Driving without tax

As a vehicle owner, we are all obliged to display a road tax disc to show that we have paid road tax for the vehicle being driven. If you do not display a road tax disc, you can get pulled over by a police officer and fined. Also many people fail to realise that when you drive around town or through road cameras, they can pick up your licence plate number and scan it through DVLA’s database to see if you are up to date with car insurance, road tax and MOT. Sometimes you might forget that your tax disc has expired and you are driving without tax, this is why it is important to keep a note of when important things run out.

How to buy or renew road tax?
You can buy your road tax through the post office or by purchasing online; it is becoming much harder for drivers to escape paying road tax as the DVLA now do monthly computer checks to make sure you have paid for it. If you are caught you can be fined £80, have a County Court Judgement (CCJ) against you or have your vehicle clamped. Most people are afraid about purchasing a new car and driving it without road tax but many do not know that car dealers can sort out the road tax for you prior to picking it up.

Remember you will need car insurance cover on the car and if the vehicle is over 3 years, a valid MOT is needed before the vehicle can be taxed.

Another consequence of driving without tax is that your insurance company will not pay out if you are involved in an accident. They will say that one of the conditions for providing insurance is that you have a valid tax disc and MOT; you will find that you are liable for all damages to your car and the other party.

Driving without road tax should be avoided but you should also be careful as it has been known that the DVLA will go to extreme lengths to penalise people who have not paid road tax. In some cases they have also made mistakes and taken a car with valid road tax that did not for whatever reason show up on their database. They are allowed to take a car away if it hasn’t been taxed. A female owner woke up one morning to find the DVLA trying to tow away her car; she ran out in her negligee and sat on the bonnet refusing to let them take it. She had proof that she had taxed her vehicle and the DVLA were forced to apologise. Always keep proof of payments and documentation for everything regarding your car. You never know when you may have to show proof as the computer sometimes gets it wrong.