Companies can be caught out if they have a vehicle off the road which is not taxed and/or insured. The offences of no insurance and no tax can arise even if a vehicle is not in use.
Under the old rules, if a company vehicle was off the road for any reason (for instance, not being used or damaged) then a company would normally be fine to park and leave the car off the road on private land.
However, if a car is off the road the business must make a declaration to the DVLA that the vehicle is off the road. This is because the government does not want to lose out on paying road tax, and if the vehicle is on a public road it must have insurance.
We often hear stories of parking ticket offices / police community support officers (the so called ‘hobby bobbies’), the police and DVLA checking up on vehicles both on and off the road.
Statutory off the Road Notifications (SORN) are relatively simple to make – you can download the form or do an online application at gov.uk – make sure you have the company vehicle’s log book to hand.
Better to be safe than out of pocket.