WARNING: of buying car with no tax!

[morebookbargains]

A friend of mine bought a car recently and the previous owner had cashed in the tax without filling in a SORN. It seems on enquiries now to the DVLA and her local post office that she is liable for the back tax, could be fined £1000 and have 6 points on her licence.
Does anyone perhaps have any advice apart from getting intouch with the 'very hard to get hold of' dvla?

[phanmale]

If she can prove when she bought the vehicle, surely she shouldnt be responsible for the fine? However, they will argue that if she was aware it was off the road at the time, as it was her responsibility to check.

Try this number for general enquiries 01792 782341, vehicle enquiries 01792 772203 or

[phanmale]

oh

some of my post was missing

I had numbers for SORN on there too! Let me know if you need any extras morehelp!

[morebookbargains]

Hi, the car was on the road when she bought it.

[bykimbo]

Hi, the car was on the road when she bought it.

SORN = Statutory Off Road Notice. So you probably meant something else in the first post? I would definitely speak to the local vehicle licencing people, they've always been very helpful in my experience.

[sidthelamp]

Hi, the car was on the road when she bought it.

if your friend bought the car with tax on it and this was agreed in the sale,then when she picked the car up there was no tax, i would say the previous owner stole the tax, if the log book and or an invoice prove the date of sale then dvla will also have the date the tax was cashed in, so it could be proved who cashed in the tax at what date,your friend should of also refused to fill in the log book and take the car when she picked it up, so she could very well be held responceable for the car being used/parked without tax, just hope theres a bill of sale that says tax included !

[bykimbo]

Oh I see, is that's what's going on? Shouldn't the police be involved in that case? If the previous owner had cashed in the tax some time ago, but the vehicle is known to have been used, that's an offence, right? And the buyer can prove when she bought it. I'd have thought talking to both the police and the DVLA was in order.

[autologic]

If you are a new owner, you state the date you purchased the vehicle. You are not liable for any tax arrears. Tax it at a post office using a paper form rather than online, as the computer system won't understand it.

[coops101]

If you have the tax disc then its taxed, if not then you don't have tax.
The previous owner cannot get the refund without returning the original.
So if you didn't have a disc when you bought it, its your responsibility to either tax it or sorn it. Any sorns previously issued are no longer valid with a change of keeper, unless your a trader.
Hope that helps.
Coops