Help please - failure to relicense vehicle

[devonshiredave]

Morning all,

Ok ive been a bit stupid, i bought a mazda mx5 a while ago which ive been taking to pieces in my garage as it is a non-runner, and soon to be track day caner.

Now being a thicko i totally forgot that i would need to declare SORN.

Got a letter from DVLA basically stating as much. Ive paid the fine - £40

Anyway - there is also a request for £30.84 "arrears"

The nice sounding welsh lady at the DVLA said paying the initial fine would "close the case" but that i may still be chased up for the amount in arrears - she suggested i take the matter up with my local dval enforcement office

Now its only 30 quid and its not going to make me insolvent, however, on the basis that my car wasnt actually in use (I.e. on the road being driven round with no tax) but is in fact completely un-driveable and in bits - i feel i shouldnt also be liable for any arrears, as i have not been using a service and not paying so to speak.

Anyone else got any experience on this? should i just keep my cakehole shut and hope they dont chase it up?

ETA - ah balls, wrong part of PH - could someone move this to SPL please

Edited by devonshiredave on Tuesday 19th August 13:22

[MitchT]

If you didn't SORN it then you might as well just pay-up and move on. The government and its various agencies will make £30 of arrears feel like a murder charge sooner than let it go.

[Dwight VanDriver]

Whilst I can understand the £80 surcharge ( reduced to 40 for early payment)for not declaring SORN I do not understand where the £38 somes from. What was their explanation for this?

Back duty?

dvd

[red griff roger]

It's pro-rata back duty. I fell into a similar trap, although my car was on the road. In mitigation, it is the car the kids drive, and I rarely go in it (1.0 Corsa). But I know I did not get a reminder. Fair cop - my fault and all. But it got me thinking. If the DVLA 'forgets' to send out, say, 2% of reminders, and there are, say, 40 million cars on our roads, then at £40 fine each, this is worth about £32m a year. Makes you think.

[chr15b]

yes, basically what they are saying is because the car wasnt taxed during this time or sorned that the VED is still due and the sorn only starts from now.

I had a similar situation where i'd sold a car (taxed) and the dealership did a reg transfer for me

long story short - the dealership claimed a refund on the tax, the dvla claim they never recieved the v5 from me notifying them i'd sold the car.

I paid the fine, filled in the forms to say the car was no longer mine, and questioned the 'back tax' i was told similar to you that i may or may not get chased for it.
The person on the phone could not take payment and told me to wait and see if i got a request for it via post - i've never been asked for it and i've never paid it..

[Dracoro]

red griff roger said:

It's pro-rata back duty. I fell into a similar trap, although my car was on the road. In mitigation, it is the car the kids drive, and I rarely go in it (1.0 Corsa). But I know I did not get a reminder. Fair cop - my fault and all. But it got me thinking. If the DVLA 'forgets' to send out, say, 2% of reminders, and there are, say, 40 million cars on our roads, then at £40 fine each, this is worth about £32m a year. Makes you think.

You make the great assunmtion that all the people who don't get reminders all conveniently forget to renew!

My tax is due end of sept, I'll retax it regardless of whether I get sent a reminder.

[wizzbilly]

i would just pay it for the sake of a good nights sleep mate to be honest there sods they wont give up till they have it .

i am in simplaer situation and due in court towards end of the month for not paying one , even though the veicle went to the scrap yard and over a year ago but because you have to declare sorn every year they are trying to still do me for that , even though i have phoned the dvla and the pepole taking me to court for it with no joy ,

so now i just ignore the letters as the dvla is stating its been demolished over a year ago , but there that daft dont think anyone talks to each other in there office

[Flintstone]

Been there, done that. Taxed a car for a year then traded it a few weeks later for a similar model. My mental calendar was telling me I had eleven more months to go so I blissfully drove around for six weeks untaxed (actually the car spent most of that in an airport car park).

I paid the arrears and was grateful not to be reported for driving untaxed.