Just got a letter saying I could be fined unless I already have been!! for not declaring my Felicia with a SORN

I thought just by sending the Road Tax in would do that.

obviously not.

I have sent the forms the DVLA have sent back to me before they fine me. I don't see why they should as in theory I haven't broken laws (the cars been parked up on private property since it isnt in a drivable state)

Cars must be put on SORN even if on private land. DVLA are merciless on this, instant £80 fine. Catches a few restoration guys out.

There is no 'in theory I haven't broken the law' - you HAVE as you have not declared it SORN / scrapped/ taxed it.

Private land or not, makes no difference. Also make *sure* it IS private land and not private residential but NON-private road (as the carpark in front of my flat) because if you declare it SORN and they spot you there, you'll get fined, clamped, fined some more, and it is even more expensive.

My advise - pay it, whatever you have to pay, do it asap, as the fines go up and if they do end up clamping it, it will cost you a bl*dy fortune - this is from personal experience...

Feel for you :(

Just to add - if you got a letter from the DVLA warning you, then your SORN is about to run out possibly if you had it SORN before. In that case, you just declare it SORN again and then it is good for 1 year again, they'll send out the reminder.

That is free, and it won't cost you

It only takes a few minutes to declare SORN through their web site.

Yeah, very quick, and well worth the effort IMHO - believe me, you don't want to get into 'getting fined by DVLA' territory. It gets extremely expensive extremely quickly and if you (like me) are not in the country for a bit, it is a royal pain as the word refund does not come into play.

There is no 'in theory I haven't broken the law' - you HAVE as you have not declared it SORN / scrapped/ taxed it.

Private land or not, makes no difference. Also make *sure* it IS private land and not private residential but NON-private road (as the carpark in front of my flat) because if you declare it SORN and they spot you there, you'll get fined, clamped, fined some more, and it is even more expensive.

My advise - pay it, whatever you have to pay, do it asap, as the fines go up and if they do end up clamping it, it will cost you a bl*dy fortune - this is from personal experience...

Feel for you :(

So let me get this right

They'll actually come to clamp a non functioning vehicle thats sat on my driveway or even have it crushed.

I sent off the letters and stuff yesterday, will have to see what happens.

Not quite - if the vehicle is on private property/road then they cannot touch it to the best of my knowledge.

Where I got caught out was that the car *was* in a private carpark, residential (+ visitors) only. However, it is classified as public road for the purpose of the road tax side of things, and they clamped it. I then had an extremely short period of time (IIRC 24 hours, but it's a little while ago now) to get the car declamped (expensive) and moved to proper off-road (or tax it). As the car was not MOTed I was forced to move the car after paying the release fee, the fine from DVLA, and then it was 'sorted'.

Had I been a day later, the car would have been moved to a compound, at even larger fines, daily increase added, and if I did not pay that + fine within a certain period (again, shortish, like a few weeks) the car would have been crushed.

I got no warning by post, only after I already paid I got something by mail (which was a ****take as the car could have been gone by then, with my stuff in it as I was going abroad the next evening).

You should be absolutely fine if you sent the papers off, no problem there

Definitely worth reading up on this in the leaflet that no doubt you would have had included in the letter from the DVLA

Sorn it on the website - I had to do the Mazda last year for all of 5 days whilst I waited for the new suspension to go on before I got an MOT etc...

A ridiculous rigmarole for 5 days but (by the time I got the SORN paperwork it had been re-taxed!) but at least I didn;t get a fine.

When we lived in the flat, SORN and untaxed cars we banned, and towed by the landlord.

As said, be sure it is private and you have the landowners permission.

The only thing to be cautious of is that 1) it is *private* land and as per gadgetman's post 2) if it is private, the landlord does not mind

Shame the landowner of the carpark here (the local council) isn't as strict as that! They bloomin' well should be stricter!

Sent the papers back last week with the SORN declaration

Got a reply back today saying they are looking into the matter.

Well they replied and said the fine still stands.

Now I'm cross.

One little mistake and they want to fine me.

They'd better gear up

I did say - forget about wasting time, that fine will stand..

So posting this will not help.

Thank you for your recent correspondence regarding the late licence penalty and I hope you are sat down for this.

I refuse to pay a penny. Yes I did not fill the SORN section in but why should I be penalised for a little mistake. I have always made sure I am on the right side of the law by keeping my vehicles roadworthy, insured and taxed.

Felicia S558NNK has not touched a public road since being parked up on the evening of 1st Dec 2008. So in fact I am not breaking the law as the car is not on a public road hence it does not need to be taxed.

The only reason it needs to be declared SORN is for the convenience of the computerised database.

I have sent a SORN form out that you people sent to me near the end of March 2009 to DVLA Swansea perhaps now your database can be corrected.

I have seen vehicles out on public roads that have out of date tax disks displayed with no action being taken against them and you want to fine me for a bit of paperwork even though I have not done anything illegal?

Perhaps you would care to explain what might happen if I did not pay? Crush a car that is not functioning, stripped out and sat on private property? Not only is following this course of action foolish but a waste of money but I guess Government agencies seem to do this on a regular basis anyway.

I’m giving you a choice you can fight me and lose or drop this case and concentrate your resources on finding tax dodgers or illegal motorists and restoring the faith that law abiding citizen’s place in the system. I do not think it is a difficult position.

End

I have admitted that I didnt fill the SORN part in but do i really need to be fined?

Edited 4 April, 200917 yr by Captain Sisko

Yup, its law and you've put it writing you didnt do it.

So the fine will stand. All you're doing is wasting your time and stamps.

Yup, its law and you've put it writing you didnt do it.

So the fine will stand. All you're doing is wasting your time and stamps.

OR...they might actually back down. You just don't know unless you try

They won't back down, the fine will stand, and if you argue it, it will just cost you more money.

Forgetting the basic principle of punishing the more honest individuals rather than doing something about untaxed/uninsured vehicles. At least you had it off-road so it couldn't be towed..

OR...they might actually back down. You just don't know unless you try

Well we shall soon find out

They rang today I think but my Dad didn't know I took the day off work and was holed up in bed cause I felt really ill.

So they are writing back to me.

I think I missed my original point in my first letter which is Yes I made an error but I shouldn't be fined for it.

But I shall see what they send back...

Good luck, I just got a flat out 'no chance' from them at the time though.

Well we have a development.

I have a letter from the DVLA (Swansea) now confirming the car as SORN......

But I got another letter back from another office explaining the consequences of the fine and that it still stands.

I got about a week before the "half price fine" is full price.

The clock is ticking and its once more unto the breach.

Fine will stand, but as the car is declared SORN as off the confirmed date on that letter I would imagine the fine does not go up as long as you pay it immediately.

There is zero tolerance on this kinda thing now.

You car is either taxed or SORN'd, its quite clear and final. There is no grace period on tax anymore you have to have it on time and displayed correctly.

Your in the wrong simple as that, pay up.

Sending the cheque tomorrow morning.