Picking up bike - insurance & tax logistics.

[Fiddlesticks]

Quick question on buying insurance and tax.

 

Say I went to test ride a motorcycle, decided to buy it, and bought insurance there and then.

 

Would I then have to wait 2 days for the insurance database to be updated before I could buy road tax online?

 

Is there any way of legally buying a bike on spec, sorting out tax and MOT,  and riding it home same day?

 

Thanks

[S-Westerly]

MOT should come with the vehicle so if its current you don't need to do anything. If its got MOT you can pay for road fund on line and its valid immediately.  Not sure about insurance, I guess it depends on individual insurers. If you are buying from dealer they'd probably not necessarily expect you to want to ride away immediately. 

[Fiddlesticks]

Sorry,  that should have read "sorting out tax and INSURANCE" - MOT is current.

As I understand it, the process for paying road tax relies on the insurance being in place.

But there is a delay between buying insurance and the database being updated so I don't see how you can do both together.

 

Edited February 4, 2022 by Fiddlesticks

[Gerontious]

I’ve yet to find an insurer that will not or can not insure you same day. I’ve done this several times. Gone to view a bike, bought it and then ridden it home fully legally. My usual tactic being to use a comparison site the night before. Choose an insurer and then call them once the decision to actually buy is made. Cover was instant.  I’m not sure about road tax as the last time I did this paper discs existed. But it must be possible if not practically normal as 1000s of vehicles are bought and sold privately daily.

Edited February 4, 2022 by Gerontious

[Fiddlesticks]

So how long before the system knew you were insured so you could tax your bike?

[Stu]

If you are intending on buying a bike and riding it home you must tax and insure it there and then and it must have a valid MOT 

 

You can tax it online with the new keepers slip 

 

Insurance can also be done online or via phone there and then and once sorted you are good to go 

 

One thing I would say is ensure you have everything confirmed via email as it wont be showing on the systems and you could get tugged by plod 

[Stu]

1 minute ago, Fiddlesticks said:

So how long before the system knew you were insured so you could tax your bike?

 

I am pretty sure that it has changed and the system allows you to tax it without insurance but not without MOT 

[Fiddlesticks]

26 minutes ago, Stu said:

 

I am pretty sure that it has changed and the system allows you to tax it without insurance but not without MOT 

Ah!

 

This would solve things. Hadn't realised.

 

Quote

Insurance

Your car's insurance details are stored on the Motor Insurance Database (MID), and here you can check your car's insurance status. Previously, when you applied for your car tax, the DVLA automatically checked that your car is insured, but now these checks have been relaxed due to the delays it takes the MID to update – some drivers with newly-bought and insured cars were finding themselves unable to tax them online.

https://www.parkers.co.uk/amp/car-tax/advice/car-tax-online/

 

Everything else I have read says it's required to get insurance before tax. Maybe it still is, but looks like you're right about the checks.

[Stu]

I have always done everything online there and then with no issues 

 

The wifes mate has just bought a car and did the tax before the insurance without issues 

[DR1]

21 minutes ago, Fiddlesticks said:

Ah!

 

This would solve things. Hadn't realised.

 

https://www.parkers.co.uk/amp/car-tax/advice/car-tax-online/

 

Everything else I have read says it's required to get insurance before tax. Maybe it still is, but looks like you're right about the checks.

As I read it you need an insurance cover note if you apply at a post office but not if you do it online. If your insurance isn’t on the database I guess your online application will be rejected. It sounds as though a post office might be the quickest way. 

 

Edited February 4, 2022 by DR1

[fredc]

quite often  I’ve found  the car/bike is still covered by the sellers insurance

 so the road tax purchase goes through 

[JRH]

You can arrange “drive away” insurance. Places do offer 7 day insurance for immediate cover. 

[Six30]

you can tax a vehicle with out it being insured

[billy sugger]

I prearranged the insurance on the 600 to become live at the time I was due to collect it, then as soon as the V5 bit was in my hands I taxed it online. It already had a current MOT, so the moment I sat on it I was fully legal to ride off

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

1 hour ago, Six30 said:

you can tax a vehicle with out it being insured

Is this something new? I'm sure that when I've previously taxed vehicles the system checks that it is insured. 

 

And there used to be something about requiring insurance to be continuous if a vehicle was not declared SORN. I remember classic car owners who let the insurance lapse but didn't actually SORN the car because it was off the road got fined for having a car taxed but not insured even though it was locked in a garage for the winter.

 

So something must have changed.

[billy sugger]

According to Gov. Uk you need insurance to tax a vehicle, though you do not need the documents in your hand. 

They now run your reg through the database automatically and will not allow tax to be purchased without  valid insurance 

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

2 hours ago, billy sugger said:

According to Gov. Uk you need insurance to tax a vehicle, though you do not need the documents in your hand. 

They now run your reg through the database automatically and will not allow tax to be purchased without  valid insurance 

That's how I understand it, but it's a while since I changed vehicles so maybe there's something new? I'd be surprised as the general trend is to make life more difficult and expensive rather than simpler.

[Fiddlesticks]

Hi all,

 

Well,  Stu's reply above was correct.  Went to the dealer today to do a test ride and bought the bike.

 

Paid for insurance online and did the tax immediately afterwards online. 

 

Rode home all legal, like. Not like the old days

 

I think officially I'm supposed to have insurance in place to do this, but the checks are done on a continuous basis, not at point of paying the VED.

 

 

Edited February 6, 2022 by Fiddlesticks

[Tiggie]

I had issues buying a car and insuring and taxing on the forecourt a few years ago. Was only a cheap motor and was not a very reputable looking place so my alarm bells started ringing. Tried to tax and was told this vehicle does not exist. Decided to do insurance and got told same thing. I was just about to storm back into the office when I realised the number plate ended with WRT and not VRT like I had been entering 

 

Everything went through fine when I put the right one in 

[Stu]

32 minutes ago, Tiggie said:

I had issues buying a car and insuring and taxing on the forecourt a few years ago. Was only a cheap motor and was not a very reputable looking place so my alarm bells started ringing. Tried to tax and was told this vehicle does not exist. Decided to do insurance and got told same thing. I was just about to storm back into the office when I realised the number plate ended with WRT and not VRT like I had been entering 

 

Everything went through fine when I put the right one in 

 

Maybe it's you that needs the 300 quid glasses

 

[DR1]

10 hours ago, Tiggie said:

I had issues buying a car and insuring and taxing on the forecourt a few years ago. Was only a cheap motor and was not a very reputable looking place so my alarm bells started ringing. Tried to tax and was told this vehicle does not exist. Decided to do insurance and got told same thing. I was just about to storm back into the office when I realised the number plate ended with WRT and not VRT like I had been entering 

 

Everything went through fine when I put the right one in 

When I imported two vehicles into France from the U.K. they both had errors in the VIN on the V5. The motorbike had a digit missing and the car had a 5 instead of an S. Both caused delays of at least a month. A second car brought from Germany was fine but its new registration document was recorded as starting with WWW instead of WVW. That was picked up the first time I took it to be serviced and was put right by return of post.