[morris_mini]

Hi All,

Just a quick one!

If one's road tax expires and one gets caught/spotted by police whilst driving after expiry date... Does one get issued any points or fines?

Thanks in advance chaps!

[humph]

Not sure what the exact penalty is for driving without tax now, but worst case is they can impound and crush your car But that will only be for the worst offenders.

Why will you be driving after the tax has expired? I renewed mine online the other day and it may not turn up in time. But I have a printed receipt to prove I have renewed it. This should mean I won't get a fine if stopped.

There used to be a period of grace but I'm not sure whether they've done away with that.

[MINIMAT]

Yes as above. They've heard all the excuses, you get a reminder sent to you before hand as they have you on a database, They know where you live and whether you have renewed or not. You can renew on line in a matter of minutes.

I think the car can be impounded meaning you have to then pay the tax and the cost of it being kept. Don't pay and it gets crushed. There was a feature on a radio station a while ago. some of the cars crushed are quite fancy.

People can't afford to run the car so they make economies by not paying tax, and they get caught and then it's impounded. Then each day it's impounded the bill gets higher, finally it's crushed.

From the website:

If you don’t tax or SORN your vehicle
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) carries out a computer check each month, as well as roadside checks to identify those vehicles without a valid tax disc. You could face an automatic penalty of £80 as well as a minimum fine of £1000. Your vehicle could be clamped, impounded or even crushed.

[morris_mini]

ahaha, that is severe!

Yeah i was just wondering as i've done mine online and the tax disc expired yesterday (i know the tax disc takes 3-7 days to be delivered).

Thanks for answering quickly chaps!

[I love MINI, Laura]

Why did your tax expire yesterday? The end of the month isn't for a couple of days, just did mine online too today and I won't have it till the new month starts. It will be OK though!

[billy.batson]

If you renewed it online presumably the database will be updated instantly, so if the police do a check you should be OK even if the new disc hasn't come.

Another point: if you renew online with a credit card they charge you £2.50 for the pleasure of accepting your money. Typical of this government to squeeze another bit out of your wallet. Any regular retailer would absorb the CC charge as part of the service. So I still go to the Post Office with my documents and cheque!

[Fin]

Is it still not an offence to not correctly display a tax disc?

Even if its paid up, if you're not displaying it you can still get shafted.

[Jamesr022]

Quote: Originally Posted by morris_mini (original)

If one's road tax expires and one gets caught/spotted by police whilst driving after expiry date... Does one get issued any points or fines?

Thanks in advance chaps!

Police do not issue fines or points for not having Tax on your car but they can fill out a quick form with all the necessary details which then gets sent to the DVLA and they can then deal with it how they see fit, which could be anything from nothing to a hefty fine...! at the end of the day you should have had the reminder in the post if your vehicle is registered correctly or you can do it online so theres no excuse for not having tax displayed.

[Randall Raines]

You're allowed to Tax a vehicles Tax approx 2 weeks before the expiry date (I think it's after the 15th of the previous month, this is your time to get your Tax sorted out, not after it's ran out) as stated earlier there is no period of grace now if there ever was one .

If a vehicle is registered to you and you don't renew the Tax or declare a SORN you get an automatic £80.00 fine in the post (I think that's amount).

If your vehicle is seen on the road without a valid Tax disc in our area your car is clamped and towed away without any questions asked, and you pay for the recovery fines & any outstanding Tax etc... etc... before you get your car back (within a certain time period, or it's crushed, sold or whatever).

Also the days when you drove around without getting stopped (by the POLICE) or getting a ticket and you where OK are long gone with the ANPR cameras you can get spotted at any time and they know you've been out & about whether you get stopped or not and if you do get stopped you're walking and the car's going to the pond (it's not worth chancing it anymore).

I think it is an offence to have a vehicle on the road and not display a valid Tax disc so whether you have a valid Tax disc or not it's still an offence and there is no arguing with the clamper's etc... etc.. in our area.

[Randall Raines]

Quote: Originally Posted by Fin (original)

Is it still not an offence to not correctly display a tax disc?

Even if its paid up, if you're not displaying it you can still get shafted.

As my friend once did, got shafted.

I had my tea / dinner between starting my post & actually posting it hence a couple of posts in-between so my post was a little out of date .

