Letter from MIB. Fine for un-insured vehicle sitting on my own drive!

TooManyPoints

"Repairs vehicles"

You forgot the first bit:

You can apply for trade licence plates if you’re a motor dealer, motor trader or vehicle tester. This means your business does one or more of the following:,,,

The clue is in the name: they are trade plates.

paul_c123

OP couldn't afford trade insurance anyway. He'll have to play by the rules or get it transported.

I guess continuous insurance does make things harder for certain things. Needs to look around for a better or more suitable insurance product.

WellKnownSid

https://www.cuvva.com/how-insurance-works/continuous-insurance-enforcement

OP: if Cuvva find out what you are doing they will consider that you are not using the product in the way they intend and will ban you.

mgfvvc

Cad169 said:

... I cannot afford to insure two cars at once....

There is a cheaper form of insurance known as SORN insurance/laid up cover. I can't say how much cheaper as I have never needed it. Get a few quotes and let us know whether it is cheap enough to solve the issue.

Aretnap

mgfvvc said:

Cad169 said:

... I cannot afford to insure two cars at once....

There is a cheaper form of insurance known as SORN insurance/laid up cover. I can't say how much cheaper as I have never needed it. Get a few quotes and let us know whether it is cheap enough to solve the issue.

Not sure that helps the OP. Laid up cover provides cover for fire and theft, but no cover for anything to do with road accidents, meaning no third party cover. So for the purposes of continuous insurance regulations it's the same as not being insured at all, and he would still have to unSORN/reSORN the vehicle (and get "proper" insurance whenever he wants to use it. Deals with the risk of it being stolen while on his driveway, but that doesn't seem to be his main worry.

By all accounts it's also not always very much cheaper than normal comprehensive cover. It's a niche product rather than a mass market product so the market is less competitive with only a few providers, and the admin costs are greater relative to the cost of claims, so the fact that it covers less doesn't necessarily translate into much lower prices.

mgfvvc

Aretnap said:

mgfvvc said:

There is a cheaper form of insurance known as SORN insurance/laid up cover. I can't say how much cheaper as I have never needed it. Get a few quotes and let us know whether it is cheap enough to solve the issue.

Not sure that helps the OP. Laid up cover provides cover for fire and theft, but no cover for anything to do with road accidents, meaning no third party cover. So for the purposes of continuous insurance regulations it's the same as not being insured at all, and he would still have to unSORN/reSORN the vehicle (and get "proper" insurance whenever he wants to use it. Deals with the risk of it being stolen while on his driveway, but that doesn't seem to be his main worry.

The quoted context was "I can't afford to insure two cars at once", from which I intended readers to infer that the issue it might deal with was that of having to keep some insurance on it to avoid getting fined. Obviously it is only helpful if it is significantly cheaper than regular insurance.

born_again

paul_c123 said:

OP couldn't afford trade insurance anyway. He'll have to play by the rules or get it transported.

I guess continuous insurance does make things harder for certain things. Needs to look around for a better or more suitable insurance product.

Would also have to declare as a business, given all the buying, repairing & selling of bikes etc..

paul_c123

You can run a business, and it be a loss-making thing which looks very similar to a hobby.

Cad169

Thank you so much for all the replies, it's been very helpful. Ha! The biking thing is just a hobby as I'm retired now. There is certainly no profit in that. I tend to buy a bike, customise it, go on a couple of tours, then sell it, and get another bike. My intention is to keep them all the time, but hey, and bikers will know this only too well....soooo many bikes, not enough time! I lose on them every time, as the bike is another year older and has at least another six / seven thousand miles on the clock. I just thought why not try it with a car....only a car I always keep for at least eight years....ha! certainly no profit in that....not sure any of that can be considered as good business!! Having worked on computers and drawing boards most of my life, it's just good to get one's hands dirty, work in the garage, with the radio on and a fresh cuppa....love it!.

Thank you, WellKNownSid, for telling me about the Cuvva restrictions. I never knew that. The way they advertise it, they make it sound as though it's literally for temporary insurance....shows you should read the small print.

This has all been so informative....Mat Armstrong and the like make it look so easy on the TV, all this red tape, I'm sure not many people realise....hopefully this thread will go on to teach a good few wannabe builders like me....it certainly has taught me a thing or two.....thank you all. 

Aretnap

mgfvvc said:

Aretnap said:

mgfvvc said:

There is a cheaper form of insurance known as SORN insurance/laid up cover. I can't say how much cheaper as I have never needed it. Get a few quotes and let us know whether it is cheap enough to solve the issue.

Not sure that helps the OP. Laid up cover provides cover for fire and theft, but no cover for anything to do with road accidents, meaning no third party cover. So for the purposes of continuous insurance regulations it's the same as not being insured at all, and he would still have to unSORN/reSORN the vehicle (and get "proper" insurance whenever he wants to use it. Deals with the risk of it being stolen while on his driveway, but that doesn't seem to be his main worry.

The quoted context was "I can't afford to insure two cars at once", from which I intended readers to infer that the issue it might deal with was that of having to keep some insurance on it to avoid getting fined. 

It doesn't avoid that problem though as it won't stop him getting fined. The car has to be insured against third party risks, not just have "some insurance.on it", and SORN/laid up insurance doesn't do that.