VC5 address: does it have to be where you live?
VC5 address: does it have to be where you live?
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Discussion

Tipula paludosa

Original Poster:

81 posts

212 months

Sunday 4th September 2016
quotequote all
Something got me thinking today. I was the victim of a trivial bit of road rage where a fella got out of his car, shouted at me through my (closed window) and said that I'd regret what I'd done. Me in the left lane, him in the right lane. Merging shinanigans, hurt ego etc. There was no collision, nothing big except for the vague threat of making me regret it and reading out my licence plate. I didn't have to whit to get his reg plate as I was a little shocked.

The DVLA can give your name and address to practically anyone which a real or made up excuse, so lets for argument's sake say there is no protection by the DVLA if someone wants to find where the car is registered. Then lets say someone does this, locates your car and keys it within an inch of its life. There would be no way to link the two acts: requesting info and damage to the car. To my mind it's an easy revenge project with little or no risk of successful police investigation and conviction.

So here's what I'd really like to know:

Does a car have to registered where it stays and where you eat/sleep/live?

What do folks who work in animal testing labs, abortion clinics, or work for the security forces in places like Northern Ireland do to protect their homes/families? They clearly drive into and out of these places of work on a daily basis and can have plates written down by protestors or bad eggs?

Does anyone with very exotic cars take steps to separate registration plates and the addresses they are kept at?

Thanks in advance. Yes, the paranoia is high in me this evening, but I hope you get the logic. And here's a PDF from the DVLA: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploa...

Gareth79

9,094 posts

276 months

Sunday 4th September 2016
quotequote all
AFAIK it just needs to be an address where something sent to you will be dealt with, neither you nor the car needs to live there. The only issue is insurers usually need to know if the car is kept at a different address.

I think 'sensitive' employers use a forwarding service that their employees can use, however the DVLA (and the PNC) log all requests for information for vehicle keeper data, and I imagine all the companies dealing with that data log who requested what, so it wouldn't be too hard to track down who was responsible for leaking a name/address.

sebhaque

6,535 posts

211 months

Sunday 4th September 2016
quotequote all
One of my cars is registered to my address, but I keep it in a family friend's garage (insurer aware). They had no problem when I mentioned this to them.

JimbobVFR

2,822 posts

174 months

Monday 5th September 2016
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My mate doesn't have an address as he lives in his vehicle (a decent sized motorhome) so uses his mums address.

His insurers are aware and he's had no issues with this.

agtlaw

7,413 posts

236 months

Monday 5th September 2016
quotequote all
Tipula paludos said:
So here's what I'd really like to know:

Does a car have to registered where it stays and where you eat/sleep/live?
No.

If anyone has time, there's an amusing FOI request to DVLA on the internet - something like 'Does the RK have to be human?'


Derek Smith

49,926 posts

278 months

Monday 5th September 2016
quotequote all
A page 3 girl was involved in an accident. She gave what she said was 'one of her stage names' and the address of her mother in the north where she hadn't lived at for a couple of years.

CPS said she can call herself whatever she wants (Julian Clary had problems with calling himself The Joan Collins Fan Club, but for copyright reasons) and for any accommodation address the test is whether post gets through to her.


TooMany2cvs

29,008 posts

156 months

Monday 5th September 2016
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agtlaw said:
If anyone has time, there's an amusing FOI request to DVLA on the internet - something like 'Does the RK have to be human?'
Companies are human?

The RK needs to be some kind of legally responsible entity - corporate or individual. I'd imagine there's issues with registering a vehicle in the name of somebody under the age of criminal responsibility, or in the name of a dog or whatever - not least because it would provide a VERY easy get-out for many offences.

agtlaw

7,413 posts

236 months

Monday 5th September 2016
quotequote all
Found it:

"Vehicle registration and licensing is governed by the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 (as amended). The Act does not impose any age restrictions for the purposes of vehicle registration.
There is no legal requirement for the person purporting to keep a vehicle to provide evidence of age. This information is provided on a voluntary basis and it is therefore possible for a minor to register a vehicle. However, if the Agency is made aware that a minor is applying to be a registered keeper, the application, as you can appreciate, would be refused on policy grounds.

If a parent or guardian has registered the minor as the registered keeper because the vehicle is used to transport/aid the minor, this is incorrect. If the parent or guardian, is the person who is responsible for taxing and using the vehicle on the road then it is the parent or guardian details that must be shown as the registered keeper.

As you can appreciate there are ten's of thousands of vehicle registration certificates (V5C) processed daily by the DVLA, and the Agency is not in a position to verify each name provided on a V5C, and therefore each keeper's name is accepted in good faith, unless it is obvious by the clerk processing the V5C that the name provided is untrue or made up and would be rejected back to the address provided to clarify the keeper's name provided.

Please be aware that if an untrue or made up name is shown as the registered keeper on record then there will be problems when the vehicle needs to be taxed as there is a need to have a valid insurance policy for the vehicle."

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/does_the_re...

McVities

358 posts

228 months

Monday 5th September 2016
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As per the above posts, the address of the registered keeper does not need to be the same as where the vehicle is kept.

You could try have the V5c registered to a PO box

handpaper

1,708 posts

233 months

Monday 5th September 2016
quotequote all
sebhaque said:
One of my cars is registered to my address, but I keep it in a family friend's garage (insurer aware). They had no problem when I mentioned this to them.
Mine is registered at my home address, but it's 'usually kept' at my employer's premises as I work away all week.
Insurer gives me a substantial discount as it's in a 'locked compound' with CCTV and 24hr manned security woohoo

Tipula paludosa

Original Poster:

81 posts

212 months

Monday 5th September 2016
quotequote all
Great info! Thanks for your help fellas.

I don't think I need to do anything about my own circumstance (I'm not driving anything too exotic) but I'd definitely consider swapping address in the future.