A friend of mine had to park on the back street and his Tax disc kept getting stolen, so when it happened for the 3rd time he took it in at night, a COPPER (POLICE officer) who was on the prowl looking for the suspects noticed the absent Tax disc and reported him (the car), my friend spoke to the officer the next night and he said sorry but it should be in the car on display & not on top of the TV in the front room, he actually went to court over the matter but was let off lightly with a warning and minimal court costs and told to leave it in the car whether it was getting stolen or not .

[mini33]

Its a bit of the topic slightly - but i have just renewed mine online like i do every year & i was a good girl as i renewed my only the earliest day you can but the problem/question i had was why was my renewal £205 but doing online they charged me £210 for using a debit card.

I was cheering when they didnt but it up in the bugdet & that i will hopefully miss it next year but how do they justify the £5 - i realise there was a £2.50 charge for credit card but mines a debit card

I have paid the extra £5 as i couldn't be bothered with the hassle of going to the post office as i work shifts & have always used the sites since it started & never had this problem

Just wondered if any one had, had this problem

[Fin]

You may have had your renewal sent through saying £205, but in the budget it went up to £210 this year (for a MCS).

I think you were a couple of weeks too late

[MINI Poser]

Aha!!

Yes I did!

I noticed that as well, and for the same reasons paid online as I couldnt get to the post office to buy it there.

Not happy...that fiver is like a 10th of a tank of fuel!

And if your car is taxed but you are not displaying the valid disc in your window, in these parts, you will be getting a £60 fine!

[baskers]

Isn't it amazing how heavy the government can get when they don't get paid their money, eh? Wish they could do the tough stuff with the more important things... Hmmm.

[OJM]

They're clamping down big time on expired tax etc - 3 cars have been clamped and towed on our street in the past couple of months. Think 2 of them were people parking here instead of paying to use the train station car park, so I'm happy (them parking here means residents can't park).

[Harpo]

Something else to remember - your insurance company may decide to invalidate your policy if you have no tax. So just don't have a ding while you wait to tax your car.

[Martin F]

Quote: Originally Posted by Harpo (original)

Something else to remember - your insurance company may decide to invalidate your policy if you have no tax. So just don't have a ding while you wait to tax your car.

Which provision in the contract of insurance do you think allows an insurer to do this. I can't think of any such provision in mine.

[Randall Raines]

Quote: Originally Posted by Harpo (original)

Something else to remember - your insurance company may decide to invalidate your policy if you have no tax. So just don't have a ding while you wait to tax your car.

I could be wrong , but I would be inclined to agree with "Harpo" as I thought your car had to be fully legal to be on the road, Tax, MOT etc... etc... and the only reason you can legally drive on the road without Road Tax is if your vehicle is Tax exempt or you're going to some sort of Government test, by this I mean an MOT or VIC check .

[Martin F]

Whilst accepting that not all policies are the same, my Norwich Union policy simply contains a condition that I " maintain my car in good condition". There is no clause that I can find that would allow insurers to repudiate liability for lack of tax or MOT. Without such a clause in the contract they cannot do so.

Indeed, if insurers did have such a clause, the roads would be even more risky as any driver who happened to be a few days late renewing either would be uninsured, and that would be very unsatisfactory.

[Randall Raines]

Quote: Originally Posted by Martin F (original)

Whilst accepting that not all policies are the same

Totally agree with that, and every ones circumstances are not the same in the event of a claim, you could just have your car on your drive & your chimney-pot fall on it, that would be different to someone driving on the road with no MOT / Tax and needing to claim

Quote: Originally Posted by Martin F (original)

my Norwich Union policy simply contains a condition that I " maintain my car in good condition". There is no clause that I can find that would allow insurers to repudiate liability for lack of tax or MOT. Without such a clause in the contract they cannot do so.

On that note if you was driving on the road with no MOT which is a legal requirement unless the vehicle exempt you could be classed as not keeping your car in good condition as you could have no evidence that your car was in a good roadworthy condition (dependant on the damage or a receipts you may or may not have ).

Quote: Originally Posted by Martin F (original)

the roads would be even more risky as any driver who happened to be a few days late renewing either would be uninsured

This is why you have the approx 2 weeks on the Tax before expiry and the previous calender month on MOTs before expiry so that you can't use this as an excuse , but again someone who does this all the time is different to someone who genuinely forgets just the once .

We could argue / discuss this all day long and go off track from the original post (which was about Tax), as a lot of it's down to the an individuals interpretation of a LAW, phrase of words / clause in an insurance document, and some of those clauses are so vague that they can be used in whichever way suites the insurance company at the time.

So that's it from me, See you all soon .