Insurance and off-the-road?

[Keeper of The Kitten]

I've been hearing lots in the news about this lately, but I didn't find any other threads about this here on S2 forum - so I'll raise the question now.

There's been a lot of talk in the news about legally having to insure cars that are off-the-road, and as I understand it that law came into force this week ...but I've not really heard what it applies to and who it will affect?

I believe that there will be letters sent to owners of vehicles, thus far I've not seen anything so I have no idea if it applies only to vehicles actually kept by the road, or to anything that's parked up?

I fear this may be the start of something similar to attempts at creating legislation that started to crop up in the US, preventing hobbyists from working on their own cars.

Any thoughts on this?

[S2central.net]

I've been hearing something about this... Sounds like another piece of wonderfully useless legislation that benefits nobody - except the insurance companies. Being selfish I hope this is something limited to England only and not the UK as a whole but either way it seems utterly ludicrous.

[Colesy]

I read an article about this the other day and from what I gather.

Now all cars that are parked on the road have to be insured. So even if a car is taxed and MOT'd it can be seized if it isn't insured.

Before if a car was taxed and MOT'd the authorities couldn't touch it. I guess the rationel is that this will make it possible to pre-empt uninsured drivers without them having to drive the car. But this impedes people who have a taxed and MOT'd car but nowhere else to keep it than on the road as they now have to get insurance!

Depending on your situation it could be a right headache.

[S2central.net]

Ahhh - well I see some sense in that - for cars that are parked on the road... but it makes it a real bummer for folk who have declared a car off road to work on it but have nowhere else to do so except on the road (versus garage or driveway).

But then doesnt a car declared SORN technically have to OFF the road to justify not paying road tax anyway ?

[Bowlerwell]

Isn't the deal that if it is not insured, you most SORN it?

[Al Wyn]

Isn't the deal that if it is not insured, you most SORN it?

Correct... first batch of letters started going out yesterday

[Colesy]

Isn't the deal that if it is not insured, you most SORN it?

Yes that's it.

It'll be a problem for people who have nowhere to keep a car off the road as they'll have to insure, tax and MOT it. Whereas before it could be kept on the road if it was taxed and MOT'd.

[re2500]

Yeah as long as the car is SORN'd you wont need tax and MOT.

This is just to stop those people that get insurance for their car then MOT and tax it and then cancel the insurance and get a refund.

[Dan]

Yeah as long as the car is SORN'd you wont need tax and MOT.

This is just to stop those people that get insurance for their car then MOT and tax it and then cancel the insurance and get a refund.

This.

You pretty much have two choices now: MOT, tax and insure; or SORN and keep it off the road.

It's an unfortunate pain if you just want to hold off on insuring for a bit, but I see the idea behind it.

Of course, it doesn't stop those bold enough to drive without tax, MOT or insurance

[Keeper of The Kitten]

This makes things much clearer; I'm fortunate enough to have space off the road to park vehicles and can therefore have them on a SORN.

I understand the point of this but it still feels a bit like the thin end of a wedge, in much the same way as SORN could easily be modified to a small payment for keeping a car off the road, to a larger one, and ultimately to the full amount applicable to the vehicle in question.

I am always wary of what politicians (of any political leaning) might do in the name of the environment, or in terms of law enforcement, or any other apparently sensible notion, which might impact upon those of us who wish to pursue their interests in keeping an older and more interesting car on the roads - rather than driving the run-of-the-mill econobox every day.

[Dan]

In fairness, I doubt they will start charging for SORN - that would lead to more cars "disappearing" - exactly what they don't want.

I do resent road tax however. £215 for my S2, so it can do less than 5000 miles per year. I'm keeping a modern classic on the road and we have a super-efficient/eco-friendly A2 (sorry Jamo) as the sensible car. Makes perfect sense to me... apparently not to the tax man.

I also resent having to pay full wack on separate tax and insurance for multiple vehicles. I can only drive one of the fsckers at once!

[Keeper of The Kitten]

Me too, but I suppose if a vehicle is on the roadside and someone gets injured by running into it, or trips over and bangs their head on it or something stupid like that, you're better off with some kind of insurance.