more rules from the the gods of transport to catch people out and collect fines ........ spotted in Classic Bike December issue page 7 as follows :-   INSURANCE RULES (MAY NOT BE) OKAY• Specialist insurers Footman James are warning classic riders of a new ruling from the Department for Transport that could lead to fines and penalty points should you let your cover lapse.The DfT's Continuous Insurance ruling becomes law in January 2011 and is designed to clamp down on uninsured road users. The concern for classic owners is that the ruling makes It an offence to own a vehicle without having valid UK motor insurance, including when the vehicle is off road for repair or restoration. If you have taken out Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN) for your bike, you don't need Insurance.But if your bike Is registered,taxed and MoT'd and you've let the insurance lapse because the bike is tucked up in the garage, you could be fined,The scheme will compare DVLA data on registered keepers with the Motor Insurance Bureau database so will not have to rely on police checks.   i dont know if this came up in earlier topics i did a search and didnt find it .........  the buggers nearly snook that one in ....                                                                                                                                                                             

  Ta for the news item Nellie, did you stay up or go to bed and get  up again? lol Nite owl! x    I reckon someone at the DfT didn't get their bonus this year so they decided to steal it instead. This countries rules /laws are a farce sometimes. *tut*     This must be a first, the insurance companies being able to take our money without having to do a thing, the DfT has done it for them.                                                                                                                                                                              

Did hear about this but thought it had been chucked out                                                                                                                                                                              

First i've heard about this. Anyone know if this is going ahead or not as i currently have 2 bikes off road but taxed/MOT'd (both needing repairs) and neither are insured as i haven't even got the money to fix them :(                                                                                                                                                                             

apparently so shazza ..... the way round it is to sorn whatever it is thats off the road but i`m not sure if you have to surrender the tax disc.... theres a local dvla near me in notts and as ive got to tax my van end of this month i will enquire about what you need to do .... i work part time in a trike workshop and sometimes customers trikes or bikes are left with us for weeks sometimes for conversions, repairs or servicing and fall into this trap ..... the bs are always trying to find new ways of screwing us out of cash .....                                                                                                                                                                             

Thanks Nellie, i shall wait to see what you find out.   If i surrender the tax on both bikes i wont even get any money back, even though it's not a fortune in comparrison to car tax i'll still lose money having to tax them again after being off the road for a couple of months, what a con if that's the case.                                                                                                                                                                                 

  Refresh topic                                                                                                                                                                             

It's not really a big deal SORNing a vehicle. Especially as you can do it online in minutes. The problems are wether a break in your insurance cover will affect your premiem or no claims bonus, next time you take insurance out and of course some finacial loss as both the DVLA and insurance companies never pay compensation. What I usualy do is wait for the tax to run out Sorn it but keep it insured. I have found that not letting the insurance laps is the cheapest option in the long run. I once tried to down grade my cover to fire and theft while it was in storage, but it would seem nobody does it without it also being covered for an accident with a third party.   But don't worry because if someone breaks into your garage, steals your bike and then writes it off in an accident invilving a third party at least you'll be insured, if it's taxed that is....lol... comforting of them and very generous aren't they.                                                                                                                                                                             

I agree with webonnielad. I SORN my car every April for 6 months, as I only use it in snow/icy conditions. It takes seconds online. Best keeping a basic (no extras, no voluntary excess, recovery etc.) comprehensive insurance all year round. If you inform your insurance company it's off road AND garaged, you can get a substantial discount (up to 25%)                                                                                                                                                                             

MAG?PRESS?RELEASE

11-01-11
        
For immediate use
 
Continuous Vehicle Insurance
                        
MAG is pleased to see that the new regulations on Continuous Vehicle Insurance will exempt vehicles on which SORN has been declared.
 
The regulations announced today will require owners to ensure all their vehicles regardless of whether or not they are being used on the road, unless they have declared SORN.  
 
(A SORN declaration confirms that a specified vehicle will not be used on the road).
 
MAG totally supports the Government in its aim to reduce the use of uninsured vehicles on our roads. Uninsured driving is a major problem that inflates the insurance premiums of law-abiding road users and poses huge problems in the event of accidents.
 
MAG lobbied strenuously for the SORN option when Continuous Insurance on all vehicles was suggested some years ago.  More recently MAG has lobbied the DfT to ensure that an exemption for SORNed vehicles remains.
 
Some concern remains that a loophole might lead to problems for the owners of older vehicles that were off the road before the original SORN arrangements came into force. The SORN requirement was not applied retrospectively to embrace every vehicle so it is possible that owners of old machines which have never been SORNed or used on the road in the meantime might fall foul of the new regulation if no consideration is given to them.
 
MAG is asking for assurances on the issue of rider policies and multi-bike insurance policies that may lead to cases where insured vehicles are not listed on the Motor Insurance Database.
                                                                                                                                                                             

nice one for the info marsey... i went up to the local dvla to tax my van and asked questions about the continuous insurance and the bod behind the screen just stared back like a startled rabbit ..... it seems that this system will be fully implemented by march and any one who falls foul of it will first be presented with a £100 fine if the owner or keeper does not take immediate action the vehicle will be then removed and crushed regardless even if its on a driveway or locked up in a garage.... its a pain having to sorn it and surrender the tax disk but if your car\bike is the love of your life its got to be done...... i have a passage about it in a newspaper and i will scan it and get it on here in the next few days.....                                                                                                                                                                              

found on page 28 of the news of the world 9/1/11   UNINSURED drivers face having their cars seized and crushed—even if they are NOT being used on the road. Tough new laws will make it a crime to simply own a vehicle without cover, not only to drive one, even if it is parked on a drive or locked in a garage. Police are to be given the powers in a bid to find offenders BEFORE they end up in a road accident.  Ministers are desperate to cut the number of crashes caused by Britain's l.8million uninsured drivers. Every year they kill 160 people, injure 23,000 and add an average of £30 to the cost of policies for law-abiding motorists. At present, uninsured drivers can only be caught if they are in a crash or stopped by cops. But it will be impossible to dodge the new laws—in force as early as March-as a computer will automatically flag up if a vehicle's insurance has run out. Offenders will first be sent a warning letter tell­ing them they are breaking the law. If they ignore this, they will be fined £100. If they still fail to com­ply, their vehicle will be taken and destroyed. Roads Minister Mike Penning said: "Honest driv­ers forced to pay through the nose in premiums will welcome this action." its is right though about 18 months ago i was helped into a undignified dismount by a young asian lady in a red nissan that after she departed sharpishly the police found the reg plates on the car were cloned .... i was on my old xt600 and the wide bars saved any bodily damage plus the bike was a tough old thing good job really because if i had been on my kwacker the fairing would have been wrecked and me as well and no bugger to claim off.......                                                                                                                                                                             

The way I have read it from the DVLA site suggests that not only do I now have to send my tax back when I deploy from the UK, but cancel the insurance as well. It seems that insurance and RFL are interlinked if you have one - you must have the other, so I will have to cancel both and declare SORN.  I also believe it will not stop uninsured drivers those with kids of driving age will have spotted it now costs a fortune to insure a small car, but less to insure an R6 at the same age - neither is cheap, but why it is less to insure the bike I don't know, wish it was like like that 25 years ago.