Nearly got clamped!

I am doing my rounds as a meals on wheels delivery driver with the local council. I am in my council uniform, in a council marked "Community Meals Service " van. I was stopped and getting food out of the van to deliver to a client when an unmarked van appears and the driver shouts to me;

"Your vans not taxed"

I reply;

"Its not my van"

The diver replies;

"It is your responsibility to tax your van"

I see his jacket has a logo and it appears to be DVSA (it was DVLA tax enforcement out with ANPR checking for untaxed vehicles) I reply;

"No its not, it is clearly a council vehicle, I do not have the authority to access council finds to tax it and in any case, it is the job of the fleet manager to tax vehicles"

The driver moves off as I am talking to him, so I am now shouting at him;

"Oye, stop, I am still talking to you!"

He does stop and now he sees I am a bit pissed off he starts to call me sir;

"You need to get that van taxed sir, please inform your superiors"

He drives off again, with me now shouting;

"They are not my ****** superiors!"

I do my delivery and phone the office to say what had happened. When I get back to the depot, the manager asks again what happened and I show her how to do an online tax check. She discovers that a third of our fleet has been SORNed!!!! Some wag in the council workshops had decided to SORN any van sent in to be repaired whilst it was repaired, but had not declared it back on the road when it had been returned. We had been driving around in SORNed vans for ages!

I get a replacement van to do my next run and in the street where I was stopped, a car has been clamped. I suspect I did not get clamped because it was meals on wheels and because I had become Mr Angry. Imagine that story hitting the news!

Bloody heck . So all that time your been (and others) been driving around with NO insurance .. how dangerous was that .. hope the bright spark who sorn all the vehiles been sacked ...

Bloody heck . So all that time your been (and others) been driving around with NO insurance .. how dangerous was that .. hope the bright spark who sorn all the vehiles been sacked ...

Too right! I agree, what a joke!

Bloody heck . So all that time your been (and others) been driving around with NO insurance .. how dangerous was that .. hope the bright spark who sorn all the vehiles been sacked ...

They are insured, councils do a block insurance cover that covers all public liability.

I was told that the person who had SORNed the vans had been disciplined.

If the vehicle is sorn and it's on the road being used IT IS NOT INSURED .. it dont matter if you have block insurance or not its is not tax then the insurance is invalid ... same if is taxed and not MOT the insurance is invaled you need all 3 in place unless it's less than 3 years old soon as its MOT aged thenit must be MOTed .. so no there is no insurance

You really think insurance companys like paying put if they can find ANYTHING that allows them NOT to pay out ..

I was told that the person who had SORNed the vans had been disciplined.

Well lucky not sacked ..

Why sorn a vehicle that's in for repair ??? really dont make any sense unless its council mechanics who take months to fix a puncher or empty thenass tray ..

Unless they claiming the tax back and pocketing the cash but it be paid by the council I'm sure it be sent back to the council. Also most councils have lease vehicles so it's not even the council who tax them or repair them .

Does your council own it's own vehicles and have it's own garage with mechanics ..

If the vehicle is sorn and it's on the road being used IT IS NOT INSURED .. it dont matter if you have block insurance or not its is not tax then the insurance is invalid ... same if is taxed and not MOT the insurance is invaled you need all 3 in place unless it's less than 3 years old soon as its MOT aged thenit must be MOTed .. so no there is no insurance

You really think insurance companys like paying put if they can find ANYTHING that allows them NOT to pay out ..

That isn’t exactly right, not having road tax doesn’t invalidate insurance automatically, you’re allowed to drive an untaxed and un MOT’ed car to an MOT station for a test for example but obviously you still have to have insurance cover.

Same goes for Sorned cars that are driven on trade plates, perfectly legal to do so, but that’s another thing really.

I am doing my rounds as a meals on wheels delivery driver with the local council. I am in my council uniform, in a council marked "Community Meals Service " van. I was stopped and getting food out of the van to deliver to a client when an unmarked van appears and the driver shouts to me;

"Your vans not taxed"

I reply;

"Its not my van"

The diver replies;

"It is your responsibility to tax your van"

I see his jacket has a logo and it appears to be DVSA (it was DVLA tax enforcement out with ANPR checking for untaxed vehicles) I reply;

"No its not, it is clearly a council vehicle, I do not have the authority to access council finds to tax it and in any case, it is the job of the fleet manager to tax vehicles"

The driver moves off as I am talking to him, so I am now shouting at him;

"Oye, stop, I am still talking to you!"

