How to avoid fine for insurance?

rtho782

Hi all,

I have a car that has just had it's MOT run out. The tax runs out at the end of the month, and the insurance runs out on the 4th March.

As tax is £200 a year, MOT is another £50 if it passes, and my car insurance has doubled to £1400 for no apparent reason, I want to wait until I get my annual bonus from work and turn 30, both in April, to sort this out. I have a motorbike in the meantime.

However, it seems that isn't an option. If I don't insure it straight away, I get fined. If I don't tax it straight away, I get fined.

I can't SORN it as I have nowhere off the public highway to keep it.

I can't even sell it to a scrapyard as the V5 still hasn't turned up since I moved house (DVLA say they printed it on the 19th Feb).

Is there any other option other than rob a bank to obtain the £1650 to sort it out!? Or am I just forced to become a criminal and have no choice in the matter?

youngie

I assume you have shopped around for insurance ,check you have given all you details correctly even the wrong estimated milage can make a diffference have you questioned the increase with our insurer? does seem a very steep increase.you should be able to pay insurance by instalments quite often at no extra charge,also you could do 6months road tax I know this is slightly more expensive but it would also split up future renewal dates maybe making it easier to manage

rtho782

I understand that, my insurance last year was £700. Shopping around can get it to £1100 but still makes no sense given that I now have a years NCB. I can't afford it as a lump sum (especially not with tax/mot) and dont really want another monthly bill.

To be honest, even if insurance were free I wouldnt be able to afford to tax it till next month.

Hence why I was going to SORN/scrap it (its a pile of crap anyway) but apparently neither of those are options either.

Just don't know what to do. I should hand myself in at the police station in advance lol.

spacey2012

Perfect example of the working poor falling through the cracks in the coalitions war on the working poor.

rtho782

Does anyone know the legal definition of "on the road"?

If I put it on bricks and remove the wheels, it is not touching the road, so it can be SORNed?

spacey2012

It has to be off the public highway, the highway is anywhere the public have access to.
So in your drive behind closed gates or the fenced area of your property "Curtilage " or a private car park which can not be driven in to by way of barrier or clear boundary markings.

rtho782

So wait, even if it is on private land, unless it has a fence it's illegal? That's ridiculous.

I guess my only solution then is to leave the keys in it and hope it gets stolen.

saker75

spacey2012 wrote: »

Perfect example of the working poor falling through the cracks in the coalitions war on the working poor.

How exactly? Have they set insurance premiums? Perhaps the Government shouldn't have responded to public concern about uninsured drivers. With comments like that no Government ca ever win!

HappyMJ

I SORN'ed my car and left it on the drive...no fence, no gate and only 10 centimetres from the public highway...but on my land.

It's not a fine...by the way...it's a penalty. Personally, I ignore penalties and they give up sending reminders. Nothing much can happen...they may take you to court but in my experience they never have. Even the police noticed my SORN had expired (after investigating something else-trying to ID me from the details from my car) and told me and then just ignored it...it's not a serious crime and not even reported anywhere. They just said "Oh..and your SORN's expired"..then left.

d123

rtho782 wrote: »

So wait, even if it is on private land, unless it has a fence it's illegal? That's ridiculous.

.

I have never heard of that interpretation before. Private property is private property, if its on your drive, gates or not, it can be SORNed.

SCO

saker75 wrote: »

How exactly? Have they set insurance premiums? Perhaps the Government shouldn't have responded to public concern about uninsured drivers. With comments like that no Government ca ever win!

Government sets road tax and MOT rates, alos fuel tax (+ VAT) even though not relevant to this thread.