Insurance Exemption
If you use your car on a public road, you must be insured. However, the law allows for very specific types of vehicles to be used for specific purposes without insurance. These are very precise exceptions, set out by the Road Traffic Act 1988, and are not likely to affect the vast majority of drivers. They include:
- where the car belongs to a public authority, such as police vehicles, army or air force vehicles, and National Health Services (NHS) vehicles
- if your car is declared 'off the road'
Statutory Off-Road Notification (SORN)
Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN) is the legal way of reporting your vehicle as being 'off the road'. 'Off the road' is defined as removing the vehicle from a public road. A public road however has a very wide definition; it includes anywhere the public has access to, including: farm roads, cul de sacs, avenues, and any other road that is maintained at the public's expense, including surrounding grass verges and adjoining ground. By making a SORN, your vehicle is no longer required to be insured, nor taxed (see Vehicle Tax). Only the registered owner of the vehicle can declare a car as being 'off the road'.
It is advisable to register SORN for your vehicle as soon as you take it off the road. The main reason is that SORN cannot be backdated, and so you may still need to be insured and taxed even if you do not use the vehicle. A SORN can be declared online, by phone or at a Post Office® branch.
If your car is registered as being 'off the road' and you cancel your insurance, you should remember that you are no longer covered if your car is stolen or catches fire. Instead of cancelling your car insurance altogether, you may wish to tell your insurer that your car is registered as 'off the road'. They may be able to give you limited cover (often referred to as 'laid-up insurance') for fire and theft, and offer you a very low premium.
A SORN is only valid for 12 months, after which, you can either re-notify the vehicle as 'off the road', or pay the compulsory road tax and insurance.
