SORN for car kept on public road? Tax but no insurance (complicated)

Woodyrocks

I am having a bit of an issue and not quite sure what to do. My late husband's car is outside - public road - but has not been driven for a year since he died. I got tax for it because it is on the road and I didn't want it to get clamped. But I have no insurance for it. Namely because it is not being driven, and secondly because I have money draining out of all holes right now. I did consider selling it but we shall be moving to a rural country area soon and I know that it will be sensible to have the car for the long winter months out there as the snow and what not can mean you are stuck for weeks on end.

A letter came addressed to my late husband a couple of weeks ago from the MIB that that MID records show that the car is uninsured and that to avoid a penalty action needs to be taken immediately.

Is there anything I can do to secure the car without getting it insured? As I said, I will have to for the new year but even a few months saving is something right now but I don't want to be a fool and end up paying for clamping release etc if they tow away the car. Especially as I already had to pay the bailiffs £820 to get my own car unclamped a couple of weeks ago for PCN sent to our old address as I forgot to update my address with the DVLA.

p.s I would rather delete this thread after hearing your thoughts guys so please don't quote me if you can...

Woodyrocks

Just in case it is worth mentioning, I have not yet update the registered keeper's details hence why the letter was addressed to my late husband...I just seem to be crap at dealing with these things

fivetide

Sorry for your loss.

The issue you are having is because the law changed to say any car that has tax must be insured. If it isn't insured it needs to be off the road.

Have you spoken to your local council about a lock up garage?

If you do plan on running the car in the near future then it will potentially need some money spending on it if it has been stood for a year. Have you been able to keep starting it once in a while?If not it will probably want a battery and a service.

the other thing I can thing of is to 'gift it' for a while to a family member on the agreement it comes back once you need it. This will add a new owner to the V5 but if it is an older car then that shouldn't make too much difference to the selling price.

Hope it works out.

5t.

Sgt_Pepper_2

So technically. You're using the vehicle without insurance.

Gloomendoom

A car on a public road has to be insured, even if it is parked. It's been that way since 1930.

OP You have your own car and your late husband's car. As you will be needing his car when you move to the country, why not just sell your own now and use his from now on instead? Taxed and insured, of course.

Joe_Horner

Gloomendoom wrote: »

A car on a public road has to be insured, even if it is parked. It's been that way since 1930.

No it hasn't.

Until the CI regulations, a car used on a public road had to be insured. Having it parked may or may not have counted as "using" in any particular case and there's case law to support both sides depending on the circumstances.

OP, with the new regs you'll have to either insure it or find somewhere to park it off road. Just one of the side effects of this bit of this unnecessary, ineffective, and badly thought out legislation I'm afraid.

missile

Do you need two cars? Sell one to reduce your outgoings.

Wongsky

Do you have any friends / family who'd let you store the car on their drive for a while?

paddedjohn

Joe_Horner wrote: »

No it hasn't.

Until the CI regulations, a car used on a public road had to be insured. Having it parked may or may not have counted as "using" in any particular case and there's case law to support both sides depending on the circumstances.

OP, with the new regs you'll have to either insure it or find somewhere to park it off road. Just one of the side effects of this bit of this unnecessary, ineffective, and badly thought out legislation I'm afraid.

At the end of the day the op has no defence, the car is on a public road uninsured, this has no bearings on the new legislation at all, it's a matter of complying with the law.


Op, if there is nowhere you can get the car off road then why not use it and get shot of your own car.

spiro

I agree, why do you need 2 cars? Sell one and keep the other. If you dont want to do that then you have got to get the one insured PDQ otherwise a fine will appear in the post.

The Executor (if you had one) of your late husbands estate should have dealt with this as the car formed part of the estate. At that time the car should have been sold or the DVLA notified that you are the new registered keeper.

bazster

It's not just a release fee you need to worry about, if the police take the car away they may well crush it.