No sign-up · No email · No card

SORN Check: Is Your Car Declared Off the Road?

Check If a UK Vehicle Is Declared SORN — Instantly

If your car isn't being driven or kept on public roads, you may be able to declare it off the road with a SORN (Statutory Off Road Notification), meaning it doesn't need tax or insurance while it stays off the road. Use our free, instant check to see your vehicle's current tax and SORN status directly from DVLA records.

Free MOT, Tax & Mileage Check · No Sign-Up · Instant Results

Current tax status (Taxed / SORN / Untaxed)
Confirmation if a vehicle is declared SORN
Make, model and year
Engine size and fuel type
Vehicle colour and first registration date
Full MOT status alongside SORN status

Important: Driving or leaving a SORN vehicle on a public road can result in a fine of up to £2,500. The only exception is driving directly to a pre-booked MOT test.

Official DVLA & DVSA

Instant results

1.2M+ checks run

No sign-up needed

Why check SORN status before buying a used car

•A SORN vehicle hasn't been on the road recently — worth asking why, especially if the MOT has also lapsed. It could simply be stored, or it could signal a mechanical problem the seller hasn't fixed.
•If you buy a SORN vehicle, you must tax it (or re-declare SORN in your name) before driving it on a public road, even to get it home — arrange transport or tax it online first.
•SORN doesn't affect a vehicle's MOT or mileage history — run a full free check to see the complete picture before you buy.

Learn More

These sound similar but carry very different legal weight. SORN is a deliberate, formal declaration to the DVLA that a specific vehicle is being kept entirely off public roads — once made, that vehicle legitimately doesn't need tax or insurance, provided it genuinely stays off the road. "Untaxed" without any SORN declaration is a different situation entirely: DVLA expects that vehicle to be taxed and it isn't, which is exactly the scenario that carries real fine risk the moment it's driven or even just left parked on a public road. Our tax check and this SORN check pull from the same DVLA record, so running either shows you which of the two situations actually applies.

Yes — and you're specifically permitted to make one journey on a SORN vehicle without breaking the law: driving it directly to a pre-booked MOT test appointment. You can't detour via the shops or stop off anywhere else on that journey, and the vehicle still isn't legally driveable for any other purpose until you either tax it or the MOT/insurance situation is otherwise resolved. If you're checking a SORN vehicle before buying it, our MOT check will tell you whether it even has a valid MOT to drive to in the first place.

You cannot simply carry on using the previous owner's SORN declaration — SORN is tied to the keeper, not the vehicle, so it doesn't automatically transfer when ownership changes. As the new keeper you have two options: tax the vehicle before it goes on any public road (even to drive it the short distance home), or make your own fresh SORN declaration in your name if you're not putting it back on the road yet. Taxing can be done immediately online once you have the V5C reference or new keeper slip, at gov.uk/vehicle-tax.

Not automatically anything bad — SORN is a completely legitimate status for a car being stored, restored, or simply not currently needed, and plenty of perfectly sound vehicles sit SORN for months or years. What's worth asking is why: a long SORN period combined with a lapsed MOT that was never renewed can sometimes mean the seller parked the car after a fault appeared rather than pay for the repair. It's not a red flag on its own, but it's a reasonable question to ask directly, and worth checking our MOT history for the same vehicle to see the full pattern of tests before the SORN period began.

Is a SORN vehicle the same as an untaxed vehicle?

No. A SORN vehicle is legally declared off the road and does not need tax or insurance while kept off public roads, whereas an untaxed vehicle is simply one without valid vehicle tax and may still be used or kept on the road, making it liable to enforcement. A free DVLA check shows whether a vehicle is currently taxed or declared SORN.

Frequently Asked Questions

Enter the vehicle registration in the checker above to run a free, instant car SORN check that shows the current tax and SORN status from DVLA, with no signup needed.

Yes — a DVLA SORN check shows whether a specific vehicle is currently declared SORN, so entering any UK registration reveals that vehicle's tax and SORN status via DVLA.

SORN stands for Statutory Off Road Notification. It's a formal declaration to the DVLA that a vehicle is off the road and won't be driven or parked on public roads. A SORN vehicle doesn't need to be taxed or insured, but it must be kept off public roads.

Enter the registration plate above. Our free check shows the vehicle's current tax status from the DVLA — if it's declared SORN rather than taxed, that's shown clearly alongside the rest of the free report.

No — not on public roads. Driving or leaving a SORN vehicle on a public road can result in a fine of up to £2,500. The only exception is driving directly to a pre-booked MOT test.

If you buy a vehicle that's already SORN and don't intend to tax and insure it immediately, you need to either re-declare SORN in your name or tax the vehicle straight away — you can't simply leave it under the previous keeper's SORN.

You can declare SORN directly with the DVLA online at gov.uk/sorn, by phone, or using the reminder slip (V11) if you've received one. You'll need the vehicle's registration number or the 11-digit reference from your V5C logbook.

Yes. Enter the registration plate above and we'll pull the current tax/SORN status directly from the DVLA at no cost — no account, no email, no card required.

Check your vehicle now — free, no sign-up

Enter any UK registration above to see official DVLA and DVSA records instantly.