DVLA SORN - Reclaiming unfair charges ?

baconandeggs_2

Hello everyone,

I've just had to (reluctantly) pay a £40 fine for non-declaration of SORN (even though my vehicle has been sat in a garage for the last 5 years).

After reading Martin's article on reclaiming unfair bank charges I was wondering whether we can reclaim these charges as they seem pretty unfair as well!!!

Any ideas anyone?

Thanks.

alwaysonthego_2

I do not understand what you are getting at. If you have not filled out a sorn for your car then there will be no surprise that you get a fine

espresso

Why is it unfair? If you failed to declare that the vehicle was off the road, why do you feel that you should be let off while others have to pay?

Andy_L

This is a fine for breaking the law, not a penalty charge for breach of contract

plane_boy2000

This reclaiming charges thing is becoming a joke - everybody now thinks that they can claim anything back.

They wrote to you telling you to either tax the car or SORN it. You did neither so got fined. Deal with it.

scbk

My guess is he forgot to re-SORN it, AFAIK the DVLA send no reminder asking you to re-sorn, they just expect you to remember every year. If you forget, they fine you. Also when you buy a vehicle that is SORN, then it isn't carried over to the new owner nor do the DVLA ask you. So if you don't know this then you get fined aswell!

The whole SORN situation is a joke, money making scam from the DVLA :mad:

Why can't they just have it so as soon as the tax runs out it's automaticly SORN? Why do they insist you send a form off every year just to state that your vehicle is still sat in your garage? :mad:


I'm sure I once heard of someone contesting a SORN fine, not sure what happened though

MarkyMarkD

Doh, scbk.

The reason you have to declare SORN, rather than the vehicle being automatically SORN when it's tax expires, is to make those who don't tax their cars think about it. If your approach was adopted, the whole SORN system woud be a waste of time.

As it is, any vehicle which isn't declared SORN, or taxed, is probably being driven and can be followed up. The minority of cars in this situation are "innocently" sitting in someone's garage off-road and unused.

Normal people don't keep cars sitting in their garage for years on end.

vaio

Maybe we should go back to the quaint old system we used to have…….

Untaxed car not in use on public road = innocent

Untaxed car being driven or parked on public road = guilty.

Innocent until proven guilty, hardly a radical concept

scbk

^^^exactly!!!!

I could have a vehicle sat on my drive for ages and get fined for it.

If I was a tax dodger all I have to do is declare SORN then I can avoid any fine! :j The chance of a cop pulling you over and checking your tax is very slim unless you happen to live in londonshire where they have spy cams hidden in the cats eyes!

Markyt

scbk wrote: »

:j The chance of a cop pulling you over and checking your tax is very slim unless you happen to live in londonshire where they have spy cams hidden in the cats eyes!

Hardly. ANPR is now fitted as standard in most Police vehicles, and how do you think SPECS cameras work?

scbk

SPECS are only on a small number of major roads in certain parts of the country. As are police cars.

It doesn't matter anyway, if it shows up as SORN, they'll pull you. If it shows up as untaxed, they'll pull you.