DVLA road tax

Harris_Hawk

Afternoon everyone. we have just discovered my husbands car is not taxed, even though we have a monthly direct debit set up. We hadnt realised it was not being taken. I have contacted the bank and they say DVLA have not applied for payment since February 2024! Advice please

MyRealNameToo

Harris_Hawk said:

Afternoon everyone. we have just discovered my husbands car is not taxed, even though we have a monthly direct debit set up. We hadnt realised it was not being taken. I have contacted the bank and they say DVLA have not applied for payment since February 2024! Advice please

So you have used https://www.gov.uk/check-vehicle-tax and it says its not taxed?

If so, tax it. 

Brie

Is the car registered at an old address?  That would account for missed letters.

Please be aware that without being taxed it can't be insured and therefore illegal to drive.  All of that can be a worry but it's worse to be caught or have an accident and become financially liable for someone else's injuries.  

photome

Brie said:

Is the car registered at an old address?  That would account for missed letters.

Please be aware that without being taxed it can't be insured and therefore illegal to drive.  All of that can be a worry but it's worse to be caught or have an accident and become financially liable for someone else's injuries.  

Brie said:

Is the car registered at an old address?  That would account for missed letters.

Please be aware that without being taxed it can't be insured and therefore illegal to drive.  All of that can be a worry but it's worse to be caught or have an accident and become financially liable for someone else's injuries.  

It can be insured without tax but can’t be taxed without insurance

facade

photome said:

It can be insured without tax but can’t be taxed without insurance

Insurance is completely separate from tax, and subject to Continuous Insurance Rules- a vehicle must either be insured or declared SORN and kept off the road. (It must be insured whilst taxed, and can be insured whilst SORN, but does not need to be)

An MOT, valid on the day that the tax starts, is all that is required required to tax a vehicle.

The DVLA are supposed to write to the keeper if the MOT runs out before the tax renews, they will stop the DD if there is no valid MOT when the tax is supposed to start. (Probably without any further communication)

https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-tax-direct-debit/renewing

If the address on the V5 was not up to date when this happened , likely Feb 2024, the letter will have gone to the old address

(The DD also won't renew if there is no keeper on record for the vehicle, but the only way that can happen is if someone put it "in trade", unlikely if it is registered to your husband) 

sheramber

Did he just buy the car in 2024? 

Does your husband have the V5C  showing the car registered to him at your current address?

photome

facade said:

photome said:

It can be insured without tax but can’t be taxed without insurance

Insurance is completely separate from tax, and subject to Continuous Insurance Rules- a vehicle must either be insured or declared SORN and kept off the road. (It must be insured whilst taxed, and can be insured whilst SORN, but does not need to be)

An MOT, valid on the day that the tax starts, is all that is required required to tax a vehicle.

The DVLA are supposed to write to the keeper if the MOT runs out before the tax renews, they will stop the DD if there is no valid MOT when the tax is supposed to start. (Probably without any further communication)

https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-tax-direct-debit/renewing

If the address on the V5 was not up to date when this happened , likely Feb 2024, the letter will have gone to the old address

(The DD also won't renew if there is no keeper on record for the vehicle, but the only way that can happen is if someone put it "in trade", unlikely if it is registered to your husband) 

Yes I have no idea why I said it needs to be taxed to get insurance 

facade

photome said:

facade said:

photome said:

It can be insured without tax but can’t be taxed without insurance

Insurance is completely separate from tax, and subject to Continuous Insurance Rules- a vehicle must either be insured or declared SORN and kept off the road. (It must be insured whilst taxed, and can be insured whilst SORN, but does not need to be)

An MOT, valid on the day that the tax starts, is all that is required required to tax a vehicle.

The DVLA are supposed to write to the keeper if the MOT runs out before the tax renews, they will stop the DD if there is no valid MOT when the tax is supposed to start. (Probably without any further communication)

https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-tax-direct-debit/renewing

If the address on the V5 was not up to date when this happened , likely Feb 2024, the letter will have gone to the old address

(The DD also won't renew if there is no keeper on record for the vehicle, but the only way that can happen is if someone put it "in trade", unlikely if it is registered to your husband) 

Yes I have no idea why I said it needs to be taxed to get insurance 

Actually you didn't (pedant alert!!)

You said that 

it can be insured without tax = true (a SORN'd vehicle can be insured, in fact this is a Good Idea even if only theft cover, an untaxed but not SORN vehicle can be insured and driven, but fines/clamping/impounding are likely)

it can't be taxed without insurance = true if "be taxed" means "have valid tax"- Continuous Insurance will get you an angry letter, followed by a fine if you don't SORN or insure. (Not true if "be taxed" means renew the tax on it.)

I clarified that you can renew the tax without valid insurance, but not without a valid MOT (covering the day the tax starts)

Aretnap

Brie said:

Please be aware that without being taxed it can't be insured and therefore illegal to drive.  All of that can be a worry but it's worse to be caught or have an accident and become financially liable for someone else's injuries.  

This is not true. I have never seen an insurance policy whose terms required a car to be taxed. And even if one did, if you breached those terms an insurer would only be able to refuse to pay a claim if the fact that you hadn't taxed the car had somehow caused the accident that you were claiming for (nope, me neither).

It is of course illegal to drive an untaxed car, insurance or no insurance. But the penalty for that offense is a fine, no points, and certainly no liability for someone else's injuries. 

What should the OP do now? Tax the car immediately, then either breathe a sigh of relief that he doesn't seem to have been caught out or feel smug about having avoided a year and a half of tax, according to preference.

paul_c123

OP hasn't returned to answer whether its registered at a previous address. A notice/fine may well have been sent there.

CliveOfIndia

Aretnap said:

Brie said:

Please be aware that without being taxed it can't be insured and therefore illegal to drive.  All of that can be a worry but it's worse to be caught or have an accident and become financially liable for someone else's injuries.  

This is not true. I have never seen an insurance policy whose terms required a car to be taxed. 

Correct.  In fact, it's a discussion that often crops up on these boards - "If my car is SORN'd (and genuinely being stored off-road), does it have to be insured?".

The answer is "No", it doesn't have to be insured - at least, not from a legal standpoint.  But it can be a good idea - what happens if it gets stolen from your driveway, squished by a falling tree, hit by a heavy roof tile in high winds, catches fire due to an electrical fault, etc. etc. ?

For that reason, many people do keep some sort of insurance in place, even if it's SORN'd.