Road Tax - The Law

For a van and driver to legally be entitled to drive on the road you need to have certain documentation. This documentation includes Van insurance and up to date road tax t be displayed in the windscreen of the vehicle. With the increased costs of road tax some vehicle owners used to try and get away with not buying road tax and run the slight risk of a police officer spotting the vehicle.

This is slowly becoming a thing of the past as the government has, over the past couple of years, developed a scheme to clamp down on road tax evasion. The new scheme uses the car database to record which cars on the road today are taxed and which are not. The cars found not to have an up to date tax disc are located on the database and a fixed fine of approximately £80 is automatically issued to the owner of the vehicle with more to follow if action isn't taken by the owner.

It is very important if you own a car that is used for off road purposes only, on places such as farms that you notify the DVLA of the fact that this vehicle is off the road otherwise you could be fined. This can be done with the use of a statutory off road notification (SORN).

Cars kept on the public roads must have an up to date road tax disc with no exception, even if they are presently not in use.

With the new scheme now in place and working to reduce the amount of un taxed vehicles on today's roads it is of great importance that you keep the DVLA notified of any changes. Make sure that you pay attention to those road tax reminders and notify the DVLA if you sell your van or if the vehicle is being kept off road as soon as possible.