New road tax regulations and the use of temporary insurance to obtain road tax

The new road tax regulations came into force on 1st January 2004. The position with regard to using short term vehicle insurance to apply for, and obtain, road tax has not changed. To put it simply, a temporary vehicle insurance certificate cannot be used to obtain road tax for a car/van etc. It will not be accepted for that purpose and you will still need to provide a full annual certificate to tax your vehicle.

The new regulations state that the named keeper on the vehicle logbook is legally responsible for taxing the vehicle, unless a SORN (Statutory Off-Road Notification) declaration is made that the vehicle is off the road, or has been sold, transferred, scrapped or exported. If you fail to renew the tax on your car by the due date you can be fined up to £80. If you fail to tax the car after that, you could be fined up to a £1000.

The DVLA computer stores details of every vehicle and keeper in the UK and carries out checks every month to identify vehicles that do not have valid tax. If there is no SORN declaration, they will assume you are still using the vehicle and if it has no valid tax, you will be sent a penalty notice.

If you sell, transfer, scrap or export your vehicle you must by law inform the DVLA, and they will send you an acknowledgment letter to prove you are no longer responsible for taxing the car. If you fail to do this you will still be responsible for taxing the car and for any fine for non payment of tax. You will also receive any correspondence relating to offences committed in the car.

If you want to avoid unexpected fines then make sure you tax your vehicle on time, or declare the vehicle SORN as required.

You also have to notify the DVLA of any personal changes which affect information kept on your logbook i.e. Change of address, vehicle modifications, change of name etc. Failure to do this may create problems at a later date when trying to re-license or sell the vehicle.