I know that road tax is no longer transferable but due to a friend potentially buying a car privately I have a question. If I buy a vehicle privately from someone who has taxed it and I wish to drive it home, surely that vehicle is still taxed until the end of the month I buy it in, as the previous owner will not be able to claim back any tax in the current month, therefore I can't be done for no road tax on my way home?
The Blue One : 2004 model owned 2010-2018 much loved, much missed and now living with a man in Scotland Spain.
The Black One : 2010 Model Registered 2013 owned 2018 - present .Beowulf Cans. Renthal 755s Grip Puppies,15w fork oil,DL650 handguards ,givi engine bars ,led spotlights,gipro gear indicator, shortened dogbones, LeeHenty CSM kit and stainless bits, Topsellerie seat,MRA Xcreen,.PC III (dynoed). K&N airfilter,Fenda extenda. Lots of stainless/titanium.
Difficult to answer if the car is completely legal on day of purchase, eg seller has it fully insured, taxed and MOT it is unlikely to be stopped as most vehicle stops are a result of an ANPR hit as I understand it, however in the eyes of the written law as I understand it, as soon as you part with cash it has a new owner and needs to be insured and taxed by that person. This is a discussion point in various forums across the spectrum. :unsure2:
Yes and No. The tax will be deemed to be cancelled from the date on the transfer section on the V5, but not registered with DVLA until they get. Clearly, the y can't cancel on the actual day as the ownder might have driven the car on that day too, so theoretically, it would show on an ANPR test that it was taxed. Not sure that would stand up if you were in an accident though, as there is a facility to re-tax in your name by phone. All clear? Good.
2004 900 - Blue with lots of goodies
2012 900 - Still adding shiny bits. Was black, changed to white and now back to black again.
Don't quote me in court on this.......but if the owner has current insurance for the bike, and you have insurance that covers you to ride it, then provided it has a current MOT (if needed), then you could agree with the owner that you will take over the ownership of the bike after you get the bike home.
Thus, he (the owner) has insurance for the bike, and you are simply riding it on your insurance until you get it home.
In the unfortunate case of an accident on your way home, your insurance would cover any claim, and the road tax would be valid under the owner's insurance and the MOT.
Once you are home, he can then cancel his policy, and you can inform your insurer that you have bought the bike, and require your insurance changing (or whatever) to cover you as the owner of the bike. The owner would also surrender the remainder of the road tax (unfortunately losing the remainder of that month's tax) and you would have to take over responsibility of either declaring the vehicle SORN or pay for the road tax from the beginning of the month.
In theory you should tax it at the time of purchase, with the new keeper supplement, either online or at the post office
In reality the vehicle is legitimately taxed until DVLA are informed by either party that a transaction has occured.
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If the transfer takes place in the middle of the month then the old keeper loses the last 2 weeks tax, and the new owner loses the first two weeks of the month. A happy day for DVLA, that month the car as two lots of tax purchased for it. I think we would all like to see something better.
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I recently bought a bike and asked the owner not to send off the V5 until the end of the month, for this very reason. Legally, I was only trialing the bike for 2 weeks to see if I liked it or not.
Quote:Don't quote me in court on this.......but if the owner has current insurance for the bike, and you have insurance that covers you to ride it, then provided it has a current MOT (if needed), then you could agree with the owner that you will take over the ownership of the bike after you get the bike home.
Thus, he (the owner) has insurance for the bike, and you are simply riding it on your insurance until you get it home.
In the unfortunate case of an accident on your way home, your insurance would cover any claim, and the road tax would be valid under the owner's insurance and the MOT.
Once you are home, he can then cancel his policy, and you can inform your insurer that you have bought the bike, and require your insurance changing (or whatever) to cover you as the owner of the bike. The owner would also surrender the remainder of the road tax (unfortunately losing the remainder of that month's tax) and you would have to take over responsibility of either declaring the vehicle SORN or pay for the road tax from the beginning of the month.
I would advise strongly against this. The owner is completely liable regardless of who is riding it. There was a case in arbroath recently where a chap sold his bike but didn't cancel the policy covering it immediately. New owner crashed on way home and the sellers policy was forced to pay out 40k.
Quote:I would advise strongly against this. The owner is completely liable regardless of who is riding it. There was a case in arbroath recently where a chap sold his bike but didn't cancel the policy covering it immediately. New owner crashed on way home and the sellers policy was forced to pay out 40k.
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I'm not sure if this is always the case. I recently added a bike to my policy but it was stressed that the policy is not for the bikes (being ridden) but is only valid with me as the rider, or any other named rider. (Bennetts). Perhaps they have already written small print to avoid the Arbroath incident
If you are completely sure you are happy with your purchase and the vehicle has a current MOT then I would tax it online as soon as I picked it up. It only takes a couple of minutes & you will get a text receipt from DVLA.
I think we are mixing up 2 different subjects tax and insurance.
the road tax has no connection to insurance except for the fact it must be insured when originally taxed lack of road tax does not invalidate insurance its a tax.
the vehicle does need to be taxed and insured to be on the road but not necessarily by the same person so you can change your insurance and just ask the seller  to  date the sale on v5 for the next day to allow you to drive home
i know it can be done by internet but the government cant assume everyone has access to it its a bad system but a good cash earner i wounder how much the have made out of itÂ
I agree with Tin Tin, if you're happy with it, tax it then and there. Most dealerships will allow you to use their PCs to do it if you're purchasing from there, otherwise the DVLA website is pretty mobile responsive or they have a phone number alternative method.
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On the insurance aspect, it's not to do with the policy per se, it's the Road Traffic Act law that's applied in certain cases. In a nutshell, if you sell a vehicle (or it's stolen) and it is then involved in an accident where the person in control of the vehicle does not have sufficient liability cover in place and is identified as the offender, then the owners policy is obliged to cover liability (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/52/section/151).
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Where the offender isn't identified, it's covered by the Motor Insurers' Bureau. Uncommon to apply in theft cases as there is a lesser likelihood of criminals sticking around at an accident.
