When you need one
If a van is untaxed and kept anywhere other than a public road — a driveway, garage, private yard or land — it must be declared SORN. Keeping an untaxed vehicle on a public road without one leads to penalties.
What a SORN stops
You cannot drive or park the vehicle on a public road, with one exception: travelling to a pre-booked MOT test. Insurance is not legally required while it is genuinely off road, though many owners keep fire and theft cover.
Selling a SORN vehicle
Perfectly normal — we buy SORN vans every week. The SORN does not transfer with the vehicle; the new keeper makes their own declaration. Since we collect on a transporter, there is no need to tax or MOT it for the sale.
Do not let it rot
Every month a broken van sits still, the value falls: tyres flat-spot, brakes seize, corrosion spreads and the battery dies. A van that would have made a good parts donor becomes a weight-only scrap job.
Common questions
- Will you collect a SORN van?
- Yes — collection is by transporter, so no tax or MOT is needed.
- Does a SORN expire?
- It stays in place until the vehicle is taxed again, sold, scrapped or exported.