Bought van, no tax, can I drive

[poppynurse]

I bought a van on Friday, have notified insurers, am waiting for certificate of insurance so I can tax it. I need to drive the van on Monday - can I do so? I will be back dating the tax as soon as the certificate of ins. arrives.

[maroondevo52]

Hi, poppynurse.

 

I would'nt think so, but don't take my word for it

 

Regards.

 

Scott.

[Wilma Shoozfit]

Just copies this from the DVLA site.

What if you don't tax or SORN your vehicle : Directgov - Motoring

Quote:

"If you don’t tax or SORN your vehicle you could be stopped by the police.

You’ll get an automatic penalty of £80, as well as paying for a new tax disc and any arrears of vehicle tax you owe.

You could also get a County Court Judgement against you, and be fined a minimum of £1000.

The maximum penalty for making a false declaration by declaring SORN when the vehicle is actually used or kept on a public road is £5000 and two years imprisonment.

Your vehicle could be clamped by one of DVLA's wheelclamping partners. You’ll need to pay to have your vehicle released as well as producing a valid tax disc or a surety fee if no disc is available. If you fail to pay, your vehicle will be impounded, incurring storage charges. If you don’t pay the release or storage fees, your vehicle could be crushed or sold."

 

It's not worth it!

 

I also believe that driving a vehicle without tax can invalidate your insurance - that I'm not 100% on!

[poppynurse]

It's just such a pain - I want to tax it but can't until the cert of ins arrives in the post! The PO won't accept a faxed copy and I can't do it online/phone as we are new keepers aaargh!!!!

[btonbadger]

It's just such a pain - I want to tax it but can't until the cert of ins arrives in the post! The PO won't accept a faxed copy and I can't do it online/phone as we are new keepers aaargh!!!!

 

(Edit)

 

I used this lot to insure a van in order to get tax. Paid for one day's worth, printed the documents and the post office were fine with it.

 

----

edit... got "botted" for giving a link... do a google search for temporary cover and you'll find various companies that offer one day insurance that should be fine for taxing purposes

Edited March 8, 2009 by btonbadger
Removed commercial 'link'

[wheelergeezer]

Deleted By Wg

Edited July 17, 2009 by wheelergeezer

[patdavies]

You cannot drive a motor vehicle on the public highway without it being taxed EXCEPT if you are travelling to or from a pre booked MoT within a reasonable distance of where the car is currently or if the vehicle is tax-excempt.

 

Absolute tosh. Travelling to/from a pre-booked MoT automatically makes the vehicle exempt.

 

1) there is no restriction on distance whatsoever in the relevant legislation, and.

2) there are other valid reasons for a vehicle to be classed as an exempt vehicle.

 

Reference is Schedule 2 of Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994

 

Now, Day insurance etc. The post office have been told NOT to accept this for taxing vehicles but some do slip through the net. It is a frustrating business but in the event of a collision, you may find youself uninsured as most policies will have wording hidden deep in the terms to teh effect that the car must be roadworthy and legally used on the highway. Untaxed, means illegally thus a get out clause for the insureres.

No, it is not a get out for the insurers.

 

If it were, how do you drive an exempt vehicle for MoT as per your post?

 

Even if the insurance, for some reasons best known to themselves, did insist that the vehicle had VED, the lack of VED would merely void the insurance - minimum cover would still apply - as per the requirements of the RTA.

[flyingdoc]

this is a pathetic situation, which I have myself been in on a number of occasions.

 

They have made things stupidly difficult.

[poppynurse]

I agree - I have no intention of avoiding paying the tax but the stupid system means I cannot get the tax until the postman brings the ins cert. I got the cert on Tuesday, went down and taxed it backdated to the beginning of the month. This basically means I have paid for 10 days tax and 4 days insurance and been unable to legally use the dmn thing....

[bazak1]

If this happens again do the next best thing. BEFORE you buy the vehicle, as the seller to tax it for you and add the amount on to whatever you are paying for it. Most people will do this.

[daKlone]

If you insure with Swiftcover (and I'm sure other insurers do it, but I can't think of any) they allow you to print your own Certificate of Insurance as soon as you take out the policy.

[missdpd]

I know its frustrating and annoying, but put the shoe on the other foot. If you were in an accident with someone who had just purchased a vehicle but had no tax on it because their insurance documents hadn't arrived, their insurance would then be invalid due to no tax disc and you, being the victim, would be the one who would suffer by having to claim through your own insurance thus possibly losing your no claims and increasing your insurance premiums because theirs would not be worth the paper it's written on.

 

It's not worth it.

[crem]

I know its frustrating and annoying, but put the shoe on the other foot. If you were in an accident with someone who had just purchased a vehicle but had no tax on it because their insurance documents hadn't arrived, their insurance would then be invalid due to no tax disc and you, being the victim, would be the one who would suffer by having to claim through your own insurance thus possibly losing your no claims and increasing your insurance premiums because theirs would not be worth the paper it's written on.

 

It's not worth it.

 

 

A valid point made missdpd, however, the unreasonable element comes in when, for example as in poppynurse's case, when she taxed it on 10th of the month, it is backdated to the 1st.

 

If the system allowed VED tax to start on a variable day, discounted for the missing days, at least we could view that as a fair step.

[flyingdr]

Hi

 

If you have insured it then you can tax it online, assuming it has been updated on the database and has a current valid new MOT certificate. The problem being they will send the tax disc to the registered keeper as per the V5C record . But it will be taxed and will not flag on any ANPR / Database sytem.

 

I recall the DVLA saying that a car may be driven on the road if a disc has been applied for using the direct gov site. It may be best to check this out on their or call them to confirm.

 

Hope this helps

[poppynurse]

You can't tax it online unless you are the registered keeper....

[flyingdoc]

If the system allowed VED tax to start on a variable day, discounted for the missing days, at least we could view that as a fair step.

 

Nothing about the government is fair.

 

It is alway a case of heads I win tails you lose with them, especially when it comes to any kind of revenue

[patdavies]

If you were in an accident with someone who had just purchased a vehicle but had no tax on it because their insurance documents hadn't arrived, their insurance would then be invalid due to no tax disc and you, being the victim, would be the one who would suffer by having to claim through your own insurance thus possibly losing your no claims and increasing your insurance premiums because theirs would not be worth the paper it's written on.

 

It's not worth it.

 

Absolute rubbish.

 

Lack of VED does not invalidate insurance, this is a oft-repeated urban myth that needs stamping out

[patdavies]

A valid point made missdpd,

 

No, Crem, it's not. It's urban myth.

 

Think about it for a moment - how do you drive an untaxed car to its MoT test if the insurance is invalid due to no tax - a bit Catch-22, no?

[crem]

You are right on this point of course patdavies.

[flyingdoc]

a bit Catch-22, no?

 

while I agree your point about no tax not invalidating insurance - the catch 22 has never bothered the DVLA.

 

They dont give a stuff if they make it virtually impossible or incredibly difficult to comply with the law - in fact it is in their interest to do so as the revenue generation is much better.

 

In this computerised day and age it should be possible to do all of this instantly with no mess no fuss and no delays.