If you don’t use your car and want to cancel the road tax, you need to get it off the road or ‘SORN’ your car. SORN stands for ‘Statistical Shortcut Notice’ and you must file a notice to tell the government if you are towing your vehicle on the road. Failure to notify the government may result in automatic fines if you do not pay road tax, so it’s important to make sure you know how. To qualify for ‘SORN’, your car must be kept on private land or in a garage.
It’s easy to SORN your car to the DVLA and once it’s done, you don’t need to pay road taxes or have an insurance policy (though keep in mind it won’t be covered in the event of theft or damage). damaged without. ) After doing so, you will be sent a refund by the DVLA for any road tax you owe for the unused months in the form of a check. It is illegal to drive a car on a public road after declaring it ‘SORN’ – if you do, you could face a large fine or even have your vehicle confiscated if caught by the police, DVLA or cameras.
You can declare a vehicle ‘SORN’ through the DVLA website, and it can be done at any time. Gone are the days when you had to queue at the post office or fill out countless forms, although you can still do it by mail or by phone without a computer. Read on to find out the different ways you can REMOVE your vehicle.
How to declare SORN for your car
In addition to the vehicle’s registration number, make and model information, you’ll need a 16-digit reference number from the V11 auto tax renewal reminder or an 11-digit reference from the car’s V5C log. The DVLA website will tell you where to find these and walk you through the process. Make sure you’ve read the rules, so you know what you’re promising.
- Online – access www.gov.uk/make-a-sorn
- By mail – use form V890 (available at the Post Office) and mail it to the DVLA.
- By phone – call DVLA on 0300 123 4321
Whichever way you claim SORN, you should receive a confirmation letter from the DVLA within four weeks. If you do not receive this message, you must again check if your SORN has been processed successfully.
How long does SORN last and how to cancel it
Unlike road tax, you don’t need to renew your SORN return each year, and the SORN return is automatically canceled the moment you re-tax your vehicle.
Payment procedures how to tax your car…
How to ditch SORN a car and get it back on the road
Taxing a SORN’d vehicle is easy: you simply follow the same procedure for a vehicle that is about to run out of tax. You can do it online, at the post office or by phone.
If your car hasn’t been on the road for a long time, it at least needs a MoT, but it can also be a good service. When both of these are done, your vehicle should be safe to get back on the road.
Cars built more than 40 years ago won’t need to be formally tested for MoT, but we recommend having it professionally tested to make sure it’s safe to use on the road.
It should be noted that if you are driving to a MoT test station (you are allowed to drive a car that has not been MoT’d and/or tax-free to a booked test), make sure you have Have the right insurance to cover your journey and have checked that your tires, brakes, steering wheel and lights are in good working order before hitting the road.
Why do you need SORN your car?
In the UK, when someone owns a car it has to be insured and taxed by default. If it is not taxed or not insured, the government will assume it is being used on UK roads, unless it is SORN. This lets the government know that the car cannot be used on public roads without road taxes and insurance, helping to prevent anyone from getting through the net.
If your car is uninsured or tax-free, for whatever reason, get it off the road immediately and file a SORN with the DVLA.
If you don’t declare your SORN, the DVLA not only knows when your road tax has expired, but the organization can cross-reference with national insurance databases to find out which vehicles are no longer insurable. .
A warning letter will be sent and if you don’t take action an automatic fixed fine will be mailed – it’s £80 if your road tax has expired (reduced to £ 40 if you pay within 28 days), or £100 if your car is uninsured.
If you don’t settle, you’ll face court prosecution, at which point judges can increase the fine to £1,000 – plus court costs – for either tax or insurance.
However, don’t rely on the DVLA sending you a warning letter, as they’re not really obligated to do so. Even if you think you’ve got a letter but it hasn’t arrived, you’re still legally responsible for the violation and subject to fines.
When must you declare SORN
- If you buy a car and don’t tax it and insure it right away. (Road tax is no longer transferred with the vehicle to the new owner but will be refunded to the seller of the vehicle at the time of sale.)
- If you buy a vehicle that has been marked SORN by the previous owner. (The SORN declaration is not transferrable, so you must immediately make a new declaration as the new owner.)
- If your road tax expires and your car has not been on the road for more than 14 days.
- If your car does not have valid insurance.
- If you are breaking a car to get parts. When it is removed, you must also declare this.
Is it illegal to drive SORN cars?
Sometimes you may be tempted to drive a SORN for a spin – for example, if it’s on the road for an extended repair and you want a test drive or you’ve just returned from a long stay abroad .
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However, unless you are on your way to a pre-booked MoT or another government check, this is against the law. If you are arrested – or your license plate is recorded on the ANPR camera system – authorities will have a very blurred view. You could face prosecution and fines of up to £2,500.
Now that you know how to SORN your car, check out our guide to buy a dynamo and run it for the price of peanuts…
