Continuous vehicle insurance is now Law!
The new vehicle insurance law came into force on the 20 June 2011.
What it means for everyone
If your name is on the V5 registration document, you must arrange insurance for the vehicle in question, unless you have declared it off-road with a SORN (Statutory Off-Road Notification).
This is the case even if you do not use the vehicle. If you have a classic car tucked away in your garage, that is only insured and used for a few months in the summer, you still have to insure it all year round.
If you do not take out insurance for cars you have not declared SORN, you face prosecution and risk losing your car.
In the first instance, an Insurance Advisory Letter (IAL) will be issued, informing you there’s a risk of prosecution if you do not take out insurance. Ignore this, and a £100 Fixed Penalty will be issued. If you still take no action, there is the risk of your car being clamped, so you cannot use it. Or, worse still, it could be seized and crushed.
The most serious penalty is court prosecution. Here, people who still refuse to take out insurance risk a court appearance and a fine of up to £1,000.
Registered keepers thus have two courses of action: either take out insurance, or declare a vehicle SORN.
Full details can be found on the Department for Transport website and the Directgov website.