He does stop and now he sees I am a bit pissed off he starts to call me sir;

"You need to get that van taxed sir, please inform your superiors"

He drives off again, with me now shouting;

"They are not my ****** superiors!"

I do my delivery and phone the office to say what had happened. When I get back to the depot, the manager asks again what happened and I show her how to do an online tax check. She discovers that a third of our fleet has been SORNed!!!! Some wag in the council workshops had decided to SORN any van sent in to be repaired whilst it was repaired, but had not declared it back on the road when it had been returned. We had been driving around in SORNed vans for ages!

I get a replacement van to do my next run and in the street where I was stopped, a car has been clamped. I suspect I did not get clamped because it was meals on wheels and because I had become Mr Angry. Imagine that story hitting the news!

Another money saving thing the council have introduced?

Well that was lucky! I mean, good idea to SORN them if they're in for repairs often and/or it's a large fleet. But you'd think they'd make sure to unSORN them wouldn't you...

Well that was lucky! I mean, good idea to SORN them if they're in for repairs often and/or it's a large fleet. But you'd think they'd make sure to unSORN them wouldn't you...

Well not really , I can't see any point in SORN on a vehicle that's already taxed . The expiry date is still going to be the same isn't it ? Or maybe I've got that wrong . maybe I should have SORNed my bikes for the weekend because it just hasn't stopped raining .

Hmm now you mention it I'm not sure. I'd imagine you'd get a proportional refund if it's SORN during the year it's been taxed?

Oh take them for what they're worth, you could always do it if you're off on holiday or something!

Hmm now you mention it I'm not sure. I'd imagine you'd get a proportional refund if it's SORN during the year it's been taxed?

Oh take them for what they're worth, you could always do it if you're off on holiday or something!

I'm not sure either . I know you get a refund when you sell a vehicle . So if I only ride my bike at weekends I could SORN it every Monday morning and tax it online every Saturday morning . Brilliant ! My tax would last for years ! Somehow I don't think so . So back to this person who has been putting all these council vans on SORN and forgetting to tax them again . If a refund IS paid , where have the cheques been going ? Interesting .

the only bike I have that is sorned is my fs1e and that has been off the road for a few years now

Well that was lucky! I mean, good idea to SORN them if they're in for repairs often and/or it's a large fleet. But you'd think they'd make sure to unSORN them wouldn't you...

The most any were in for repair was about a week. I would think any savings would be marginal, since the fleet is huge and it would be a full time job taxing, SORNing and taxing again, with potential fines to pay for getting it wrong. Plus, you only get full months tax back, so most of the time, you loose out.

Jeez Throttled! Close call Glad you've got it all sorted out in the end.

If the vehicle is sorn and it's on the road being used IT IS NOT INSURED .. it dont matter if you have block insurance or not its is not tax then the insurance is invalid ... same if is taxed and not MOT the insurance is invaled you need all 3 in place unless it's less than 3 years old soon as its MOT aged thenit must be MOTed .. so no there is no insurance

You really think insurance companys like paying put if they can find ANYTHING that allows them NOT to pay out ..

Sorry that’s not right. They ARE insured. No tax does not invalidate insurance, it means they may not pay in the event of an accident, however the minimum level of insurance would be afforded to a third party if anything were to happen, so it remains insured. Not legal, but insured. Unless stated in the small print which is insurance company specific.

Local councils have public liability to cover should they need to claim on insurance, but they operate with a huge excess whereby they will pay for damage themselves.

If we have an accident, we are to take photos, get the other drivers details and fill out an accident form. The council want the option to repair any damage themselves without any claim being made.

The law states MOTs (ages related ) tax .. insurance . To have a vehicle on the road ..

So in your words the council can have vehicles on the road with not tax and if there in an accident THEY WILL fix the damage themselves ..then in the background they have insurance THAT THEY WONT USE .

So they dont tax the vehicle until someone says something like the clamp man ..

So as long as it's the council they dont need to abide by the law .

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Yes. The law states that a registered vehicle being kept or used on public roads must be both taxed and insured. You don't need to tax your car if you're not driving or parking it on a public highway. ... Driving a car that has been declared SORN is a more serious offence than purely driving without tax

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Failing to pay vehicle tax can result in a fine of up to £1,000, as well as being ordered to back-pay all of the tax that you missed...................

If someone in the office has told you we have block insurance we /you was ok then there are lying. You have been braken the law all that time.

You was not insured look at.the gov. Site it's there.

Their public liability insurance may well pay for third party claims but I believe still breaking the law. Also I see no advantage in SORN because I though you SORN'd and got refunded full months TAX so the month the SORN was made has already been used. I can't believe these cars are in for longer than a month.