HELP, Car hasn't been registered for two years?!

[WinterWarmer19]

Hi there,
This month i realised i have never received a car tax reminder since getting my new car 2 years ago. the car dealership arranged road tax, car insurance etc before i drove away that day and assured me that all paperwork would be dealt with by them. last year, 2021, i road taxed my car online and thought everything was fine.

i called up dvla last week to ask about not getting a reminder. they said i was not registered to the vehicle and the dealership who sold me the car must have failed to pass on my details.

my car is taxed, ive been taxing it online as stated and have been paying my insurance, even although i dont have a logbook. now im worried that once all my details etc are updated, that a stream of old speeding tickets or fines will come in, as it said online that thats how theyre able to contact you.

i asked dvla about this and they said any fines etc would have probably been sent to the dealership or my insurance and they would have contacted me, but what if they didnt? also - does this affect my insurance cover if im not registered? dvla said it wouldnt affect insurance, but im in a real knot with this, any help would be really appreciated!

If you are concerned about any old fines or summons for any traffic offences, you can call your local police station who will put you through to the local process unit who would have any details. I did this when I had a gap between changing addresses and was sure I had been zapped just before going into a 60 zone. I hadn't! No harm in checking if it puts your mind at rest x

Your insurance will be valid as it doesn't matter who the vehicle is registered to.

I'm confused though about them sorting the insurance, that's not usual practice when buying a car. That's usually for the customer to sort. Are you definitely insured?

Blimey, OP, I’ve been driving for nearly 40 years including a period of time when I drove 30k a year with my company car. I’ve only every had 2 fines, one from a speed camera and one for driving into a bus lane in an unfamiliar city. Hopefully there won’t be lots of tickets waiting for you after only 2 years.

@maffhew

Your insurance will be valid as it doesn't matter who the vehicle is registered to.

I'm confused though about them sorting the insurance, that's not usual practice when buying a car. That's usually for the customer to sort. Are you definitely insured?

oh really? thats a relief!!

it was insured at the dealership so i could drive away with it that day, they had an insurance company that they used so went with them for a year then changed last year.

Hope it all works out, glad to see you've been insured all this time.

@WinterWarmer19

I think i need to clarify - im not aware of having ever sped, but firstly finding out that im not the registered keeper with dvla and then secondly being told that if there were any outstanding parking fines, bus lane fines, speeding fines etc they would not have been able to contact me has made me feel very anxious. they did say that they would have been able to contact me through my insurer or the dealership, and also, that they couldnt see any offences under my name. i have a clean driving license with no points, but this situation has made me feel anxious. i was just looking for a bit of support or someone who had been through the same/someone to confirm that the dealership or my insurer would have contacted me had i been sent any letters

OP, you don't need to clarify, people are just jumping on you because they feel superior and like to think something like this would never happen to them. And they'd definitely never ever get irrationally anxious

This exact thing happened to DH, and in his case it was because he forgot to send off the paperwork for registered keeper, so it was left blank. He had the exact same worries, especially as he had a daily 2.5 hour round-trip commute. He just sent off the paperwork to the DVLA with a cover letter and proof of when he bought the car. It was all OK, no late fines or anything and it's several years ago now. Just try and get it sorted asap and then you can stop worrying

@maffhew

Your insurance will be valid as it doesn't matter who the vehicle is registered to.

I'm confused though about them sorting the insurance, that's not usual practice when buying a car. That's usually for the customer to sort. Are you definitely insured?

I'd double check this - one of the questions usually asked is are you the registered keeper of the vehicle to be insured if the dealer has set this up & answered yes to this question but OP has NOT been registered as the keeper then this would fall under providing false information & could invalidate the insurance in the event of a claim.

So technically the OP could have been driving without valid insurance.

You cannot insure a vehicle that you do not own as far as i'm aware

@Wonnle

You cannot insure a vehicle that you do not own as far as i'm aware

You definitely can, and it's unlikely an error would lead to insurance being invalidated - it doesn't matter now anyway as OP is aware of the issue so can sort it.

@JenniferWooley good point on the insurance.

Although OP this would only be of concern in the event of a claim so don't panic and get things sorted ASAP. If you have the green slip then you can get a new V5 without paying the £25 fee, but be aware this may cancel the tax you have now, although you taxed on the green slip as a new keeper then technically it shouldn't, but as you did it a year ago you need to check.

