Taking a van to England without tax or MOT
 

Hi everyone,

I have had a good search on here and on the net in general.

I have a UK registered van here in Spain (currently off road). I want to take it back to England this year but it has no valid road tax or mot (insurance either but it will have when I move it).

The only information I have picked up is that you can do this as long as you have a pre-booked appointment for an MOT. Is this correct?

I know at the ports they have plate recognition, so know I will be stopped so want to do this correctly!

Thanks for any help, Steve!

Re: Taking a van to England without tax or MOT
 

How long has it been without road tax? You will probably have to pay back up to that date for a start.

I would pre book an MOT close to the port, and obviously get insurance, then sort the tax out later

Re: Taking a van to England without tax or MOT
 

The tax ran out in January, but i completed the SWORN via internet. Thanks.

Re: Taking a van to England without tax or MOT
 

You should be aware though that you will be driving it through Spain (and probably France) illegally as a car has to be legal in its country of registration.

As far as the UK is concerned, I have heard various stories about booking an MOT, so I guess you take your chances. You wont get tax without insurance, and if you hit any of the numberplate registration cameras then you will be clocked. If so, you then find out if the pre booked MOT will work or not :D

Re: Taking a van to England without tax or MOT
 

It may work in UK if he gets that far, best put it on a trailer for what it costs.

Re: Taking a van to England without tax or MOT
 

A couple of years ago when we were thinking of doing this I was told by DVLA that you can take a car into the UK if you have an MOT booked close to the port. You must drive straight to the MOT station. The vehicle must have at least third party insurance though.

As someone else said, your problem maybe driving through Spain and France - or are you putting it on a ferry from Santander?

Re: Taking a van to England without tax or MOT
 

How will the fact that the car has no road tax be viewed though?

Re: Taking a van to England without tax or MOT
 

Quote from Direct gov web site
"You can drive your vehicle to and from a pre-arranged test at an MOT test station as long as you have adequate insurance cover in place for the use of that vehicle."

But this begs the question if it ain't taxed how do you insure it

Mitzy, no mention of a testing station being close to the port.

Re: Taking a van to England without tax or MOT
 

Yes, well I took my Spanish plated car back to the UK and needed an MOT first off. When I got that I changed the insurance to UK, and with both of those I was then able to go and get road tax ... but not before.

Re: Taking a van to England without tax or MOT
 

Google MOT Stations Dover and get a whole skip full

the insurance "problem" is the reason why the authorities are linking all the relevent elements to ANPR, if you fail one one element you get pulled irrespective.
ISTR getting a leaflet saying the Uk has now imposed an Insurance element on all cars to ensure the car is insured whilst travelling to MOT centre without tax disc. But have thrown it out so cannot refer to it at this time.

You don't have to have tax or mot to get insurance, you don't have to have tax to get mot
You do need insurance when travelling on roads
You do need to have mot and insurance to get tax - when doing the renewal online (a doddle) they automatically check the other docs before completing.

suggest you talk to a local insurance co or one in gib
good luck

Re: Taking a van to England without tax or MOT
 

Interesting info

The other time you can use an untaxed vehicle (but must have insurance) in the UK is taking a voter to/from the polling station on election day :D

Re: Taking a van to England without tax or MOT
 

So long as the vehicle is insured and on SORN it will be fine to pre book the MOT and drive there, once passed MOT will then obviously require to be taxed. As for other countries no idea but as you would be complying with UK law immediately on return so long as you are able to explain that should be ok supose it depends on the cop but my informed guess would be it will be too difficult for them so they will give you a bye . It will of course only be registered on the UK ANPR. remember. Of course in the UK now you MUST have insurance and there is SORN in relation this as well.

Re: Taking a van to England without tax or MOT
 

Hi as far as I know the fact that you don't have road tax doesn't matter in Spain , but it will when you arrive in the UK. I don't really know about the MOT. I hope someone else can help you with that:confused::confused:

Re: Taking a van to England without tax or MOT
 

Isn`t it an offence to declare it SORN and then use it on the road, a UK car out of the UK is still covered by UK regulations.

Re: Taking a van to England without tax or MOT
 

You can only declare SORN if the car remains in the UK.

Re: Taking a van to England without tax or MOT
 

It does matter. If you have a UK plated car in Spain it has to be legal in all respects as if it were in it's home country
i.e. MOT, Tax & insurance.

Bear in mind if it's not taxed the insurance could be invalid.

Re: Taking a van to England without tax or MOT
 

if its not MOT'd insurance would be invalid


its a vicious circle

when are they going to start plating\licencing bicycles ??
been doing it in Singapore and Malaysia for decades

Re: Taking a van to England without tax or MOT
 

On yer bike. :)

Re: Taking a van to England without tax or MOT
 

For maybe the 100th time, a car on UK plates in Spain has to be legal in the country of regsitraion. No MOT means its not legal in the UK, therefore it is not legal in Spain. So whoever told you that, take them to one side and explain it in simple terms

Re: Taking a van to England without tax or MOT
 

succinctly put :thumbsup:

Re: Taking a van to England without tax or MOT
 

If it does not tick all the boxes it is illegal to use it in Spain or France.

But just because it does not have an MOT or UK tax does not necessarily invalidate the insurance.

If the policy requires that it has an MOT or Tax then that would be different.

It depends on the wording of the policy.

There is no specific law that states that insurance would be invalid in the absence of MOT or tax - it's down to the insurance company to define the risk and conditions.

It's all in the small print!

Re: Taking a van to England without tax or MOT
 

Thanks for all the replies.

I will be sailing Santander to Portsmouth so no need to worry about France.

Having read all the comments I guess it is just a case of getting MOT booked in Portsmouth, rather than risking booking one in Stoke.

As far as the SORN is concerned, I had no idea that you do not do this if it is out of the country.

It will be a case of fingers crossed!

Re: Taking a van to England without tax or MOT
 

Not sure what being SORN in the UK and still driving it anywhere would mean either?

Re: Taking a van to England without tax or MOT
 

Basically SORN means Off Road - like ANY road!

Re: Taking a van to England without tax or MOT
 

Anybody suggest a company that does this, bearing in mind it is in Cadiz?

Cheers

Re: Taking a van to England without tax or MOT
 

Personally I would check that the insurance is OK and if so drive it back.

Re: Taking a van to England without tax or MOT
 

Hi

There are a number of companies that will transport cars back to the UK, mainly from the Costa Del Sol, I suggest you try "Sur in English"

And don´t forget to "un SORN" your car before driving it in England

Davexf

Re: Taking a van to England without tax or MOT
 

Cadiz to Santander and then ferry to England ??

Re: Taking a van to England without tax or MOT
 

Dave, how do you un SORN? Can this be done online?

Re: Taking a van to England without tax or MOT
 

My Daughter took a UK car back from Netherlands. No tax or test. Insured it through a UK company who allowed 3 months to do all paperwork. She spoke to someone at DVLC first. Test was booked close to ferry terminal but she did not use it. She said all the formalities were done within a week.

Re: Taking a van to England without tax or MOT
 

You cannot cancel a SORN as such. It will become "UnSORNed" when you tax it or permanently export it.