Bought a bike in December. Put it in the garage and have been doing a few jobs on it when not working on other bikes. It was delivered to the garage in a van and hasn't even been outdoors since it arrived. Got a letter today pointing out that I didn't either tax it, or SORN it, so there's £33.33 to be paid - no arguments accepted. With the non-transfer of road tax since Oct 1, you must take steps immediately to do one or the other, if not, you'll pay the penalty. Be warned.
My brother had that too for a bike bought at the start of November. It came with an in date tax disc so he'd assumed it was still good as the tax was bought prior to the change to the rules coming into effect. Funny they should send the request out now when the weather is improving and it is unlikely to be sorn'd and not a month or 2 after he bought it. Call me cynical.....
I had a red letter land on my door last week demanding £27 and telling me my bike is untaxed but I had declared SORN as soon as the V5 landed in my name mid November and I taxed it online a few weeks ago! I rang the DVLA who said they will investigate and get back to me. I have not heard anything back as of yet but I do have email proof of the SORN and taxing it.
I transferred my van into my business mid March. Refund cheque through door for road tax from end of March until end of road tax licence (2mths) I obviously had to re road tax the van in the company name and had to do it from the beginning of March. This means I have paid double road tax for the van for the month of March, WHY. Not a bad little earner for the tax man. I have written to them complaining and requesting a refund but no surprise....no reply yet. Davy
time factor is relevant here, if you got the logbook back in your name and left a gap of (unknown quantity) month(s)* then up until now/from my experience, above could apply if unlucky. Sometimes a logbook doesn't come back to you in your name for a month or more after purchase (at which point penalty clock* begins ticking).
I bought a wreck of a bike last year that was on sorn by the owner, i tried to sorn it from the day i collected it, they would not let me as it was not registered in my name, fair enough, i sorned it as soon as i got the log book in my name. i then got a threatening letter from them telling me that as there was a difference in the two dates i may be liable to prosecution ! absolute twats, the lot of em.
Ive just checked my track bike and have SORN'd it. I'll be expecting a fine though as Ive had it since June!
Fingers crossed for you, it may depend on whether Mr or Mrs grumpy happen to handle your SORN application
Its all automated online so I expect the fine system is automated too. Never mind...you live and learn!
^ re: ' automated fine' this needs to be confirmed because (as I said above) I have had mixed blessings in the past hence my post
It was a very sad day when the local DVLA offices were closed Simple changes that were done in real time now can take weeks Progress ?
Woah there just a second. I got my bike taxed on the way home from getting it mot'd the other week; went in the post office, gave the guy my reg, he tapped into the computer - bearing in mind it hadn't been mot'd more than a few minutes - and hey presto it was taxed, no documents, no nothing. I had the logbook and insurance with me but they didn't need it. To me, that's progress.
Thanks for the heads up. Have just SORN'd the 900SS I picked up in November last year. It's not been on the road and I've been meaning to SORN it but seeing this thread gave me the nudge I needed! Fingers crossed I've slipped under the radar...
Just checked all my SORN'd bikes are still registered as such with DVLA, a 5 minute job and worth checking if you have any doubts. I had the same threatening letter after not immediately SORNing one of my bikes a while back but nothing came of it. Check if a vehicle is taxed - GOV.UK
If you buy a bike that's been SORN'd by the previous owner, does the SORN notice transfer to the new owner? Only my SV650 sat in my shed for 3 months after I'd registered the bike in my name, and I never heard anything.
I don't think it does and it looks like it is better safe than sorry. You can check if it is on SORN at the moment using the link above. Possibly when you change owners and register it in your name you also have to SORN it. I bought a SORN'd bike and registered it in my name but did not SORN it for a few months as I did not think I had to. When I did think it best to SORN it then I got a letter referred to as above, although nothing ever happened it was implied that I owed them money from the time I had purchased it from the buyer to date. It was never pursued though and maybe this was because I declared SORN from the date of purchase despite there being several months delay. In reality it had never been on the road in that period and was just a change of ownership. Maybe someone on here can confirm.
It definitely does not transfer and it makes sense that it doesn't. The only reason (in the past) that you didn't get a reminder is that despite transferring ownership there was nothing to link up as to who had Sorned it so as long as it was either Sorned or Taxed no action was taken by DVLA. A period where a vehicle is still Sorned by previous owner has tended to be overlooked in the past, but they have always told me that it needs to be done immediately on purchase.
