Vehicle not sorn but off the road

ChrisDeavall

Hello there fellow road users, I'd like a little help even though I know I can assume this is well past that point, last December my insurance ran out on my land rover, fuel tank hanging off I decided not to bother renewing the policy, I did however not declare the vehicle sorn! I was under the impression if the dvla popped round they'd see my heap of a vehicle and understand..I didn't receive the letters from the dvla asking about tax as I was not living at the address to which my license was registered, parents house, and I was temporarily living with a friend with mental problems, but the car was previously insured to my new address.. so I carried on. Recieved a court summons with the options to plead guilty or not guilty as I had missed my fine letters for not being insured on the vehicle and it was therefore being dragged into the court system, I pleaded guilty by mail as court is just not an option at the moment and today I have been given the resulting £210 fine from the magistrates. I was wondering if I have reason to contest as
1. They have no evidence the vehicle was being used,
2.why should i by law need the vehicle insured as it would be my loss if stolen ,not there's,
3.by not declaring the vehicle sorn, my tax disc was on the car until April and by not reclaiming that money, they have kept atleast £50-100 already (£240 for 12 months I believe)

I know I've been foolish but so much has been happening in my life, little things like this get missed and I always end up forking out for a person sat on a computer telling me I'm breaking laws, if they had actually done some work and visited the address it could have been resolved sooner and they would have atleast earned that money!

Thank you and Best wishes Chris

POPPYOSCAR

ChrisDeavall wrote: »

Hello there fellow road users, I'd like a little help even though I know I can assume this is well past that point, last December my insurance ran out on my land rover, fuel tank hanging off I decided not to bother renewing the policy, I did however not declare the vehicle sorn! I was under the impression if the dvla popped round they'd see my heap of a vehicle and understand..I didn't receive the letters from the dvla asking about tax as I was not living at the address to which my license was registered, parents house, and I was temporarily living with a friend with mental problems, but the car was previously insured to my new address.. so I carried on. Recieved a court summons with the options to plead guilty or not guilty as I had missed my fine letters for not being insured on the vehicle and it was therefore being dragged into the court system, I pleaded guilty by mail as court is just not an option at the moment and today I have been given the resulting £210 fine from the magistrates. I was wondering if I have reason to contest as
1. They have no evidence the vehicle was being used,
2.why should i by law need the vehicle insured as it would be my loss if stolen ,not there's,
3.by not declaring the vehicle sorn, my tax disc was on the car until April and by not reclaiming that money, they have kept atleast £50-100 already (£240 for 12 months I believe)

I know I've been foolish but so much has been happening in my life, little things like this get missed and I always end up forking out for a person sat on a computer telling me I'm breaking laws, if they had actually done some work and visited the address it could have been resolved sooner and they would have atleast earned that money!

Thank you and Best wishes Chris

Ha ha - hilarious!

smudger1964

Its wishfull thinking the police or dvla have time to pay personal visits to everyone who hasnt renewed their insurance or tax or mot ..Thats why the sorn system is there..
The system right or wrong isnt set up to come round and ask if you have a lot going on in your life

ChrisDeavall

If you think that's funny... I bought a new Audi a1 in may and then went on holiday to morocco in July, the friend I was living with took it for a joyride and wrote it off, insurance refused to pay out and still are, that court dates in November so I may get some news by then..
Abit !!!!!! my life haha..

ChrisDeavall

From the dvla's point of view are they not pursuing this because they believe I am still using the vehicle? Do they not need evidence for that?

BigBopper

ChrisDeavall wrote: »

From the dvla's point of view are they not pursuing this because they believe I am still using the vehicle? Do they not need evidence for that?

Why not have a read of the continuous insurance rules.

slink85

they didn't need any evidence, you pleaded guilty, its an open and shut case.

HappyMJ

ChrisDeavall wrote: »

Hello there fellow road users, I'd like a little help even though I know I can assume this is well past that point, last December my insurance ran out on my land rover, fuel tank hanging off I decided not to bother renewing the policy, I did however not declare the vehicle sorn! I was under the impression if the dvla popped round they'd see my heap of a vehicle and understand..I didn't receive the letters from the dvla asking about tax as I was not living at the address to which my license was registered, parents house, and I was temporarily living with a friend with mental problems, but the car was previously insured to my new address.. so I carried on. Recieved a court summons with the options to plead guilty or not guilty as I had missed my fine letters for not being insured on the vehicle and it was therefore being dragged into the court system, I pleaded guilty by mail as court is just not an option at the moment and today I have been given the resulting £210 fine from the magistrates. I was wondering if I have reason to contest as
1. They have no evidence the vehicle was being used,
2.why should i by law need the vehicle insured as it would be my loss if stolen ,not there's,
3.by not declaring the vehicle sorn, my tax disc was on the car until April and by not reclaiming that money, they have kept atleast £50-100 already (£240 for 12 months I believe)

I know I've been foolish but so much has been happening in my life, little things like this get missed and I always end up forking out for a person sat on a computer telling me I'm breaking laws, if they had actually done some work and visited the address it could have been resolved sooner and they would have atleast earned that money!

Thank you and Best wishes Chris

You plead guilty. No evidence as to your guilt is required.

You plead not guilty and they need to provide evidence to prove your guilt and you provide evidence to prove your innocence and/or provide mitigating factors to reduce the penalty.

Justice13075

The law is quite straight forward. Even if your vehicle is not parked on a road unless it is SORN or SRAPPED you need insurance. If you had SORN or SCRAPPED your vehicle you could have applied for a rebate on your Car Tax. You have nowhere to go with this give it up is my advice. You are lucky your vehicle wasn't on a road or it could have been towed away with all that extra cost.

Aretnap

ChrisDeavall wrote: »

1. They have no evidence the vehicle was being used,

They don't need it. As the registered keeper you have a responsibility to ensure that the car is either insured or SORNed at all times, whether or not it is being used. This has been the law since 2011 - it's not a new thing.

2.why should i by law need the vehicle insured as it would be my loss if stolen ,not there's,

You don't have to insure it against theft if you don't want to - but it must have third party only insurance at a minimum, unless you have SORNed it.

SORN is essentially a promise that you won't use the car on a road, so if you're not going to insure it it doesn't seem unreasonable to ask you to make that promise. The counter-argument might be that it's none of the government's business so long as you don't harm anyone - but the government has decided that owning a car comes with responsibilities, hence you're required to register it with the DVLA, get it MOT tested annually... and inform them that it's off road if you don't insure it. Ultimately if you disagree with the law you can write to your MP and ask for it to be changed, but you can't challenge a conviction on the grounds that you don't like the law as it stands.

3.by not declaring the vehicle sorn, my tax disc was on the car until April and by not reclaiming that money, they have kept atleast £50-100 already (£240 for 12 months I believe)

Another reason why you would have been better to SORN it - but it doesn't change the fact that you broke the law (albeit in a fairly minor way).

And in any event, having pleaded guilty you can't now appeal against the conviction. You could appeal against the sentence, but you'd be looking at a further several hundred pounds in costs, with little chance of getting the fine reduced at the end (£200ish sounds about the norm). Better to pay the fine and move on.