SORN question - unadopted road.

suffolkb

The mot on my car expires in a couple of days. Until I find a new job, I will take it off the road and use the motorbike. My question is: what constitutes off road?
I live on an unadopted road of 8 houses. We are responsible for the upkeep of the road, not the council. We have to take our dustbins on to the main road as they will not go down the road. Each house has an allocated parking space according to the lease. I want to know if I can leave the car in my parking space or should I move it onto my lawn?
DVLA tell me it is down to the council. The council say the opposite.

droopsnoot

It's quite hard to get a definitive answer on this. The consensus seems to be that a public road is defined as "a road maintained at the public expense", but some contend that it actually means "a road to which there is public access". If you are responsible for the upkeep of the road that would imply that it is not public.

Joe_Horner

Bear iin mind that, if it still has tax and you keep the insurance valid, it doesn't need to be SORN just for the lack of MOT. Depends when the tax / insurance are due and whether you want to cash them in, but it may give you a little breathing space.

suffolkb

Thanks. The car is taxed until the end of June and insured until September.
So it is ok to leave it without a sorn until the tax runs out? Gives me 2 months to decide.
I should sell it really, as it is hardly used. But it is 14 years old and just coming up to 90,000 miles so not worth much. I would like to get it to 100k before my daughter takes it after she learns to drive.

Tilt

suffolkb wrote: »

Thanks. The car is taxed until the end of June and insured until September.
So it is ok to leave it without a sorn until the tax runs out? Gives me 2 months to decide.
I should sell it really, as it is hardly used. But it is 14 years old and just coming up to 90,000 miles so not worth much. I would like to get it to 100k before my daughter takes it after she learns to drive.

No need to SORN then.

Bigphil1474

Don't need to SORN for MOT expiring - it is purely for road tax expiry. It is an offence to use a car without an MOT, but not to park it on the road. Only insurance and road tax have to be valid when parked on the public highway. http://www.gov.uk/register-sorn-statutory-off-road-notification has more info.

Joe_Horner

suffolkb wrote: »

Thanks. The car is taxed until the end of June and insured until September.
So it is ok to leave it without a sorn until the tax runs out? Gives me 2 months to decide.
I should sell it really, as it is hardly used. But it is 14 years old and just coming up to 90,000 miles so not worth much. I would like to get it to 100k before my daughter takes it after she learns to drive.

Yep, absolutely fine to leave it parked up without a SORN regardless of the staus of the road.

You'll lose the refund of one month tax (you wouldn't be able to claim May's now anyway) which is probably not worth worrying about, and also any insurance refund - but by the time they adjust everything that's usually minimal as well.

On the other hand, if you do find you need it again in that time then everything is in place to just MOT it and start driving.

Rover_Driver

droopsnoot wrote: »

It's quite hard to get a definitive answer on this. The consensus seems to be that a public road is defined as "a road maintained at the public expense", but some contend that it actually means "a road to which there is public access". If you are responsible for the upkeep of the road that would imply that it is not public.

As far as vehicle licences and SORN are concerned, the definition of a public road is (in England & Wales) 'a road maintainable at public expense', (in Scotland) the same as in the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984.
S.62, Vehicles Excise & Registration Act 1994.

Other legislation may have different definitions eg. it is the Road Traffic Act 1988 that mentions public access.

System

droopsnoot wrote: »

It's quite hard to get a definitive answer on this. The consensus seems to be that a public road is defined as "a road maintained at the public expense", but some contend that it actually means "a road to which there is public access". If you are responsible for the upkeep of the road that would imply that it is not public.

DVLA have responded to an FOI request with the definitions that they work under.
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/51661/response/134122/attach/html/3/FOIR2214.pdf.html

Rover_Driver

!!!!!! wrote: »

DVLA have responded to an FOI request with the definitions that they work under.
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/51661/response/134122/attach/html/3/FOIR2214.pdf.html

Which shows that you have to know what the legislation is to find the relevant definition.

Aretnap

Bigphil1474 wrote: »

It is an offence to use a car without an MOT, but not to park it on the road.

It's an offence to "use" a car without an MOT on a public road. The higher courts have interpreted "use" to mean "have use of" (link), and ruled that yes it is an offence to park a car on a public road without an MOT. In this context "public" means a road to which the public have access, irrespective of who owns and maintains it.

This is entirely separate from the vehicle's tax/SORN status.

A quiet unadopted driveway may well not meet the definition of a public road - does anyone other than the residents of the 8 houses and their visitors actually use it - eg do other people use it as a short cut? Even if it is a public place the chances of getting caught parking your on-MOTed car there would probably slim (though not zero). If you did get caught it would likely be a £100 fixed penalty and no points.