Would you pay a daily road tax charge to use your SORN car?

[lottie]

I have a car that is SORN for the winter. The other day however, it was bright, dry and sunny and I thought what a shame I couldn't just go online and buy a days road permit. There are lots of us who SORN vehicles through the winter for lots of reasons, but there are odd days when it would be nice to blow away a few cobwebs. So would you be willing to pay a one off fee for a days motoring?

[FlossyThePig]

lottie said:

I have a car that is SORN for the winter. The other day however, it was bright, dry and sunny and I thought what a shame I couldn't just go online and buy a days road permit. There are lots of us who SORN vehicles through the winter for lots of reasons, but there are odd days when it would be nice to blow away a few cobwebs. So would you be willing to pay a one off fee for a days motoring?

So what insurance are you paying for while the car is off the road?

[lottie]

FlossyThePig said:

lottie said:

I have a car that is SORN for the winter. The other day however, it was bright, dry and sunny and I thought what a shame I couldn't just go online and buy a days road permit. There are lots of us who SORN vehicles through the winter for lots of reasons, but there are odd days when it would be nice to blow away a few cobwebs. So would you be willing to pay a one off fee for a days motoring?

So what insurance are you paying for while the car is off the road?

Is insured fully comp-I get such a good deal I don't change it whilst its SORN.

[Silver993tt]

The whole point of the current set-up is that nearly all people will pay the 12 months road tax fee because even if they don't use the car very much overthe winter, they still want the choice. If the DVLA offered an option to "pay-as-you-go-" using a daily fee, they would lose lots of money if it waqs priced reasonably, say 70p a day. The only way they would bring that kind of option in is if it was something like £5 a day so the DVLA could make more money than they make already.

Alot of my German friends take their motorbikes off the road by stopping their insurance for several months. This has the effect of you having to remove the plate from the vehicle. However, if they want to use it for a while in the winter, it's simple and they only pay the proportionate fee for the time in use. It's all very logical and geared for the consumer over there very much unlike in the UK.

Edited by Silver993tt on Monday 29th December 09:17

[The_Burg]

Silver993tt said:

The only way they would bring that kind of option in is if it was something like £5 a day so the DVLA could make more money than they make already.

Sounds fine to me. Would gladly £5 for the odd winters day where conditions are just right.

[Silver993tt]

The_Burg said:

Silver993tt said:

The only way they would bring that kind of option in is if it was something like £5 a day so the DVLA could make more money than they make already.

Sounds fine to me. Would gladly £5 for the odd winters day where conditions are just right.

Surely if you're paying, say £200 road tax a year, the charge per day should be 55p a day? Simple on-line facility "I want to tax my car for 5 days between these dates", print off a tax disc with vehicle details & bar-code and stick it onto the windscreen. If no PC facility, call up and get a ref number so you can collect it from the post office. Why can't that be available? Why would there typically have to be a massive hike in the fee if it's based on an "as required" basis?

Same goes for insurance. If my car is in a locked garage for 3 months why shouldn't I be able to drop my cover to theft only for a linear proportion of the price of my FC cover for that period of time?

Edited by Silver993tt on Monday 29th December 09:24

[Vipers]

Good idea, when I worked offshore, I was off the road for 6 months of the year, but I still had to pay my road tax same as my neighbour who was on the road on a daily basis.

The only saving grace was my insurance was reduced a little as I declared a genuine "Under 8000 miles P.A."

[Oilchange]

I think the whole system could be geared so much better, around the consumer primarily and it would be such a win win situation but I suspect the Government simply aren't interested unless it involves extra fines/taxes etc.
Also, I would hope that a system would be costed correctly, as mentioned, not £5 a day but the nominal annual rate divided by 365 x number of days required. Perhaps rounded up to the nearest pound for ease of implementation etc.
Here's hoping...

Edited by Oilchange on Monday 29th December 09:33

[madala]

The_Burg said:

Silver993tt said:

The only way they would bring that kind of option in is if it was something like £5 a day so the DVLA could make more money than they make already.

Sounds fine to me. Would gladly £5 for the odd winters day where conditions are just right.

+1

[Silver993tt]

madala said:

The_Burg said:

Silver993tt said:

The only way they would bring that kind of option in is if it was something like £5 a day so the DVLA could make more money than they make already.

