can someone help with this?

[zara 4]

If a car is off the road with no tax or MOT and its in a private car park and a SORN has been filled out and sent off stating its off the road,does a council have to give you notice that it must be moved OR can they just smash the window and take it?Does anyone know.

[Ethel]

What do you mean by private car park?

If the car park is truly private, then the council nor anybody else can have it removed UNLESS it is leaking petrol/oil and causing a hazard.

[zara 4]

It was a little car park beside some bungalows where my mate lives he was keeping it there until the car was MOT'd about 2 weeks.Someone else has said we should have had notice to move it before it was removed.

[stanleyman]

If the car park was not his land and he didn't have permission to leave it there then it was a trespass, it happens often. The landowner probably contacted the council to move it as I would. If it is your mates land then it has probably been stolen and should be reported!

[zara 4]

No it wasn't his land so no notice has to be given before its removed then?

[jake-the-peg]

Does this help? It's from Penwith Councils website but it's probably pretty typical

The Vehicle Excise Duty (Immobilization, Removal and Disposal of Vehicles) Regulations 1997(as amended). Under this scheme untaxed vehicles on the public highway will be clamped after which time the motorist has 24hrs to claim the vehicle and pay the �80 de-clamp fee before the vehicle is removed to the vehicle pound. After removal to the pound the motorist is required to pay �160 release fee plus storage charges before the vehicle can be released.
In both cases the motorist must prove ownership of the vehicle and have a valid tax disc. If no tax disc is present for the vehicle then �120 surety fee must be paid(which is repayable if a tax disc is produced within 14 days).

WHAT HAPPENS TO VEHICLES NOT ON THE HIGHWAY?
If a vehicle is on private land the council must first serve a 15-day notice on the landowner. Once the 15 days have expired the vehicle will then be treated as if on the highway.

This relates to "wrecks" (i.e. those cars without residual value - vandalised, burnt out or of little or no saleable value - check your own councils website for their particular policy.

[zara 4]

Cheers jake-the-peg,I'll try and find the website,its a tough one though cos if the car park was council owned does it still give them the right to not notify us before removing it?

[stanleyman]

I would not be happy if the council came onto my land and removed a car, I not sure if that wouldn't be theft, especially if it was a vintage and intended for restoring.

It seems that it is only the landowner who gets notified but I'm not sure about that as they don't go out of their way to take cars on private land unless asked.

[mr_pointment]

kwik fit have got a nerve advertising on this page haven't they?lmao

[zara 4]

What you mean with the word expert in it?

[madein1978]

When you declare your vehicle as SORN, you are effectively signing a contract promising you will not drive or keep the vehicle in question on a public highway. Therefore as long as you don't dump the vehicle on the road outside your house or drive it, you should be OK. But one place I think you might get into trouble for is if you leave a SORN car on one of these roads that are under some High Rise tower blocks for access to the lock-ups, but if you are keeping the vehicle on private land and it isn't causing anyone a problem, its no-ones business but yours until the declaration expires.

[madein1978]

Put it this way, I have 2 such cars parked on my driveway, My parents own our house outright, and if some council official came up and tried to remove my cars, he would not have much success,I would block him, those cars are nobodys business but mine, they are on totally private land and they are not an environmental hazard.

[zara 4]

Right,well the car wasn't in anyones way it was parked in a car park that only ever has one car parked in it and thats my mates car,It had been sorned and wasn't leaking petrol or oil or anything else,it was only waiting for a tax disc to go in.

[erimus1]

Doesn't sound to me as if it were private - if its Local Authority owned, that, under the Road Traffic Act 1988 is considered a public place, and therefore, under the new Car Tax rules, they are able to take the vehicle (and sometimes crush it now)

I do know of someone that this happend to - he had to pay for the tow, tax the vehicle, show mot and insurance before he was allowed to haver it back.

[zara 4]

Oh great I swear they take them just to get money out of you.

[Gef]

Exactly zara. It's called road tax and most of us pay it!!

[Andy Boz]

What does that mean Gef?

I hope you are not implying that people who SORN a car are doing it just to avoid tax. I have two vehicles on permanent SORN.

The original poster has the right to SORN the car, as we all have the right. It doesn't mean he/she is trying to fiddle the system.

[zara 4]

Yeah what do you mean by that gef?For your information,the car has had some work done to it so its been off road,not that you are owed any explanation,Its the first time for years its been off road.That ok with you,do you want to know anything else?If me or Andy boz or anyone else has sorned cars should we ask you if its ok first?

[erimus1]

I see where you're coming from Zara, but unfortunately, the car was in a public place, which means it is as good as being on the road. I'm sure that it was not being driven on the public highway, but in all fainess, the DVLA or the Local Authority do not know that.

Prior to the Road Traffic Act 1988, most offences, such as this, Dangerous Driving (which was then Reckless diving) could only be commited on the Public Highway. The 1988 Act inroduced the addition of a'Public Place' also.

Afraid it is a fair cop here I think. That's not to say that I believe that some of the New Car Tax Rules or fair - I bought a car for my nephew, put it in his name straght away, then he changed his mind about wanting it. The tax was running out the following month. When I went to tax it (after insuring it in my name) I was told that I could not use the V5 receipt, and would have to wait for the full V5 - ofcourse, this did not come in the fourteen day period and an automatic fine was issued to my nephew (as it was in his name). Then, to tax it, I had to put my nephew down on my insurance just to get it taxed - cost me a fortune, despite the fact that I was one of the law abiding people that tried every way to tax it.
Sorry if I went of on a bit of a tangent - should have started a new thread for that on (might do!)
Regards,
Steve

[zara 4]

Cheers erimus 1

[Gef]

Obviously I touched a bit of a raw nerve with one or two people. I was not implying that people SORN cars to avoid paying road tax merely pointing out that if you SORN a car it must be kept on private property not in a public car park.