SORN vs Insurance issue

[s3fella]

Replaced a car a couple of months ago and kept the old one, just as I wanted a bit of time to tidy it up to sell and tale a reg number off it. It's been parked in my garage for the last 8 weeks and on Friday we got a letter from DVLA telling us it needed to be insured as was still taxed.
I'd forgotten to sorn it and tax runs to end of this month. Car is MOtd.

So I have just sorned it online and it shows Sorn start date as 1st August presumably something to do with claiming the tax back, which I cannot do until then as you can only claim full months back.

So is it actually now Sorn'd or not until August 1st? If I want to avoid a fine, what do I now do? Insure it?

Or is it actually sorned but shows 1st Aug so as to not allow July tax be repaid, which I don't care about as it is only £4 or so!

[Red Devil]

s3fella said:

Replaced a car a couple of months ago and kept the old one, just as I wanted a bit of time to tidy it up to sell and tale a reg number off it. It's been parked in my garage for the last 8 weeks and on Friday we got a letter from DVLA telling us it needed to be insured as was still taxed.
I'd forgotten to sorn it and tax runs to end of this month. Car is MOtd.

So I have just sorned it online and it shows Sorn start date as 1st August presumably something to do with claiming the tax back, which I cannot do until then as you can only claim full months back.

Spot on. Typical that the letter arrived one day too late for you to get a refund for the final month!

s3fella said:

So is it actually now Sorn'd or not until August 1st? If I want to avoid a fine, what do I now do? Insure it?

Or is it actually sorned but shows 1st Aug so as to not allow July tax be repaid, which I don't care about as it is only £4 or so!

I'm guessing that you took the old car off the policy and put the new one on in its place. If so, when your insurer updated the MID this information will have found its way to Swansea. As you have discovered it takes a bit of time for their computer to crank up and issue a CIE reminder. I have never been in your situation so I don't know whether the DVLA software is written in such a way as to take into account the actual date of SORN notification for the purposes of a CIE breach.

The joys of governance by database.

You have to balance the cost of short term insurance for one month against the likelihood of a £100 FPN for the breach. When making that assessment bear in mind that by the letter of the regs you have been in breach ever since the date your old car came off the policy so a penalty could still be imposed even if the actual SORN notification date is used. As you're now on Swansea's radar, sitting tight for another month and hoping that you will fall through the cracks in the pavement is a judgement call. Are you a gambler or risk averse?

[snorky782]

Red Devil said:

s3fella said:

Replaced a car a couple of months ago and kept the old one, just as I wanted a bit of time to tidy it up to sell and tale a reg number off it. It's been parked in my garage for the last 8 weeks and on Friday we got a letter from DVLA telling us it needed to be insured as was still taxed.
I'd forgotten to sorn it and tax runs to end of this month. Car is MOtd.

So I have just sorned it online and it shows Sorn start date as 1st August presumably something to do with claiming the tax back, which I cannot do until then as you can only claim full months back.

Spot on. Typical that the letter arrived one day too late for you to get a refund for the final month!

s3fella said:

So is it actually now Sorn'd or not until August 1st? If I want to avoid a fine, what do I now do? Insure it?

Or is it actually sorned but shows 1st Aug so as to not allow July tax be repaid, which I don't care about as it is only £4 or so!

I'm guessing that you took the old car off the policy and put the new one on in its place. If so, when your insurer updated the MID this information will have found its way to Swansea. As you have discovered it takes a bit of time for their computer to crank up and issue a CIE reminder. I have never been in your situation so I don't know whether the DVLA software is written in such a way as to take into account the actual date of SORN notification for the purposes of a CIE breach.

The joys of governance by database.

You have to balance the cost of short term insurance for one month against the likelihood of a £100 FPN for the breach. When making that assessment bear in mind that by the letter of the regs you have been in breach ever since the date your old car came off the policy so a penalty could still be imposed even if the actual SORN notification date is used. As you're now on Swansea's radar, sitting tight for another month and hoping that you will fall through the cracks in the pavement is a judgement call. Are you a gambler or risk averse?

I like that you make a big deal about DVLA sending a letter in a way that means the OP can't get this month's tax back. You conveniently ignore that the OP has let the last two months pass by without worrying about the massive £4 a month.

The rest of your post is pure tinfoil hat drivel.

The OP has SORNed his car, that's it. It's SORNed with immediate effect. He has done what's needed. There is no chance that DVLA will pirsude it any further now.

The databases that you bemoan are managed by the MIB in Milton Keynes btw.