Sounds fine to me. Would gladly £5 for the odd winters day where conditions are just right.

+1

Well, that's probably why so many say "rip-off UK". So many people are prepared to pay far too much for a service that could easily be provided at a much lower rate (since it's a government service for the general population). Same as Council tax, in the UK I was paying £2500 per year and in Germany I'm now paying €250 and that included twice a week rubbish collection. My overall tax contributions are now far lower also because the income tax rate is basically the same but there aren't any real indirect stealth taxes.

[DrTre]

Easiest way all round, ditching the stupidly expensive administration overheads, criminalising people etc is to abolish such an antiquated system and add it on to fuel. Easy as that.

[bazking69]

I'd quite like the option of having a second car and only paying for it when I want to use it.
Instead I have to pay road tax at a post 1.5 litre rate, then insure the thing at £200 a year, just to use it on a handful of occasions.
All to do about 300 miles a year in it...

[Mattt]

I'm going to be SORNing mine in the next few weeks, is there an insurance broker that will do theft/fire only whilst it is locked in the garage?

[G'kar]

lottie said:

FlossyThePig said:

lottie said:

I have a car that is SORN for the winter. The other day however, it was bright, dry and sunny and I thought what a shame I couldn't just go online and buy a days road permit. There are lots of us who SORN vehicles through the winter for lots of reasons, but there are odd days when it would be nice to blow away a few cobwebs. So would you be willing to pay a one off fee for a days motoring?

So what insurance are you paying for while the car is off the road?

Is insured fully comp-I get such a good deal I don't change it whilst its SORN.

I fail to see the point in SORNing it under those circumstances.

[MrV]

bazking69 said:

I'd quite like the option of having a second car and only paying for it when I want to use it.
Instead I have to pay road tax at a post 1.5 litre rate, then insure the thing at £200 a year, just to use it on a handful of occasions.
All to do about 300 miles a year in it...

I would go for that idea and instead of a tax disc in the window have to display an insurance disc instead.It would make it easier to spot uninsured cars at the same time.

[Simpo Two]

Mattt said:

I'm going to be SORNing mine in the next few weeks, is there an insurance broker that will do theft/fire only whilst it is locked in the garage?

I believe that's called a 'laid up' policy.


As for the rest of it, Govt is only interested in making money from the population, not fairness or justice. And it has to, because it's up st creek.

Edited by Simpo Two on Monday 29th December 10:40

[mat205125]

MrV said:

bazking69 said:

I'd quite like the option of having a second car and only paying for it when I want to use it.
Instead I have to pay road tax at a post 1.5 litre rate, then insure the thing at £200 a year, just to use it on a handful of occasions.
All to do about 300 miles a year in it...

I would go for that idea and instead of a tax disc in the window have to display an insurance disc instead.It would make it easier to spot uninsured cars at the same time.

Scrap the disc completely. It's not necessary with an accurately maintained registration, tax, and insurnace database.

[Merlot]

I know how you feel, as I have my summer car SORN at the moment but there have been a few lovely days recently I'd have used it if I could!

[NDA]

Silver993tt said:

The whole point of the current set-up is that nearly all people will pay the 12 months road tax fee because even if they don't use the car very much over the winter, they still want the choice. If the DVLA offered an option to "pay-as-you-go-" using a daily fee, they would lose lots of money if it was priced reasonably, say 70p a day. The only way they would bring that kind of option in is if it was something like £5 a day so the DVLA could make more money than they make already.

A lot of my German friends take their motorbikes off the road by stopping their insurance for several months. This has the effect of you having to remove the plate from the vehicle. However, if they want to use it for a while in the winter, it's simple and they only pay the proportionate fee for the time in use. It's all very logical and geared for the consumer over there very much unlike in the UK.

I think this is spot on.

[MitchT]

I hope you don't mind me saying Lottie... 'cause I mean it in the nicest possible way... You're crazy! Do you seriously believe that what you save financially by SORNing your F328 for a few months outweighs the emotional and spiritual value of a couple of hours blasting around in it on a crisp, bright winter's day? Just leave it taxed and enjoy it! You're a long time dead - better to live rich and die poor than the other way round! I'd happily pay what you're saving just to spend a couple of hours driving a car like that!!