My old MG has been on SORN for nearly 3 years. Moved house early November and sent off change of address forms a few weeks later.

It appears that change of address/renewal letter crossed in post and went to my old address (which I didn’t receive for various reasons!) and first I knew about it was when a letter from DVLA came to my new address a few weeks ago advising me of a £40 fine (£80 if not paid by today) due to non-declaration.

I’ve appealed via letter but have paid the £40 today as this was last day before it increased to £80 and appeal could take another 2 weeks. I was also advised by the clerk that I am due another £80 odd quid for the time when car wasn’t declared SORN 😯

Am I liable for this, even though the car was offroad anyway? Surely they can’t fine for late SORN declaration AND charge me for a car that hasn’t been on a road.

Any experiences?

sorry, you are stuffed. pay up and chalk it down to experience. i got caught like this too, and was told ‘no hope’!

Got caught out by this too with a car I’d laid up for a few years. Got done for five years’ SORN fees.

You have to tax it OR declare SORN. Same as declaring you’ve sold it, owner’s responsibility now.

Bloody hell…….. an estimated 1 million or so cars actually being driven on the roads without any tax at all and you get shafted for a simple oversight. Boils my piss 👿

milky – what does 5 years SORN fees come to?

Bloody hell…….. an estimated 1 million or so cars actually being driven on the roads without any tax at all and you get shafted for a simple oversight. Boils my piss

no one has a right to drive, something all drivers would be better for remembering, I assume you have never sped, never parked on double yellows, etc etc.

to the OP, accept you screwed up and move on, you can try and appeal but this is the DVLA your an easy target because they know where you are.

Yes the police and DVLA should do something about untaxed and uninsured drivers, but they can only catch so many and as most drivers believe they have a god given right to drive and to hell with the consequences not much is going to change.

You have to pay the fine but the £80 in arrears is optional. Seriously!
Just pay up, some fights are not worth fighting IMHO.

My old MG has been on SORN for nearly 3 years. Moved house early November and sent off change of address forms a few weeks later.

It appears that change of address/renewal letter crossed in post and went to my old address (which I didn’t receive for various reasons!) and first I knew about it was when a letter from DVLA came to my new address a few weeks ago advising me of a £40 fine (£80 if not paid by today) due to non-declaration.

to the OP, accept you screwed up and move on, you can try and appeal but this is the DVLA your an easy target because they know where you are.

Where did the OP ‘screw-up’? He did what he was required to do, send in change-of-address details. It’s not his fault that DVLA sent a set of documents to his old address, and failed to follow up after receiving c-o-a details by sending new documents to the amended address.
Address forwarding by the PO doesn’t always work, I regularly get mail returned that has a change-of-address forwarding label on, and has been returned by the PO as addressee gone away.
But then, we’re dealing with an organisation that will happily sell your personal details to whoever asks, regardless of who they are.

Optional, really?

As I paid the fine today, I think I will take the option of not paying for something I haven’t used or needed 😀

I sorned online and it didn’t work. I got fined, appealed, then rolled over and paid. When I rang up to pay by card I was asked if I’d like to pay arrears. As the bike was off the road, I opted for not paying!

That’s what she said to me but I got the impression that I would be expected to pay it at some point if my appeal was lost.

I could understand paying arrears if you were late declaring a new SORN from a recently expired tax but when a vehicle has been SORN’ed for a few years I think they would be hard pushed to justify anything other than a fine.

As I understand it, not receiving the reminder isn’t a defence- it’s sent out as an advice but it’s the keeper’s responsibility to maintain the tax status.

TBH I reckon if any responsibility was on the DVLA, they would change the rules so that SORN extended til cancelled. But as it is, it’s all on the owner so they’re happy to make you extend every year.

Where did the OP ‘screw-up’? He did what he was required to do, send in change-of-address details. It’s not his fault that DVLA sent a set of documents to his old address, and failed to follow up after receiving c-o-a details by sending new documents to the amended address

I was fined once when I hadn’t recieved a reminder at all (no change of address). They were very clear that reminders are a courtesy not a right and that I could **** off if I didn’t like it

it’s sent out as an advice but it’s the keeper’s responsibility to maintain the tax status

This is true and I can understand some of the rationale behind it but it must be a very nice little earner for the DVLA. I wonder how much they actually make out of bikers, vintage car owners, people who work abroad etc. who don’t use, or need to tax their vehicles all year round and then simply forget?