With the nationwide lockdowns that came into play in the initial days of the Coronavirus pandemic, people were spending a lot of their time indoors. With companies having deadlines and targets that they had to meet, remote working began becoming the norm, and people realized that they were not using their vehicles as much during the pandemic as they were before. With everything uncertain, people did not want to spend a lot of their cars and started reducing the amounts that they were annually putting down.
Owning a vehicle implies that there are multiple running costs that the owner would have to bear. The most common and regular expense they had was the Vehicle Excise Duty which accounts for vehicle tax, car tax or road tax and much like most taxes, the amounts have to be paid to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) annually. It allows people to use their cars on public roads, park in public places and they must make the payment for all types of vehicles in the UK.
Additionally, vehicle owners must pay their vehicle insurance which is also an annual cost and would vary depending on the type of vehicle that they were using. Furthermore, they had to get through a mandatory MOT test to make sure their cars were roadworthy, safe, and not causing too much harm to the environment.
One of the primary ways people thought that they would save some money during the Coronavirus pandemic lockdown was by reducing their spending on the vehicles they owned. They did this by registering them for a Statutory Off Road Notification. Vehicles registered for a Statutory Road Notification or SORN can avoid paying any VED but should make sure they are not using the vehicle on roads or parking it in public places, which was convenient during the lockdown since they were staying indoors and not going out.
Here are some of the other reasons when people register for a SORN.
- If they failed an MOT test or did not have their
- If they have not registered the car for proper insurance, including a slight delay between one policy expiring and renewing the
- If they want to use the spare parts and accessories of the vehicle but not use the car on the
At the time of selling the vehicle, owners must fill out some paperwork stating that the car belongs to the person who purchased it. If the owner has a V11 reminder letter for a sold vehicle, they do not have to go through the process.
Furthermore, this year, between March 2019 and April 2020, there were 544,887 SORN applications, which was a 115.5% increase when compared to the 252,820 registrations in the previous year. Britons and people in the UK were using the SORN as an opportunity to save some money since they would receive a cheque from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to refund the pending amounts of their annual road tax, but only for completed months.
Vehicles that have SORN application against them do not have to make additional payments and can lead to saving amounts back and forth. They do not have to pay the excise taxes, nor do they have to pay insurance. However, since the vehicle cannot be used, people choose to add a fire or theft insurance since they are leaving them in storage till, they need them again.
When it comes to submitting a SORN application, there are multiple ways an individual can get through them. The most popular and efficient way of getting a SORN registration is by going to the DVLA website, which is convenient and free of cost if handled by the owner of the vehicle. It coordinates the process with the DVLA who reviews the information and provides the document. Using the website is ideally recommended through the Coronavirus pandemic since people are not supposed to be interacting with one another in person.
For those who prefer coordinating the process in person, they can call the toll-free number and get assistance on the process. They can even post or courier their documents, certification and forms to the address and would be informed about the process once completed.
As the pandemic progressed, people had to start getting back to their lives. With companies and offices opening again, everyone was going back to work and had to report to the office. In the initial stages, remote working was an option, and many choose to stay indoors. They would even travel to work by public transportation using trains and buses, but, when people started normalizing their routines, they began cancelling their SORN registration, paying their vehicle taxes and taking them out of storage.
Much like the SORN registration, vehicles using vehicles on public roads have to mandatorily have an MOT test, which they can do through the checkmot website. If they bring them out from storage, they must make sure that they get through the test. Vehicles that cannot get through the test cannot be used on roads and would receive fines and penalties if they ply without getting through the test. Unlike the SORN however, the MOT test has to be done in person with vehicle owners taking their cars into the registered dealers. During the pandemic, the authorities allowed people to delay their MOT tests, which they planned on extending till October but restarted it in August, and people had to get their cars through the registration process again. Another aspect of the MOT check is that people can go through the vehicle history and understand all the various parts that they worked on and the ones that they have to do in the current year. Ideally, when selling the car, the new owner can choose to go through the information and see if they are happy with the way the vehicle was used, before purchasing it. They can even understand the work done on the car. Many people delayed their MOT tests during Coronavirus pandemic but had to make sure they went through it after lifting the restrictions.