Morris Minor Owners Club

My car is currently missing it's front end and suspension. When I finish my exams I'm going to respray it and rebuild it over the summer, I hope it will be finished some time in august before I go to uni in september.
It's currently MoTed and taxed till october however the MoT expires mid June . Does this mean I'll have to declare it SORN for the couple of months over the summer or will I be able to get away with it as it's still taxed?

kep within the law and sorn it, it does not cost anything

hi sidney
try to get as much done as possible (late nights) so you can meet your dead line without having to declare it sorn (if possible). is there anyone else that can help you out with it???????????

Obviously you're not allowed to use it on the road without MOT (or insurance) even though it is taxed, but that's it. If it's taxed till October then you don't need to do anything regarding SORN until October.
If the car is still not MOT'd when the tax runs out then you'll need to SORN it but that's completely painless if you do it via the internet.

So it's definitely legal to just leave it taxed with an expired MoT? I won't be driving it at all until it goes to the MoT station.

Andrew, I'm not doing any big jobs on the car until my exams are over (16th June), once i start working on the car I will be putting in many late nights however I want my paint job to come out looking half-decent so I really don't want to end up rushing the prep work etc (and I need to rely on weather conditions )... Besides, I have the other car for shows in the summer so that's another reason not to rush it.
Good idea though...

SORN only relates to the tax

...although entirely dependent on whether it's OFF ROAD or not - hence the name. If it is, you're laughing. AFAIR, it has to have an MOT to be even parked on the street - please shout if I'm wrong.

Sidney'61 wrote:I'm not doing any big jobs on the car until my exams are over (16th June)

I'm counting down the days! My last exam is on the 16th too - Can't wait till the end of these exams, then I get to fiddle with the moggy all summer long!

So it's definitely legal to just leave it taxed with an expired MoT? I won't be driving it at all until it goes to the MoT station.

As BG said - as long as it's OFF ROAD there is no problem - which is good as I seem to get into that situation a few times every year.

you only have to fill in a SORN when the TAX runs out
A car can be left on the road with no MOT or Insurance but no not have any Ignition Keys with you when you get near the Car

The government are hopeing to introduce continious Insurance but thats in the future

That's good news. I'll be leaving home before the tax runs out anyway so I really have to get the car finished before then.
Not declaring it SORN will make it easier when I finish just to get an MoT and be off with the old insurance and tax.
Thanks all for your input.

canterburyalan wrote: A car can be left on the road with no MOT or Insurance but no not have any Ignition Keys with you when you get near the Car

Is this really the case , it goes against all other advice I have been given.
We have had a customer who had his traveller in a brick garage, taxed and insured but with no MOT . Unfortunately the car caught fire and the insurance company washed their hands of it saying that it was uninsureable due to lack of MOT. This left the customer £9K out of pocket and car less as the estimated repair cost was in excess of £12K.

canterburyalan wrote:

A car can be left on the road with no MOT or Insurance but no not have any Ignition Keys with you when you get near the Car

I'm sure you need tax, mot and insurance for the vehicle to be on the road, whether you've got the keys or not.

you need tax, mot and insurance for the vehicle to be on the road

Correct. It is a criminal offence to have a car on "THE QUEEN'S HIGHWAY" without a current MOT or insurance. Car can be towed and crushed.
It is a criminal offence not to display a road tax disc, but a civil offence not to buy a tax disc.

Exactly. Yet a caravan can sit on the Highway quite happily - although of course it may be deemed to be causing an obstruction.