reg. Number that goes with it. Unfortunately I couldn’t get a definite answer about precisely how this will work, but the general idea I got was that if the vehicle was not taxed or SORNed then it would be very hard and/or expensive to get it back on the road.

SORN declarations cost nothing and all you need is form V11 and hand it in to your local Post Office or post it to the DVLA with a covering letter explaining that it was not previously SORNed as it was of the road prior to the cut off date.

Further details can be had by phoning 0870 240 0010 and pressing the right buttons to be able to talk to a real person. Or by the web via www.dvla.gov.uk/newrules .

[stinkwheel]

I threw demands for £85 fines for not declaring SORN for two different bikes in the bin two years ago and have heard nothing about it since.

I would be interested to hear if anyone has actually been properly prosecuted for not filling in SORN. Rather than just panicing and sending off a cheque when the DVLA send an oppertunistic letter out demanding a £45 'out of court settlement'...they must be raking it in but I have never heard of someone actually taking it to the point where the case has been brought to court.

I think it is a weak and utterly pointless piece of legislation and would actually welcome the oppertunity to say-so on public record...I am still waiting for them to prosecute me for not informing them that I am not paying £15 to ride the CB125 frame that is dumped in the corner of my in my back yard
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Kickstart]

Hi

I agree. I can see no purpose at all to the SORN declaration, except to trick people into failing to declare it so they can cash in. That an organisation who are as incompetant as the DVLA are the ones who profit from it is really worrying.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[stryker]

SORN was a stepping stone. That was brought in then sure enough in recent times they've brought in the rule where your automatically fined if you don't renew your tax. Aww God bless computers.

Without SORN they could not of done that, as guess what the excuse would be every time?
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Now what?

[Robin]

Did you know that they are thinking about charging up to £4.50 per year in 'admin' fees to SORN any vehicle?

There is a consultation document out at the moment, and I would urge everybody to send in their responses before 8th November, otherwise we will end up with continuous taxation creeping in via the backdoor.

I'll post details later when I can drag them off my home computer.

[Robin]

Here we go.

A Summary of DVLA Consultation on Fee Proposals

In 2003 the DVLA took steps to modify its fee structure. In 2004 it is looking to support new policy initiatives. These include:

Ø Replacement of the agency’s vehicle registration systems
Ø The recall of old paper licences, which will be phased out by 2010
Ø The start of the 10-yearly renewal cycle for photo card driving licences

This consultation sets out options and asks for opinions for covering the costs of the above, with the aim of providing more secure driver and vehicle identification. The DVLA has presented 4 options for consideration. The fees proposed are only rough guidelines and will be decided once a preferred option has been selected.

Final responses must be submitted by 8th November 2004. Changes are expected to be implemented after the 2005/2006 financial year. No exemptions are currently planned.

The options include the potential to introduce 4 new fees:

Ø Renewal of photo card licences under the 10-yearly cycle
Ø Provision of photo card licences under the paper licence recall
Ø Registering keeper changes on sale of all vehicles in a similar way to registration of new vehicles currently operated
Ø Maintaining the vehicle register entries for all vehicles on an annual basis
(Including SORN, historic vehicles and disabled)
An overview of the proposed fees can be found overleaf.


Basically the DVLA need to raise approx. £82M to fund the change over to a standardised licence format in line with the 2nd European Directive, and also the possibility of more secure licences to be introduced with the 3rd European Directive (still in draft form). They are going to raise these funds by introducing a set of admin. fees (not taxes). The question they are asking is ‘who will pay these’. If the figures are looked at closely the simple answer is that everybody will pay for them over a 10-year period unless they are very lucky or clever.

What we need to look at is what benefits could be achieved by supporting any of the options.

When continuous taxation was first suggested MAG (and others) strongly opposed this and a compromise was reached to allow free SORN. Options 2, 3 & 4 all remove this. They are effectively introducing continuous taxation in via the back door. We cannot allow this to happen.

The downside of option 1 is that most people would have to pay £19 every 10 years for a photo card renewal. Not good, but it is still better than having to pay a minimum of £2.50/year for each vehicle you own. Most people happily pay £42 every 10 years for a passport renewal anyway. The £5 fee for paper-photo licences will be a one off and is minimal. Other fees in all options offset the decrease in new vehicle registration fee.






The above tables are copied straight from the DVLA consultation document.

[Robin]

Bu66er, it wouldn't let me post the tables

Here's a link to them, and the full document if anybody wants to go through 30 odd pages.

Replies can be made online through this site.

https://www.dvla.gov.uk/public/consult/driver_fee/df_annexa.htm

[karen_moomin]

My housemates' boyfriend had a fine this very morning. His car was spotted by the council without a tax disc, even though he'd applied for SORN.

But apparently it doesn't matter, because he should have taken it off the road straight away. The fine is only £31 though.

[Robin]

Sorry to say, but if it was parked on the road without tax it is illegal. It would have been even worse if he had declared SORN and left it on the highway. That can lead to a £5000 fine. Even without tax they are entitled to tow it away and crush it.

My trike is SORNed and parked in the front garden, but the moment I reverse it onto the road I am liable to be prosecuted.