SORN fine after vehicle was given to dealership to sell on consignment

YorkshireLad1

i gave my vehicle to a motor trader to sell on my behalf, so on consignment, stopped my insurance and tax, as it was covered by dealer. But a month later I got a fine from the DVLA for not having tax and insurance - I explained to them the vehicle was for sale at a dealership and covered by their insurance. DVLA replied and said I should have SORN the vehicle. Makes no sense. How could I register the car a s'off road' if it being used for road tests etc?

WellKnownSid

You are the registered keeper, right?  So you are obliged to have the car insured and taxed at all times, unless you are keeping it off the road when it must be SORN'd.

NBLondon

Did the dealer tell you to cancel the tax and insurance?  They may have said that it was covered by their insurance when out on test drives and on their property but I can't see how it would be covered by their tax.  Unless you can SORN it and it then can only be driven on dealer plates.  (Do they still exist? the red and white ones?  can any of the ex-dealers here clarify?) 

WellKnownSid

Yes trade plates are normal for untaxed cars

DullGreyGuy

Did you complete section 4 of the V5c to confirm the motor trader is now the keeper of the vehicle? 

If not then you remain liable for it. What does your agreement with the dealer say about fines/penalties etc whilst it is in their control?

CliveOfIndia

NBLondon said:

but I can't see how it would be covered by their tax.  Unless you can SORN it and it then can only be driven on dealer plates.  (Do they still exist? the red and white ones?  can any of the ex-dealers here clarify?) 

Yes, that's one of the reasons a dealer will use trade plates on test drives.  The car is "untaxed" in the sense that you or I would understand, but it's covered by the trade plates (sorry, I don't know the exact mechanics of it, but I do know that it allows them to drive "untaxed" vehicles).

To the OP, if I understand correctly the car was still registered to you?  And what do you mean by "stopped my insurance and tax".  You cancelled the insurance?  That's fair enough as far as it goes.  But presumably when you say you "stopped the tax" you didn't SORN it?  That being the case then yes you're in the wrong (just taking a very black-and-white view of the law, I don't mean it personally).  If the vehicle is uninsured it must be declared SORN (and actually kept off the road).

Had the dealer actually bought the car off you and registered it in his own name then it would have been no problem.  But I'm guessing the car was still registered to you and was showing as having no insurance in your name?

paul_c123

YorkshireLad1 said:

i gave my vehicle to a motor trader to sell on my behalf, so on consignment, stopped my insurance and tax, as it was covered by dealer. But a month later I got a fine from the DVLA for not having tax and insurance - I explained to them the vehicle was for sale at a dealership and covered by their insurance. DVLA replied and said I should have SORN the vehicle. Makes no sense. How could I register the car a s'off road' if it being used for road tests etc?

Selling on consignment is an unusual arrangement. Why did you choose this? The only advantage I can think of, is that you might make more money from the dealer taking say a fixed percentage once sold, rather than selling at trade to the dealer, then them selling it at retail and taking the profit in a conventional fashion.

Also there is the option to "unwind" the arrangement and take back the car.

In this situation its probably not appropriate to give up being the registered keeper and the car "enter the trade". The reason being, if you did unwind the deal, you'd need to reregister and it would add a registered keeper to the car.

BUT if you're still the registered keeper....what if there was a speeding ticket? You'd be one step removed from knowing who the driver was at the time. Also there is a question mark on whether the dealer's insurance would cover them for a car not owned by them. And if you do cancel the insurance, you must also cancel the tax (ie SORN it) because of the requirement for continuous insurance. And then you're relying on the dealer to always use the trade plates while moving it around on the road (and stay within the restrictions on them, in doing so).

Since you say you stopped the tax, may I ask - what did you do to stop it? 

Mildly_Miffed

paul_c123 said:

BUT if you're still the registered keeper....what if there was a speeding ticket? 

Simple. You nominate the dealer who was in possession of the car.

It's then their problem to identify the actual driver.

Car_54

CliveOfIndia said:

NBLondon said:

but I can't see how it would be covered by their tax.  Unless you can SORN it and it then can only be driven on dealer plates.  (Do they still exist? the red and white ones?  can any of the ex-dealers here clarify?) 

Yes, that's one of the reasons a dealer will use trade plates on test drives.  The car is "untaxed" in the sense that you or I would understand, but it's covered by the trade plates (sorry, I don't know the exact mechanics of it, but I do know that it allows them to drive "untaxed" vehicles).

No complicated mechanics involved really - driving untaxed vehicles is the sole purpose of trade plates.

Mildly_Miffed

paul_c123 said:

Since you say you stopped the tax, may I ask - what did you do to stop it? 

The only way to cancel ongoing tax is to SORN a vehicle.

But simply not renewing it would leave it unlicenced.

CliveOfIndia

Car_54 said:

No complicated mechanics involved really - driving untaxed vehicles is the sole purpose of trade plates.

Thanks for clarifying.  Slightly off-topic, do the trade plates also mean the car is covered by the dealer's "blanket" insurance as well.  Again, I don't know the specifics, but always assumed they have some sort of policy that covers them for any car that's legally part of their stock?