Car tax and Ins

JMG_2

Hi

Can anybody help. My car has been off the road using SORN. However the insurance has run out. I am trying to sell it and want to tax and insure it so people can have a test drive.

What is the minimum length of insurance I can have when I purchase the tax?

InsideInsurance

You will require insurance as of the day you take the SORN declaration off and the insurance must be valid on the date for the tax. There is no need for the insurance to be valid for any longer than that to get the tax disc but it is now an offence to have a vehicle that isnt subject to a SORN and isnt insured

JMG_2

So let me check my understanding, if I get insurance for 1 month and go to the post office to purchase car tax and remove the SORN will they give me car tax for 6 months (assuming I pay of course)?

If I need to canx the car tax later when the insurance expires will there be a problem?

Was it law that the car should have been insured even though it was off the road with a SORN declaration?

InsideInsurance

JMG wrote: »

Was it law that the car should have been insured even though it was off the road with a SORN declaration?

As long as it was off the public highway (which is a wider definition than road) then no insurance is required whilst there is a SORN declaration in place.

You can get a 6 month tax with a 1 month short term insurance certificate and at the end of the insurance you either need to buy more insurance or do another SORN if you are taking it off the road again (obviously in your circumstances you'd have hoped to have sold it before then)

JimmyTheWig

JMG wrote: »

So let me check my understanding, if I get insurance for 1 month and go to the post office to purchase car tax and remove the SORN will they give me car tax for 6 months (assuming I pay of course)?

Correct. You might have, for example, 1 month left on a 12 month policy at this point.
[Though I don't, personally, know where you would get 1 month insurance from, though I've never looked.]

If I need to canx the car tax later when the insurance expires will there be a problem?

There would be a problem if you _didn't_ cancel the tax when the insurance runs out and SORN it again. There won't be a problem if you _do_ do this.

Was it law that the car should have been insured even though it was off the road with a SORN declaration?

No. If it is SORN it doesn't need insurance.
The change in law is that if it is taxed (i.e. not sorn) but off the road anyway then it now needs insurance.

fivetide

No you'd just decalre SORN again and get a refund of the tax for each unspent month.

The issue will be insurance as temp cover has gone up a lot thanks to this exact problem (been in same situation OP) and if you cover it then cancel you'll no doubt get hit with a hefty fee for cancelling.

JimmyTheWig

Incidentally, unless cash-flow is a problem you will be better off getting a 12 month tax disc.
You pay a premium for a 6 month disc. In either case you get the value of any unused complete calendar months refunded.

JMG_2

InsideIns and Five thanks for the clarification, the DVLA website has been confusing me no end. I'm glad to find out I havent been breaking the law.

Jimmy thanks for the tip about the 12 months, I should be ok to do that.

Next question (hopefully the last) any ideas where I can get short term insurance from? Thanks in advance.

InsideInsurance

There are many providers and just like normal annual cover they all have different pricing structures and so its a case of hitting Google and the aggregators

Rover_Driver

InsideInsurance wrote: »

As long as it was off the public highway (which is a wider definition than road) then no insurance is required whilst there is a SORN declaration in place.

The definition is 'public road' - a road maintained at public expense.

JimmyTheWig

Would this be an ideal case for going to a broker for?