What will happen when the DVLA cease to issue real tax discs. The European Police will then have to consult the EUCARIS database held in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. That database does not include the validity of the Excise Duty payment only the date of first registration and the name of the registered keeper. That name is often inaccurate since the best the DVLA have achieved is 1 in 35 of the registered keepers of vehicles cannot be traced from the vehicle register it often as bad as 1 in 23 therefore they rarely bother. Other police forces do not have access to that data and simply rely on the Registration Certificate and the insurance certificate or Green Card. Often foreign registration of a UK vehicle is horrendously expensive which is why ex-pats use a UK registered car even after its tax runs out. It is cheaper to buy an old banger locally but you cannot do that in every country you get to on an extended tour. So the only way is to insure your vehicle abroad it can be less expensive than you think, and then tour the world. Once you are overseas SORN your vehicle on line and raise two fingers to the DVLA. Some countries require the MOT certificate whilst others require their own Technical test certificate valid within the EU but not outside the EU The only problem arises when you return to the UK. You must get the tax at the port of entry ASAP and that will mean that you need to get UK Insurance and a quick trip to a pre-arranged MOT before you can use it on the highway. The port will want you off their patch ASAP so it must be organised to that effect.

I have subscribed to that thread.

Has anyone else had the misfortune to have their application form to register an imported vehicle tampered with so that the vehicle is then made to appear much older than it actually is. If so please contact me with the details. Big Bill

Don't hold your breath! but you may be lucky as the Bike was first registered in the EU. After 2004 the Directive EC 37/1999 applies and the harmonised parameter date of first registration is defined as the date on which the vehicle was administratively authorized to enter service in road traffic identified and issued with a serial number known as the registration number for the first time. That is defined in UK legislation by Regulation 10A of the Road vehicles (Registration and Licensing) Regulations 2002. As far as tampering with the application form is concerned; according to the DVLA "Although there are no written instructions to do so it is common practice for the application form to be corrected". The DVLA also admit to rewriting a whole form with "addional information" and then processing that form as if the applicant had filled it in.

The Registered Keeper is not necessarily the owner of the vehicle and very few Keepers can actually prove that they own the vehicle. The registered keeper does not necessarily need a driving license so making your aged aunt who is registered blind the registered keeper solves a lot of problems. The vehicle owner (who is not registered by the DVLA and cannot be located by the DVLA) can permit any licensed driver who has his own "Any other vehicle" insurance policy to drive that vehicle without the knowledge of the registered keeper. Thus limiting the powers of the BPA to practically nil. Unless of course the DVLA extend another SI to those Rogue Clampers and that states " References to the owner are to the person who is the keeper of the vehicle at that time" In recording a date, time and place of all vehicles, is the parking management company actually invading the privacy of the drivers of the other cars, not the ones who overstay, which might make the ANPR cameras unlawful . Food for thought?

Has any one else noted that the Protection of freedoms Act that came into force in October 2012 also amended the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984. It expanded the definition of road (highway maintained at public expense) to include "or other land". The Secretary of State for Transport ( DVLA) can then by regulation (SI introduced by the DVLA) delegate the powers of the local council to the parking management companies of the BPA. That will mean that a single MP ( Mike Penning ?) will have the power to reverse the Protection of Freedoms Act and legalize the the clamping and towing away from private land.The Rogue Clampers will then be legalized. Keep checking the Draft SI's to see when that happens.

The DVLA's own annual reports (available on-line) show that over the last few years they cannot trace the registered keeper of a vehicle from their Vehicle Register in between 1 in 23 and 1 in 34 cases. The target is better than 4%. The situation with the Driver Register is even worse where the driver cannot be traced from the record in nearly 25% of cases. The target is 20%. How on earth can they be allowed to continue issuing penalties "from the record" with that level of inaccuracy.

Make certain that you do turn up on time at the court because in these cases the court automatically finds you guilty if you do not turn up. The DVLA might be using misinformation to cause you to be found guilty in your absence.