I would phone the DVLA again, with the green slip in hand and get them to sort it with you on the phone if you don't feel confident doing it yourself online.

@Wonnle

You cannot insure a vehicle that you do not own as far as i'm aware

Of course you can but im not sure that it would be vaid if you told the insurer you were the keeper of the car but the dvla show a different person

Luckily we don't have to guess, the OP can phone them up and explain what's happened although maybe not unil Tuesday.

I work for an insurance broker and yes it does matter who's the owner and registered keeper as well as the purchase date as you can get discount for both so if you were to claim and these things were not the case (and they asked for proof) they could void the claim as you may have got cheaper insurance based on wrong details.
That being said don't panic because if you have the new keeper slip that is proof it's intended to be in your name, it's not as bad as saying you're the owner and keeper when you aren't (for example insuring someone else's car) and again it will only be an issue if you claim.
I would sort the v5 into your name asap, make sure the purchase date is when you actually got the vehicle not when you fill out the form (check what date is on the new keeper slip and match it) shouldn't have any issues as people lose log books all the time and apply for new ones. And if there is you can explain about the new keeper slip etc.

With regards to tickets/fines, as people have said the dvla would send them to the registered keeper so the dealership would have had to either pass your details on or risked convictions and fines themselves for not replying, so I wouldn't panic about those.

Hope that helps you with the insurance/ conviction side of things.

Also to answer above; yes you can insure someone else's car if you don't own it :)

No issue with insurance

There may be an issue with insurance, one which could cause a policy to be voided. If you insure a car that you have told your insurance co you're the registered owner and keeper of, and you're not, the insurer has no insurable interest. This can be a huge problem. The policy could be voided due to misrepresentation.

@CiciLapin

I work for an insurance broker and yes it does matter who's the owner and registered keeper as well as the purchase date as you can get discount for both so if you were to claim and these things were not the case (and they asked for proof) they could void the claim as you may have got cheaper insurance based on wrong details. That being said don't panic because if you have the new keeper slip that is proof it's intended to be in your name, it's not as bad as saying you're the owner and keeper when you aren't (for example insuring someone else's car) and again it will only be an issue if you claim. I would sort the v5 into your name asap, make sure the purchase date is when you actually got the vehicle not when you fill out the form (check what date is on the new keeper slip and match it) shouldn't have any issues as people lose log books all the time and apply for new ones. And if there is you can explain about the new keeper slip etc.

With regards to tickets/fines, as people have said the dvla would send them to the registered keeper so the dealership would have had to either pass your details on or risked convictions and fines themselves for not replying, so I wouldn't panic about those.

Hope that helps you with the insurance/ conviction side of things.

Also to answer above; yes you can insure someone else's car if you don't own it :)

Hi there,

thanks so much for your response. this all actually came to light as a result of an accident over the Christmas period, so im now really worried about my claim. when i applied for my insurance, i said i was the registered keeper because i genuinely thought i was. i only realised recently, after the accident, that it hasnt been registered. will this void my claim even although it was a genuine mistake on the dealership's part?

when i spoke to dvla, they said my insurance would not be affected as i am the owner of the vehicle - is this right?

@gobbynorthernbird

There may be an issue with insurance, one which could cause a policy to be voided. If you insure a car that you have told your insurance co you're the registered owner and keeper of, and you're not, the insurer has no insurable interest. This can be a huge problem. The policy could be voided due to misrepresentation.

even if i genuinely thought it was registered and have been paying tax? going to get the form sent ASAP, hope the post office is open tomorrow.

It depends what you were asked when you took out the insurance. The owner and registered keeper are not necessarily the same.

Also, this is probably not information I personally would be volunteering to my insurer. But I also wouldn't lie if directly asked.

@gobbynorthernbird

It depends what you were asked when you took out the insurance. The owner and registered keeper are not necessarily the same.

i was asked if i was the owner and if i was registered keeper. i said yes to both as i thought it was registered

[quote maffhew]@JenniferWooley good point on the insurance.

