Can a SORNed car be transferred without an MOT?
Discussion
SHORT QUESTION: Can ownership of a car which is legally off the road and has a proper SORN be transferred to a new owner after the current MOT and insurance have expired? What if buyer, seller and vehicle are all outside the UK?
LONG STORY: My wife and I drove to Greece in my wife's car last January. We got caught here by the Covid pandemic, and decided to stay on for the time being as we are lucky enough to own a house here. While in Greece, because of that longer that foreseen stay, the tax, MOT and insurance on my wife's car ran out - but she was able to properly SORNise it in good time. For lack of all the above, none of which can be renewed here, the car can longer be driven legally anywhere in Europe, let alone driven back to the UK; we therefore decided to have it registered in Greece. However (bureaucratic impediments grow in chains, like bacteria), the car cannot be imported by anybody other than the registered owner, AND in order to import a vehicle, you must have a Greek tax number - which my wife does not have, and cannot acquire. Deadlock.
So the only way out of this conundrum would seem to be to get the vehicle transferred from my wife to me, over the internet, thus generating a new V5C document, with which I will be able to import the vehicle in my own name. Is this doable?
LONG STORY: My wife and I drove to Greece in my wife's car last January. We got caught here by the Covid pandemic, and decided to stay on for the time being as we are lucky enough to own a house here. While in Greece, because of that longer that foreseen stay, the tax, MOT and insurance on my wife's car ran out - but she was able to properly SORNise it in good time. For lack of all the above, none of which can be renewed here, the car can longer be driven legally anywhere in Europe, let alone driven back to the UK; we therefore decided to have it registered in Greece. However (bureaucratic impediments grow in chains, like bacteria), the car cannot be imported by anybody other than the registered owner, AND in order to import a vehicle, you must have a Greek tax number - which my wife does not have, and cannot acquire. Deadlock.
So the only way out of this conundrum would seem to be to get the vehicle transferred from my wife to me, over the internet, thus generating a new V5C document, with which I will be able to import the vehicle in my own name. Is this doable?
Edited by akominatus on Monday 21st September 12:07
Edited by akominatus on Monday 21st September 12:11
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