Driving a used car home without road tax?

[annie49]

Hi can anyone tell me the legalities of driving a used car home from the dealers without road tax? I have taken out insurance on the vehicle and it would just be getting driven straight home. According to the dealer so long as we are just driving home and can produce our receipts as proof of and time of purchase if the police do stop us we should be alright . The insurance documents usually take about five working days to arrive and we are collecting the car before that. i was looking into the possibility of taxing 'online' but seemingly the tax disc would be sent out to the person they have on record as being registered keeper and of course that won't be us until the log books etc are actually handed over to us. just looking for advice if anyone can help. thanks

[New Judge]

Don't really know for sure mdoo. Hopefully the people who look after taking the deposits have access to the Motor Insurers' database (from which the police get their insurance information) and somehow "tag" the vehicles which are subject to the deposit scheme so that they show up as "covered".

I'm not even sure of the numbers of vehicles involved.

[Berkshirelad]

If you deposit, you are insured for any vehicle that you drive - it is not linked in any way to a VRM.

So as far as ANPR is concerned, it will show no cover and be dealt with in exactly the same way as 'driving other cars'

The best way to get this car home if not taxed is:-

1) get the dealer to deliver it on his trade plates. If he hireslends them to you, he will lose them as this is not an authorised use in the course of his business (as he no longer owns ther car)

0r 2) Book an MoT apponitment on the way home and then after the test, drive it straight home.

[New Judge]

Depositors are not insured at all, Berkshirelad. They are excused the requirement to take insurance cover by virtue of their deposit. No insurers are involved and the depositor must pay for any Third Party damage or injury he may be responsible for.

Further, as mdoo rightly points out, Section 144 is applicable only to vehicles owned by them (though I believe one deposit covers any number of vehicles owned by the depositor). It certainly does not allow them to drive vehicles owned by somebody else.

One final point arising from what you said about “driving other cars”: following the implementation of the “continuous insurance” regulations all vehicles are now required to be insured in their own right. Those which are not on the Motor Insurers’ database (i.e. those that are not insured in their own right) are not permitted to be driven by drivers with a “may drive other vehicles” extension to their own policy. When encountering such a vehicle most police forces now seize it and it is not released until a valid certificate of insurance is produced. I cannot see somebody who has deposited half a million smackeroonees of his hard earned cash standing by and watching his Ferrari driven away by plod to the pound.

There must be a way that vehicles owned by depositors are identified, but I’m afraid I don’t know what it is.

[MIKEH63]

You cant drive a vehilce on the road with out valid road tax on it. Also you cant tax the vehicle until you have a valid mot certificate and a valid motor insurance certificate. You need to wait for your insurance certificate to arrive, then take it to a post office along with your mot certificate. Then you need to fill out a CHANGE OF REGISTRATION DOCUMENT, at the post office and hand it in with your mot and insurance. Then after youve fixed the tax disc in the windsreen of your vehicle, then you are legal to drive the vehicle on the road. DONT risk doing otherwise, because you could be fined and have penalty points put on the license, which would also increase your in insurance next time around because you have got a motor related conviction. I hope this answer helps, Mike,

[MIKEH63]

Also, as previously stated, any decent car dealer, would tax it for you anyway. All you need to do is give him the money, then he should tax it. Put depending how much you payed for the car, they should have put a least six months tax on anyway as part of the deal, it should also have at least six months mot on it. If it hasnt, they should have put a full 12 months mot on it. There are too many car dealers out there, and its a buyers market, dont get ripped off by an unscrupilous car dealer.Mike.

[dave553322]

A good dealer would insist on the car being taxed and insured before he let you remove it from the forecourt!!