DVLA - Failure to relicense vehicle (on time)

zudecke

Hi guys,

Made a bit of a boo-boo and forgot/consciously delayed the timely renewal of my tax disc.

I've received 2 letters and a "Final Notification" on 22nd Dec 2011, requesting payment of £80.

I haven't heard anything since and plan to pay it on Monday. However, I was wondering if the damage is already done? Is it possible they have already mounted a CCJ (court case) against me? Given to a debt recovery agency? Vehicle removal?

Curious to learn if anyone else has experienced this?

Thanks as always,

Z

Joe_Horner

zudecke wrote: »

Hi guys,

Made a bit of a boo-boo and forgot to follow up when DVLA didn't send me an acknowledgement of the SORN I submitted because my car was going off road for a couple of months. Now they're writing to me as if I hadn't sent one

Fixed that for you

Strider590

^^ They're not going to believe a word you say, they'll issue the standard £80 fine and refuse any excuse you may have (no matter how valid) if you choose to take it to court you'll most likely win.

Norman_Castle

I haven't heard anything since and plan to pay it on Monday.

Pay what? The £80 fine or your road tax. I believe the £80 fine is automatic after one month of being untaxed or not declaired as sorn, and your car can be removed after two months and one day. When did your tax disc expire?

zudecke

To add a bit of contect, I was due to renew my tax disc by November. I didn't get around to doing it until mid-December. I still own the vehicle and had no intention of submitting a SORN. I was just late paying.

I doubt I'd win a case if it went to trial?

I was just posting to ask if you think my credit history is safe if I paid tomorrow lol?

[Deleted User]

Just tell them that you made a SORN application. It is not a legal requirement for you to follow it up if the confirmation letter does not arrive. Once it was posted it was deemed served.

HappyMJ

Your credit history will be safe no matter what......and.....it's not a fine it's just a penalty. Only courts can issue fines. They could take the matter to court to get a CCJ but they very very rarely do. It will eventually be written off. The debt collector will just write letters to you and threaten you will all kinds of rubbish...they will NOT take your car away unless they have a CCJ and only then a bailiff from the court would consider that and even then they wouldn't normally do that.

My advice...Ignore.

Edit: My car was SORNed years ago..I didn't know you had to reSORN every year. So I got a penalty. I've ignored it and nothing has happened. The police have been around on another matter and they know it's not SORNed (it comes up as unlicensed in the police database) and they don't care.

zudecke

Deleted_User wrote: »

Just tell them that you made a SORN application. It is not a legal requirement for you to follow it up if the confirmation letter does not arrive. Once it was posted it was deemed served.

Bloody hell! I just researched what SORN actually meant! I thought it was a once-off declaration that you no longer wanted to keep the car i.e. opted to impound it or something lol! So if in the future I cannot pay on time, I can just SORN the vehicle and just not drive it? Have I got that right?

So you reckon I should just send them back a letter stating that I did return the SORN form and just explain that it must have been lost in the post?

HappyMJ wrote: »

Your credit history will be safe no matter what......and.....it's not a fine it's just a penalty. Only courts can issue fines. They could take the matter to court to get a CCJ but they very very rarely do. It will eventually be written off. The debt collector will just write letters to you and threaten you will all kinds of rubbish...they will NOT take your car away unless they have a CCJ and only then a bailiff from the court would consider that and even then they wouldn't normally do that.

My advice...Ignore.

Edit: My car was SORNed years ago..I didn't know you had to reSORN every year. So I got a penalty. I've ignored it and nothing has happened. The police have been around on another matter and they know it's not SORNed (it comes up as unlicensed in the police database) and they don't care.

Great read! I've been worrying since December (waiting for Jans pay check) that my credit was going to take a huge hit. Must research the difference between a fine and a penalty in that case!


So with both these posts in mind, what's the recommended approach? Write to them and tell them I actually DID return the SORN? Or just flat-out ignore?

Thanks so much guys. Be lost with MSE.

lincroft1710

zudecke wrote: »

So if in the future I cannot pay on time, I can just SORN the vehicle and just not drive it? Have I got that right?

Not exactly.

If you cannot afford to relicense your car when the current licence expires, you can apply to have the car SORNed. However you must apply in time for the SORN to commence immediately after the current licence expires. Your car must be removed from the public highway and be kept on private land until it is relicensed.

Norman_Castle

However you must apply in time for the SORN to commence immediately after the current licence expires.

Car must be off the road but you can tax or sorn up to 14 days after expiry. Taken from my tax renewal (car ownership tax) letter.

paulwellerfan

have you actally been driving the car with the tax disc expired?