Somebody is telling lies and I wonder who?

These regulations are made under powers in section 7A of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994, as amended by the Finance Act 2002. The amendments cover continuous registration and the power to enforce directly from the record, and create a new criminal offence of being the registered keeper of an unlicensed vehicle. They give specific powers to the Secretary of State to levy an automatic supplement on those keepers who fail to license their vehicles on time. The regulations set the level of the new penalty for those who are served with notices following their failure to license their vehicles on time, or to make a statutory off-road notification if they intend to take a vehicle off the road. The proposed penalty is £80, reduced to £40 if paid within 28 days of the notice being served. That penalty will apply if a keeper fails to license a vehicle or to make a statutory off-road notification within a month of the expiry of the previous licence or statutory off-road notification. The regulations also prescribe that the registered keeper of the vehicle shall be liable to pay the penalty. This is taken directly from the explanatory notes to parliament.

The legislation actually allows 28 days between expiry and a SORN application look it up your self. The DVLA and their cohotrs may tell you different. The DVLA cannot fine you they apply a penalty charge that can only be recovered through the courts. It is not a "fine" only the courts can Fine you.

Lonerider Can you please contact Big Bill (you have my email if not PM will do) have some important news for you.

In this years accounts for the year 2009-2010 the DVLA admit that the Vehicle register is only 97.1% accurate ( 96.7 previous year) which means that there are about 1.25 million vehicles whose record is inaccurate. That probably accounts for the majority of the so-called uninsured vehicles on the road. the rest are hardly going to be put off. A young lad buys a very cheap car for cash with ten months MOT and tax then gets someone with a declared interest to insure it RTA only for a few pounds and lo and behold it passes all roadside checks. Only the lad driving is not insured. and already banned so TWOCing is not a problem to him but the insurance companies are loosing out. For this when my insurance on the camper van runs out on the 27th June and i don't use it again untill September. My choice is simple, either I cease to use it for the last three weeks and SORN it or re-insure. either way I lose out. I would normally leave it taxed and only insure for the next outing. The insurance companies are laughing all the way to the bank and the DVLA are waiting to pounce with the proposed £1000 penalty charge.

CEO of the DVLA (Simon Tse was Noel Shanahan)---- 01792 782798 ---- [email protected] (was Noel shanahans personal assistant ) [email protected] .uk (CEO's Office) Head of Local Services Network (David Marshalsay)( also Ann Jones)--- 01792 788 233 --- [email protected] k Head of Customer Services and Compliance(Mrs Alison Wolley)---01792 788 225 Drivers customer services----01792 782 255 Switchboard? --- 01792 772232 Always ask to be transfered internally and do not allow them to put you off by ringing the 0870 or any other number. Don't forget to put 141 in front of the number so that the recipient cannot tell that it is not an internal call

It seems that the DVLA will be in charge of Continuous Insurance Enforcement with all th problems that will bring. I wonder how they will cope with a neighbour's land rover. He uses it intermittently for "Mud Plugging" and only insures it for those occasions. For the rest of the year he allows me and several others to use it on our own "RTA only" insurance (You bend it you mend it). The present wording of the law cannot cope with that just as it cannot cope with hire cars that are only insured during the hire period and lease hire cars where the registered keeper has the responsibility to insure but is not the owner and therefore does not give a damn if the car gets crushed. The latter have special provisions made for them but what will happen to the owners of classice and vintage cars that are only insured for the dutation of the events and where the car is tax exempt. It is a cock-up waiting to happen and the DVLA will no doubt take full advantage in the issuing of penalty charges. The continuous registration debacle was supposed to bring in £30,000,000 a year but actually costs the taxpayer £18,000,000. When your insurance ends mid month are your prohibitted from using the car for the first half because it must be SORN'D for the whole month or are you allowed to use it up to the last day of the insurance and only SORN it at the begining of the next month? There are too many pitfalls that will be used to make the motorist pay more. I am waiting to see who is the first to post about geting "fined " for no insurance.