Continuous insurance enforcement comes into effect in January 2011

[BlitzBoy]

So just to clear this up in my head, if a car is declared SORN and is NOT insured then it\'s ok? It\'s only if it\'s NOT insured and NOT declared SORN that you\'d get a fine.

correct

Makes sure if the car is SORN its in a garage or private property

[jetpilot]

I guess the same as the SORN concept, this is to stop the motorist who doesnt seem to bothered with about tax or insurance, most likely even a license in a lot of cases!

Trouble is, they continue to not give a f**k and us as the average motorist is caught out due to slip ups or forgetfulness, although general law abiding.

To be fair i dont know why they dont make it completely simple, if your car is not tax\'d or sorn, you get an instant penalty after say a month from the tax running out! The database is there, so why should it be randomly selected at who gets fined!

Am i right in saying in Oz, you get insurance from the Government?

[jetpilot]

Although i hate to say this but the whole Tax thing is a joke anyway, why not just put half a pence on a litre of fuel and scrap the road fund licence, then anyone who drives pays it!

I would see it as quite a fair scheme,
The people who use the roads more, pay more
The people who use un environmentally thirsty cars pay more
and not one single person could get away without paying!

The reason behind not doing this, the DVLA staff would probably be cut in half!

Think of the savings
Less paper/admin cost
Less staffing cost
Less policing cost

[Ian65]

Although i hate to say this but the whole Tax thing is a joke anyway, why not just put half a pence on a litre of fuel and scrap the road fund licence, then anyone who drives pays it!

I would see it as quite a fair scheme,
The people who use the roads more, pay more
The people who use un environmentally thirsty cars pay more
and not one single person could get away without paying!

The reason behind not doing this, the DVLA staff would probably be cut in half!

Think of the savings
Less paper/admin cost
Less staffing cost
Less policing cost

spot on!!!!

[FD3S Efini]

Ok here is my 2 pence, im currently in afghanistan and on new years eve my insurance finished, i havent re insured it because of the ridiculous insurance quotes i am getting because of this i am storing my car in my garage until i can get a decent insurance quote that isnt ripping my balls off,
 
being out here i cant do anything to sorn my car because i cannot send my tax disc off and i wanted to keep the tax so when i get insurance i can just get out and drive the car but this is not available now due to needing to return my tax disc,
 
This is an ill thought out plan that the DVLA has made and doesnt take all things into consideration, this will only raise the amount of illegal cars and drivers on the road which in turn will raise insurance prices, its a slippery slope
 
Kris

[RobMatthews]

Thanks Ian,
That\'s the issue - my friend has insured a car but is waiting for the paperwork to come through, she\'s worried she\'ll get stopped for having no tax but if she can do it online I\'ll tell her.

you can get the insurance company to email you cert, go post office and get a tax disk- jobs a gudden

[Ian65]

you can get the insurance company to email you cert, go post office and get a tax disk- jobs a gudden

Unless you\'re picking the car up out of working hours when the post office is shut.....
even then you will still need to go to the seller, get the documentation, then go to the post office and tax it and then go back to fetch the car.
More hassle that we never had before if the car remained taxed under the old system.

[TiddlesRX7]

Or you ain\'t got a printer like me. I\'d have to go to work to print it then to the post office then to collect the car. It\'s just hassle you don\'t need when buying a used car.

[Marcrs]

Lots of cars have been bought under the current system, where the seller has claimed the tax back, and the car has been bought with no tax on it. The new system doesn\'t change that at all - we\'ll do exactly the same as we always have done...we\'ll either drive it home untaxed and hope for the best, or we\'ll arrange it all before we collect the car.

Agreed, it does mean that there may be more cars for sale with no tax, where before a seller might have left it on, especially if there was less than a month on it...but there will also be sellers like me, who keep the car insured until it is sold, in which case the tax can remain, or be bought again by the seller online.

In fact, thinking about it...more sellers might do this, as it will make the car a lot easier to sell - if it provides less hassle for the buyer

[Ian65]

and make sellers less inclined to be chipped on the price if they are having to pay for insurance on a car to keep it taxed just to entice in buyers...

Whichever way you look at it, it\'s going to cost someone more more somewhere down the line and be an added inconvenience to sellers and buyers....

and the serial uninsured driver will just carry on as before.... unconcerned by it all.

[Aceman]

Although i hate to say this but the whole Tax thing is a joke anyway, why not just put half a pence on a litre of fuel and scrap the road fund licence, then anyone who drives pays it!

I would see it as quite a fair scheme,
The people who use the roads more, pay more
The people who use un environmentally thirsty cars pay more
and not one single person could get away without paying!

The reason behind not doing this, the DVLA staff would probably be cut in half!

Think of the savings
Less paper/admin cost
Less staffing cost
Less policing cost

Think of the future income loss..

Car tax is going nowhere, with cars like electric cars taking off..

Got to get the revenue from somewhere, and so why not keep road tax and raise it to cover loss of fuel duty when petrol use starts to lessen..