SORN - i think im in deep........

I bought a project bike a couple of years ago.

It came with a frame and V5. A few boxes of parts, an engine and wheels etc. none of which is specific to the bike but a job-lot deal to cobble a 'special' together.

I asked the previous owner if it was SORNed, which apparently it was according to him. A few weeks later the V5 arrived in my name.

The bike has never really got anywhere, just sat in the shed in bits for far too long.

I was taxing the SV online just now and I needed the doc's for that, when i found the other V5 along with it. I spotted on DVLA's site you can check it's SORN status. Guess what......



Not been taxed since 1993, and no sorn ever applied for. Instantly got a msg along the lines of "You will be sent a letter regarding the lack of tax collected for this vehicle, and possible prosectution proceedings also."

WTF!!!!! I'm the one being honest here, and i get collared.

OK. What's the damage gonna be? Why can't they inform you the tax-status when you get the V5 transferred for gawd sakes!!!


I'll be starting the Haggis's Unexpected Finance Fund (HUFF), paypal me all you can spare.

Surely if you have just purchased the vehicle with documents in you name anything prior to that should be on the previous owners hands should it not... if not then good luck getting it sorted i hope they see sense.

Also could you have asked to see the SORN documents before exchanging documents when you got the bike?

[peterco]

Haggis...
Will this be of any help.

http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~pa...cc/arc0496.htm


pete

[Stu]

Ask BlueSV650. Think he had same issue

If the vehicle has not been taxed since 31st January 1998 then you are ok.

I had a similar situation a few years ago.

When does it cease to be a vehicle and become a 'collection of parts'?

[mister c]

Had the same type of thing.
They said that they had seen my Moto Guzzi on the A56 in Manchester & were going to sue me for not taxing the machine. I sent them a letter stating that the Bike had been in pieces in my garage long before SORN was thought of & if they wanted photographic evidence I could supply it.
I never heard anything after that.

Don't worry about a thing, you are the new owner so any previous tax is not your problem. I bought a bike that had not been taxed for 3 years and was not sorn either. I applied for sorn as soon as the V5 came through in my name and all was well. Afterall, why would you have to pay for someone else not taxing it while they owned it!?

But I have owned it for two and a half years, so can they chase me for the tax for that?

What annoys me is there is no documentation for SORN, is there? So how do you know whe the year is up, as you're meant to let them know annually. What a bleedin farce.

Thanx about the photo evidence bit. I have some. So, maybe get off with this one if the pre-1998 rule applies. I have never received a renewal notice which hints at that, so luck is on my side. But as we all know this is the DVLA we are talking about!!!



wyrness: ISTR, it's the frame that's the vehicle in the eyes of the law. Thats why when you scrap one they want the headstock chopped off and documented (and possibly returned i think?).

huni dont panic, tris forgot to sorn one of his cars, we remembereda good few months later-did it online and it said the same thing "you will get a letter" etc
Never heard a thing.