Taking your car off the road? You’ll need to abide by the 'SORN’ laws. We explain what it means and why it exists.
If you’re not using your car and want to cancel your road tax, you’ll need to take it off the road, or ‘SORN’ your car. SORN stands for ‘Statutory Off Road Notification’ and you’re required to submit one to tell the government if you’re taking your car off the road. Failure to inform the government can lead to an automatic fine if you don’t pay your road tax, so it’s important to make sure you know how to. To qualify for ‘SORN’ your car must be kept on private land or in a garage.
It’s really easy to SORN your car with the DVLA, and once it’s done there’s no need to pay road tax or have an insurance policy in place (although bear in mind that it won’t be covered in case of theft or damage without one.) Once you do so, you’ll be sent a refund from the DVLA for any road tax you’re owed for unused months in the form of a cheque. It’s illegal to drive a car on public roads after declaring it ‘SORN’ – if you do, you could risk big fines or even have your car seized if spotted by the police, DVLA or a camera.
You can declare a car ‘SORN’ through the DVLA’s website, and it can be done at any time. Gone are the days when you had to queue at the post office or fill in loads of forms, although it’s still possible to do it by post or over the phone without access to a computer. Read on to find out the different ways you can SORN your car.
How to declare SORN for your car
Apart from the car’s registration number, and make and model info, you’ll need the 16-digit reference number from your V11 car tax renewal reminder or the 11-digit reference from the car's V5C logbook. The DVLA website will tell you where to find these and guide you through the process. Make sure you read the rules though, so you know what you are promising.
- Online – visit www.gov.uk/make-a-sorn
- By post – use form V890 (available from the Post Office) and mail it to the DVLA.
- By telephone – call the DVLA on 0300 123 4321
Whichever way you declare SORN, you should receive an acknowledgement letter from the DVLA within four weeks. If you do not receive this letter, the onus is once again on you to check that your SORN has been successfully processed.
How long does a SORN last and how to cancel it
Unlike road tax, you don't need to renew a SORN declaration each year, and the SORN declaration is automatically cancelled at the time when you tax your vehicle again.
Check out how to tax your vehicle…
How to un-SORN a car and get it back on the road
Taxing a SORN’d car is easy: you simply follow the same procedure you would for a car that is running out of tax. You can do it online, at a post office or over the phone.
If your car has been off the road for a long time, it will, at the very least, need an MoT, but probably a good service, too. Once both of these are done, your car should be safe to go back on the road.
Cars built more than 40 years ago won’t need an MoT test officially, but we would recommend you get it professionally checked anyway to make sure it is safe to be used on the road.
It’s worth noting that if you are driving to the MoT test station (you are allowed to drive an unMoT’d and/or untaxed car to a pre-booked test), make sure you have the correct insurance to cover your journey and have checked that your tyres, brakes, steering and lights are still in working order before heading out on the road.
Why do you need to SORN your car?
In the UK, when someone owns a car it must be insured and taxed by default. If it’s not taxed or insured, the government will assume it’s in use on UK roads, unless it is SORN. This makes the government aware that the car is not in use on public roads without road tax and insurance, helping stop anyone from slipping through the net.
If your car is uninsured or untaxed, for whatever reason, take it off the road immediately and make a SORN declaration to the DVLA.
If you fail to make a SORN declaration, then the DVLA not only knows when your road tax has expired, but the organisation can cross-reference with the national insurance database to find out which vehicles do not have valid cover.
A warning letter will be sent, and if you fail to take action, an automatic fixed penalty fine will be issued by post – it’s £80 if your road tax has expired (reduced to £40 if you pay within 28 days), or £100 if your car is uninsured.
If you fail to settle-up, you’ll be facing court prosecution, at which point magistrates could raise the fine to £1,000 – plus court costs – for either tax or insurance.
Don’t rely on the DVLA sending you a warning letter though, as they’re not actually obliged to do so. Even if you think you should have had a letter but it hasn’t arrived, you’re still responsible in law for the offence and liable to be fined.
When you must make a SORN declaration
- If you buy a car and do not tax and insure it immediately. (Road tax no longer transfers with a car to its new owner, but is refunded to the car’s vendor at the time of sale.)
- If you buy a car that has already been recorded as SORN by the previous owner. (SORN declarations are not transferable, so you must immediately make a fresh declaration as the new owner.)
- If your road tax expires and your car is off the road for more than 14 days.
- If your car does not have valid insurance.
- If you are breaking a car for parts. When it is scrapped, you must declare this too.
Is it illegal to drive a car that's SORN?
It may occasionally be tempting to take a SORN vehicle for a spin – for example, if it’s been off the road for extended repairs and you want to road-test it, or you’ve just got back from an extended stay overseas.
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However, unless you are on your way to a pre-booked MoT or other government checks, this is against the law. If you are caught – or your number plate recorded on an ANPR camera system – the authorities will take a very dim view. You could face prosecution and a fine of up to £2,500.
Keyword: How to SORN your car with the DVLA