The Road tax exemption. Historic vehicles.

[MIG Wielder]

Woo Hoo ! I've just discovered the build date of my 1850 was 6th May 1975. So I went to the DVLA web-site which informed me that Historic vehicle Road tax exemption is for cars built before January 1st 1975. So how does this work ? Do I have to wait until 1st Jan 2016 ?
https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-exempt-from-vehicle-tax
Or is it done on a rolling month-to-month basis and the web-site has not been updated.
Now the other slight complication is that SWK was actually first used on the road in 1977, so how do I go about getting my free-bee tax disc please ? I imagine the Heritage cert; will have to go to the DVLA somewhere.
Any advice please ?
Thanks very much,
Tony.

[harvey]

That build date means that it will become tax exempt in April 2016.

[Edin Dundee]

Harvey's correct, unfortunately. Well to be pedantic in April 2016 cars made from 1st Jan 1975 will become tax free. Scratches head!
My Sept 75 car will be tax free next year.

[Toledo Man]

Tony, you will need the Heritage Certificate because the DVLA will accept it as proof of the build date. Unfortunately, they do the change of the taxation class at the beginning of the year so if your car isn't eligible you will have to wait until the beginning of the following year. That's how they work.

[Mad Mart]

Is it a rolling 40 years then? I thought it was cars built before Jan. 1974? I taxed my track Sprint from the beginning of April (build date Apr '74).

[Edin Dundee]

A rolling 40 years, until they change their mind again.
Your car is tax free!

[Edin Dundee]

A rolling 40 years, until they change their mind again.
Your car is tax free!

Just to clarify - the law changes each year in April (budget) so if your car is 40 years old between Jan and April you have to wait until April to get the free tax (my take on it anyway).

[Carledo]

Its a rolling 40 year age limit, BUT it only rolls over a year at a time for cars built BEFORE Jan 1st of the relevant year. To complicate matters further you don't actually GET it (and can't apply for it) till the April 1st following the 40th anniversary of your cars build. So, cars eligible now were built BEFORE Jan 1st 1975 and unfortunately your car built in May 75 will not be eligible till April 1st 2016 and because of its late registration date you will still need to send a Heritage Certificate to prove it's legit!

Steve

[NickMorgan]

A bit of useful information:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... 090315.pdf

[gmsclassics]

Of absolutely no relevance to this thread other than someone might find it interesting what we have to contend with elsewhere in the world....

The Motor Vehicle Register will automatically detect that a vehicle is 40 years old and any subsequent applications for a motor vehicle licence will be at the lower rate. This takes effect from 1 January on the year a vehicle turns 40 years old. The year is taken from the year of first registration, not the year of manufacture.
Once a vehicle reaches 40 years of age it is no longer subject to continuous vehicle licensing. Effectively this means that licence fees do not need to be paid for any period that it is unlicensed and it can remain unlicensed for two years before the registration will be automatically cancelled.
Current licence fees for petrol vehicles are:
Less Than 40 Years: Passenger Car/Van $287.87 annually
Over 40 Years: Passenger Car/Van $111.92

This is all changing from 01 July 2015 with changes being made to the ACC component (ACC is the compulsory govt insurance for personal injury, covering all injuries however caused). The total licence cost is made up of other fees at about 48.88, plus ACC plus tax at 15% on the total.
Vehicles are being ‘risk rated’ based on safety features and local crash history. However if they are old and no history can be found, they get the worst risk rating (band 1). All Triumph will fit into the latter category. No account is made for distance travelled.

Most 5 star ANCAP rated cars are band 4 with a total licencing cost of 134.95
A Dolomite Sprint will be band 1 with an annual fee of 238.45
Even over 40 years old the cost only drops a few dollars to 108.58

The ACC components are:
Band 4 – 68.46
Band 3 – 103.46
Band 2 – 123.46
Band 1 – 158.46

Most of my cars will fit into the band one category unfortunately although 2 are now over 40!!!

1 UKP is approx NZ$2
Geoff

[Carledo]

Geoff, Do you have to carry other motor insurance besides the ACC? If not its a b****y good deal compared to the UK where the 40yo tax may be free but insurance can be in the thousands of pounds.

Steve

[gmsclassics]

No insurance is compulsory but most sensible people carry a comprehensive policy covering own vehicle and third party property. As insurance isn't compulsory there are many people driving without any cover, so if they hit you, the only option is to claim on your own, as frequently you stand no chance of getting any money out of them.

Having to not cover personal injury liability probably does help keep insurance costs down, even for younger drivers, which must be a good thing. Interestingly here insurance for young drivers hasn't generally cost more, just the excesses go up considerably.

I live 25 miles out of the city and pay about $700/annum to insure a 2 year old modern. Classic cover for a Sprint is usually around the $250-300 mark, but my insurer does a deal where as long as you have your main car with them, they will cover both my road Sprints at $135 each - $15,000 agreed value, limited to 3000 miles, but NO modifications allowed. I reckon that is a very good deal.

So with our 6 monthly version of the MoT (at $40 per time), it only costs aroundabout $450 (UKP225) per annum to keep a Sprint on the road, licenced, insured and MoT. And then our climate means no salt on the roads, no rust either so they last a long time. Rest is just fuel and maintenance. Not bad really.

Geoff