Continuous insurance enforcement comes into effect in January 2011

[Arnie_O]

err i think you guys are forgetting that you can obtain a Tax disc from the post office so there is no real need to a drematic delay, All be it alloyingly we can only buy tax for 6 or 12 month periods

[TiddlesRX7]

Unless of course its after closing time or after lunch time sat. Its basically a load of crap and a incovenience for the nation.

[Steve-A]

Are you sure it will be this month?

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/OwningAVehicle/Motorinsurance/DG_067639

This suggests just sometime in 2011, and a quick trawl off google only shows various forums saying Jan 2011?

Either way its a f**king stupid idea. As said it will just punish those trying to be law abiding and make the act of changing vehicles more awkward.

[Ian65]

I can\'t remember where I read it now.... it is coming though pretty soon and although we will live with it, it\'s just more hoops for us to jump through and more money to shell out.

[jackaleks]

cool, so with this and the rise in fuel costs, insurance premium tax and road tax in mind it\'s a lot cheaper for me to just drive uninsured and untaxed and take the fine when i get it, stealing petrol on my cloned plates as i go.
 
awesome

[BlitzBoy]

I can see the Pros and Cons to this law, but its been brought about because of the large number of people buying car that has tax on it not bothering to insure straight away it so at a quick glance by an officer on the road it appears the car driven on the road is legal.

Plenty of drivers will drive off on the day they bought the car with no insurance intending to insure it in a couple of days time go off and have accident on the day of purchase, these are actual facts.
I work in the insurance industry and the large number of accidents because of uninsured drivers is rife, the Government had to try something to address it. So if you are buying a car that is uninsured and SORN it forces the buyer to insure the car to get the tax disc.

There are loads of cars parked on Public roads, I agree not being driven, with tax but with no insurance, hence it will force these people to place them in private property or garages. If your car being kept on a public road parked up uninsured gets hit by a drunk driver or sober driver, or your parked car gets hit from behind which then impacts a parked car in front of yours,  you will probably get done as well.

Yes it is inconvience to the normal law abiding citizen as it will be a few days before they can pick up a car they have bought that has be SORNED to get a tax disc.


Also if you get pulled without insurance you most likely have to leave the car on the side of the road and arrange your car to be towed as the Police wont let you drive of in it if caught.

[Marcrs]

The SORN only applies to the previous owner - as soon as you take posession it no longer applies, so you need to Tax it or Sorn it in your name.
 
Surely, if you buy a car that has no tax, and you drive it home, and "back tax" it to the beginning of the month in which you bought the car...you haven\'t actually done anything wrong - apart from \'failure to display\' on the way home...
 
There always used to be some discretion used in these cases - I was stopped once on the way home in my new car, and had all the paperwork in my pocket, all signed and dated the same day, and was let off with a "make sure you tax it" - it made sense, it was a Sunday, so I had no way of taxing it that day.
Of course you could argue that I could have left a deposit on the car, insured it, taxed it in the week, and collected it the following weekend. And you\'d be right...and I guess that will be the only way to do it legally...unless the Police are going to be sensible...

[peterwolds]

there you go then Pete, you\'ll have to cancel the tax even though it\'s locked in the garage.
If the sun comes out and you fancy taking it out for a drive, instead of just making a quick phone call to your broker or fixing up cover online, you\'ll have to wait for the new tax disc to arrive too ( by which time the rain will be back!)
As I say, it removes some flexibility from car ownership.
This hasn\'t been widely publicised and lots of people are going to get caught out.

.

decided to insure & got a good deal from adrian flux who beat peter best used last year comfortably - result :driving

[Ian65]

Surely, if you buy a car that has no tax, and you drive it home, and "back tax" it to the beginning of the month in which you bought the car...you haven\'t actually done anything wrong - apart from \'failure to display\' on the way home...

That would seem to be the sensible answer wouldn\'t it but unfortunately you would still be committing the offence as at the time the vehicle was on the road, there was not excise licence in place for it irrespective of whether the duty is later paid retrospectively. This would be mitigation only should they decide to serve process on you.

The only way around it would be to tax the vehicle online before you collect it so it\'s on the database as taxed and then drive it home.
You would still be committing an offence of \'failing to display\' but in reality, this offence is treated as an \'also ran\' meaning that if the car turns out to be taxed and legal in every other respect they don\'t pursue you for failing to display. If it turns out to be untaxed or has con and use offences then you get done for everything including the failing to display.

Discretion is down to the individual who stops you. If he\'s a b****** or is having a bad day, he\'ll probably do you , where as another plod may approach it differently and not report you.

Of course, APNR cameras don\'t have discretion!

[Marcrs]

yes, a separate rant I know, but that\'s my biggest problem with cameras - they have no discretion...

34mph outside a school - 3 points....sort of fair enough
79mph on a deserted motorway at 5am - 3 points...why? A copper at the side of the road would most probably let you drive past...

ANPR is the same, and relies on insurance companies and DVLA getting all their information correct and up to date...hmmmm...

[AMH]

The only way around it would be to tax the vehicle online before you collect it so it\'s on the database as taxed and then drive it home.

Can you tax online if you don\'t have the code off a tax renewal reminder letter?

[Ian65]

Can you tax online if you don\'t have the code off a tax renewal reminder letter?

you can use the reference off the V5 instead but to tax online you\'ll need the cooperation of the seller and trust them to forward the disc because you should only use the on-line service if you\'re already the registered keeper and have a V5 in your name. The new disc will be posted to them.

It all sounds like too much trouble really doesn\'t it?!
Think I\'ll just stick with the RX7 for the next 30 odd years!

[BlitzBoy]

or I know its might sound strange, just Tax it at the post office all you need is the Green bit of the V5,MOt cert, and cover note\\insurance certificate

[AMH]

Thanks Ian,

or I know its might sound strange, just Tax it at the post office all you need is the Green bit of the V5,MOt cert, and cover note\\insurance certificate

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.

[Bobbit]

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.