Drivers are being urged not to pay to SORN their vehicles after This is Money was alerted to a website profiteering on the back of the coronavirus outbreak.
There has been a surge of motorists declaring vehicles as being off the road – known as a Statutory Off Road Notification – to avoid having to pay tax and insurance on their cars while they’re not being used.
Website get-sorn.co.uk is offering to handle this as part of a service charging up to £40 – when drivers can do it themselves for FREE.
When we told the DVLA, it said: ‘Motorists should always double check that they are using gov.uk and not to be fooled by these sites.’
SORN: The DVLA has warned of ‘misleading’ third party websites charging for services that you can get for free or at a lower cost on GOV.UK, such as declaring a car off the road
What is SORN and why are motorists doing it?
With businesses in shutdown during the pandemic and many workers on reduced wages or the Government-supported furlough scheme, many are looking at all avenues to reduce their monthly outgoings.
With restrictions on driving still in place, car ownership costs is an obvious area to cut back.
Motorists who aren’t using their vehicles at all have been recommended to SORN their vehicles if they have off-road parking facilities (either a driveway, garage or private land).
Since the Government announced restrictions on vehicle use as part of the lockdown initiated on 23 March, online searches by drivers looking to SORN their cars has soared.
To SORN a vehicle mean you are notifying the DVLA that your car is not currently being used.
This means that it must be parked off the road and cannot be driven – else motorists will incur steep fines of up to £2,500.
You can register your car as SORN with the DVLA online. The agency’s customer reception in Swansea is closed during the lockdown so postal SORN applications are not being reviewed currently.
The process is free of charge and can declare the vehicle as being off the road immediately or from a designated date using the gov.uk’s online system or over the phone.
Motorists will be refunded for any full months of remaining tax and can cancel their car insurance to save more money.
Motorists who aren’t using their vehicles at all have been recommended to SORN their vehicles if they have off-road parking facilities (either a driveway, garage or private land).
Unscrupulous websites ranking on Google to charge drivers for a SORN
Where there’s a spike in interest in a subject you can bet your bottom dollar there are chancers waiting in the wings to sting unsuspecting people.
A This is Money reader raised the website GetSORN this week after searching online for ways to declare their car off the road during the lockdown.
In the site’s disclaimer states: ‘Our service includes check, review and submission of your SORN application and a confirmation email service.
‘We comply with the Data Protection Act and assure that this data will only be used to process your application.
‘Our service includes instant email confirmation, 24/7 online support, application checked for errors & omissions and full compliance with data protection act.’
Motorists who want to SORN their cars can do so free of charge – and with immediate effect – using the GOV.UK dedicated site
Motorists are required to check their name and address matches the one on their V5C car registration document and provide the 16-digit reference number on the V11 reminder form.
Vehicle owners have to enter these very same details when using the Government’s official – and free – website.
GetSORN says it can provide two types of SORN service.
A ‘regular’ option costs £30 and is ‘processed in a week’, while the ‘fast-track’ system offers same-day processing for £40.
The official gov.uk site provides both an immediate or pre-dated SORN agreement without any costs having to be incurred by car owners.
Online searches for ‘SORN’ jumped in March as the lockdown was announced and motorists looked to reduce their outgoings by taking their cars off the road
This means unaware drivers can easily be duped into paying through the nose for a service that is no simpler or practical to use than the Government’s own website – and also takes longer to process.
It is also unclear what happens to the personal data owners enter when they do get into the hands of the unscrupulous website’s operators.
Worryingly, the disclaimer online states that it collects contact information including names and email addresses as well as demographic information such as your postcode and – incredibly – passport number.
GetSORN does not have a registered phone number, though This is Money has emailed to ask what differentiates its service from the free DVLA website and what happens to a user’s personal information.
We have not received a response from the website’s operator(s).
What the DVLA says
The pandemic has seen a surge of scam attempts involving motorists.
We’ve seen cases of fraudulent websites, text messages and emails for MOTs, driving licences and tax all aimed at car owners in recent months.
We sent the GetSORN website to DVLA.
A spokesman said the agency is alert to these online services, and motorists need to be vigilant that they’re using a genuine site when accessing DVLA services.
It warns that some of these high-charging websites try to pass themselves off as genuine by using ‘DVLA’ in their web address (URL).
They might also design their site to appear as if it’s DVLA – for example, using DVLA’s old ‘green triangle’ logo, which we no longer use.
A spokesman told This is Money: ‘We’re aware of misleading third party websites charging for services that you can get for free or at a lower cost on GOV.UK.
‘These sites may offer to help apply for a driving licence, tax or SORN a vehicle or connect people to our contact centre.
‘We urge motorists to always double check that they are using GOV.UK – anyone concerns about suspicious activity should be reported to the police via Action Fraud immediately.’
The DVLA has also warned of other scams targeting motorists. You can read about them all here.
SAVE MONEY ON MOTORING
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