Continuous Insurance Enforcement - Help!!

[MTech535]

My girlfriend was given a new car and her previous car has been parked off road, taxed but uninsured since.The tax/VED expired at the end of March, so I SORN'd the vehicle before the VED expired. (I was not aware of the CIE rules!)

I have since received a letter from DVLA stating that it was not insured on 25/03/14 and we need to pay a fine.

Obviously, I am looking for a way I can avoid paying this fine, but looking at the rules I think I will just have to pay it. I really don't like paying fines when I don't feel we have done anything wrong (Just ignorant of the rules - I know it is not a good excuse)

Does anyone have any advice regarding this issue?

Thanks.

[hornetrider]

Did you not get a warning? I got a warning when my bike was off the road over winter and I forgot to SORN it.

[Disco You]

You broke the rules and have received a punishment. What is it that you need help with?

[herewego]

So when was the insurance transferred?

[LoonR1]

MTech535 said:

My girlfriend was given a new car and her previous car has been parked off road, taxed but uninsured since.The tax/VED expired at the end of March, so I SORN'd the vehicle before the VED expired. (I was not aware of the CIE rules!)

I have since received a letter from DVLA stating that it was not insured on 25/03/14 and we need to pay a fine.

Obviously, I am looking for a way I can avoid paying this fine, but looking at the rules I think I will just have to pay it. I really don't like paying fines when I don't feel we have done anything wrong (Just ignorant of the rules - I know it is not a good excuse)

Does anyone have any advice regarding this issue?

Thanks.

Are you saying that they have fined you for one day without insurance?

Also, are you saying that you've already received this fine?

Either way it's bullst. A fine can't be issued that quickly. Secondly, if you've SORNed it than all subsequent enforcement action ceases.

In all honesty these threads are getting painful. However, if I'm wrong then here's an offer. If you take a photo of the fine and upload it on here then I'll quit SP&L for good, which in sure will make quite a few people's day / week / month / year.

[MTech535]

No Warning received as far as I am aware.

Thanks Disco You, very helpful - I realise that is the case - I need help with finding out if there are any cunning ways to get out of the punishment.

Transferred the insurance over to the new vehicle back in Feb - old vehicle parked on drive since - not aware of the CIE rules, so thought OK as off road and VED paid.

Clearly not.

[LoonR1]

So she got her new car in Feb and then you decided completely at random to SORN the car just before the tax ran out at the end of March. That seems quite strange.

Anyway, where's the photo of the fine? I could be gone from this thread with it.

One last thought:

Ignorantia juris non excusat

[MTech535]

LoonR1 said:

Are you saying that they have fined you for one day without insurance?

Also, are you saying that you've already received this fine?

Either way it's bullst. A fine can't be issued that quickly. Secondly, if you've SORNed it than all subsequent enforcement action ceases.

In all honesty these threads are getting painful. However, if I'm wrong then here's an offer. If you take a photo of the fine and upload it on here then I'll quit SP&L for good, which in sure will make quite a few people's day / week / month / year.

Maybe I was not clear - I think the fine for the letter had already been issued when I SORN'd the vehicle. Fine says no insurance on 25/03/15 (this is correct, there was no insurance at this time). I did not SORN until 31/03/15 when the VED on the vehicle was due to expire, even though the vehicle had been parked off road for a number of weeks.

Obviously, what I should have done was deal with it immediately, but I've had too much other st to deal with over the last few weeks.

Definitely not bullst, but not sure I want to be responsible for you leaving LoonR1

[hornetrider]

MTech535 said:

but not sure I want to be responsible for you leaving LoonR1

Don't be shy. Post the redacted pics of the relevant stuff.

[MTech535]

LoonR1 said:

So she got her new car in Feb and then you decided completely at random to SORN the car just before the tax ran out at the end of March. That seems quite strange.

Anyway, where's the photo of the fine? I could be gone from this thread with it.

One last thought:

Ignorantia juris non excusat

Not quite SORN'd the car because I thought, "Oh st, Car tax runs out today - either need to get SORN'd or buy more tax!" (would be difficult with no insurance I suspect).

I am really good at putting stuff off until the last minute (for example I receive the fine over a week agao and have done nothing about it until today (Fine increases to £100 next week!)

RE: your last thought - this is what I thought (hence me stating this in my OP:"Just ignorant of the rules - I know it is not a good excuse" - I came on here hoping someone had already been in this position and managed to get away with it.

[MTech535]

hornetrider said:

Don't be shy. Post the redacted pics of the relevant stuff.

Is there some history here?

[Roo]

MTech535 said:

"Oh st, Car tax runs out today - either need to get SORN'd or buy more tax!" (would be difficult with no insurance I suspect).

Believe it or not, surprisingly easy to do as you don't need to provide proof of insurance to get road tax.

[MTech535]

LoonR1,
You stated that "Secondly, if you've SORNed it than all subsequent enforcement action ceases."

Does this apply even though the SORN was after the date of the offence (even though I was not aware of the offence at the time)?

If so

How can I get confirmation that no further action will be taken - the DVLA do not seem to want to discuss just "fill in the form to dispute it." But the form does not cover the grounds for my dispute (so I am assuming I have no grounds to dispute it.)

[MTech535]

Roo said:

Believe it or not, surprisingly easy to do as you don't need to provide proof of insurance to get road tax.

You always used to have to show proof of insurance - I assumed there was now some online check.

ETA - not that having taxed it instead or SORN would help in this instance.

[Roo]

MTech535 said:

Roo said:

Believe it or not, surprisingly easy to do as you don't need to provide proof of insurance to get road tax.

You always used to have to show proof of insurance - I assumed there was now some online check.

Nope. Because you can't have a car taxed without valid insurance under CIE it's assumed it's insured when you tax it. If not, as you've found out, they'll send you a fine.

[Sheepshanks]

LoonR1 said:

So she got her new car in Feb and then you decided completely at random to SORN the car just before the tax ran out at the end of March. That seems quite strange.

Until CIE came along that would be an entirely normal course of events.

[LoonR1]

Sheepshanks said:

Until CIE came along that would be an entirely normal course of events.

You're right most people would waste money paying road tax for a car they couldn't use on the road as a matter of course. CIE is not new, yet we suddenly seem to have a thread a day about it. Wonder why that is?

[TooMany2cvs]

MTech535 said:

You always used to have to show proof of insurance - I assumed there was now some online check.

Because that was the only time in the year that the existence of insurance got checked. Obviously, that was a bit crap, especially when you could then sell the freshly-taxed car the following day.

So, since the introduction of CIE in 2011, the insurance doesn't NEED to be checked at the time of buying the tax, because it HAS to be in place the entire year, and is checked the entire year - although the requirement to prove insurance at tax purchase was only finally dropped in 2013.

[LoonR1]

MTech535 said:

LoonR1,
You stated that "Secondly, if you've SORNed it than all subsequent enforcement action ceases."

Does this apply even though the SORN was after the date of the offence (even though I was not aware of the offence at the time)?

If so

How can I get confirmation that no further action will be taken - the DVLA do not seem to want to discuss just "fill in the form to dispute it." But the form does not cover the grounds for my dispute (so I am assuming I have no grounds to dispute it.)

You can't get confirmation, because your situation makes no sense. The timescales are too short for a start.

You would get a warning letter giving you 30 days to SORN or insure. This would take at least two weeks to be sent ( as it takes this blog for thebMId to guarantee to be up to date) If you don't do as requested then you could get a fine. Your timelines are too short to be realistic.

[MTech535]

This may or may not work...



ETA: Yes I realise the car is a bit Caahncil!

Edited by MTech535 on Thursday 16th April 16:20