Although OP this would only be of concern in the event of a claim so don't panic and get things sorted ASAP. If you have the green slip then you can get a new V5 without paying the £25 fee, but be aware this may cancel the tax you have now, although you taxed on the green slip as a new keeper then technically it shouldn't, but as you did it a year ago you need to check.

I would phone the DVLA again, with the green slip in hand and get them to sort it with you on the phone if you don't feel confident doing it yourself online. [/quote]
this all came to light as a result of an accident, so very worried about my claim now. i thought when i applied for the insurance that i was the registered keeper. i still have my green slip, but the date of purchase and name etc are all blank, should i fill this out before going to post office? whole thing feels like such a mess.

This happened to me.
Bought a new car and sold the old one to the dealership.
They said they would sort out all the paperwork including canceling the tax on my old car- but they didnt

I didnt get the log book until 2 months after- when I rang to ask them.

And i got a ticket in the post for a toll crossing on my old car that was no longer mine.

So I checked and it was still taxed under my name when the dealership said they would sort it.

So I had to write a letter to the dvla to say it had been sold- cos they'd taken the log book and I had no more details about the old car. So hopefully I wont get any more tickets and will.finally get my car tax refunded!

So the owner and keeper can be different. For example if a vehicle is leased generally the leasing company owns the vehicle but if you're on the log book you're the registered keeper. Same as if someone buys your car for you they might want to be classed as the owner but again if you're on the log book you'd be the keeper.
Even though you'd been the owner since purchase technically the dealership were the keepers however in your case you have the new keeper slip which the previous owner had to have given you so obviously it's not like you took a policy out on intentional misrepresentation as it's then up to them to send the log book off. They may question why you let it go on a year without getting the log book back but these things happen. Also with covid dvla did have massive back logs with log books with people waiting months+ for new ones.
Personally I would not be mentioning any of this to the insurer unless prompted but also as someone else said I would not lie if asked as insurers really do not like that.
If you're sorting the log book asap and have a reasonable story to back you up they'd be able to see it's not intentional.
If you also have receipts/ proof of purchase with dates this will help prove you bought it when you did.
DVLA agents aren't insurers so don't know the underwriting side so I'd be very wary of them saying things like that.

You need to change ownership online, if you post the V62 it'll take weeks, as they write to the former owner etc. Change it online and you'll have the new V5 in a week.

@CiciLapin

So the owner and keeper can be different. For example if a vehicle is leased generally the leasing company owns the vehicle but if you're on the log book you're the registered keeper. Same as if someone buys your car for you they might want to be classed as the owner but again if you're on the log book you'd be the keeper. Even though you'd been the owner since purchase technically the dealership were the keepers however in your case you have the new keeper slip which the previous owner had to have given you so obviously it's not like you took a policy out on intentional misrepresentation as it's then up to them to send the log book off. They may question why you let it go on a year without getting the log book back but these things happen. Also with covid dvla did have massive back logs with log books with people waiting months+ for new ones. Personally I would not be mentioning any of this to the insurer unless prompted but also as someone else said I would not lie if asked as insurers really do not like that. If you're sorting the log book asap and have a reasonable story to back you up they'd be able to see it's not intentional. If you also have receipts/ proof of purchase with dates this will help prove you bought it when you did. DVLA agents aren't insurers so don't know the underwriting side so I'd be very wary of them saying things like that.

thanks so much for your response.

im going to the post office first thing tomorrow - if theyre open - to send this all off. i have my proof of purchase [receipt], and the green slip.
however, the green slip is blank aside from my reg, the verification character and the car model info. my name, post code and date of purchase arent written on it, should i fill this in?

is registration something the insurers are likely to ask about? and will it be checked with dvla before paying out my claim? my car has been assessed by a recommended garage by my insurance company and they will be reporting back to the insurers the damage costs.

the question on my application form was "are you the owner and registered keeper?" and i said yes because i genuinely thought that i was. the car is taxed, just not registered as it turns out.

im so worried that my policy might get voided over something that really wasnt my fault and i didnt know about until i phoned dvla to enquire about why i was never being sent reminders anymore for road tax.

@maffhew

You need to change ownership online, if you post the V62 it'll take weeks, as they write to the former owner etc. Change it online and you'll have the new V5 in a week.

i cant find a link to do it online - gov website just says about the v62