Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 section 31B

Exceptions to section 31A

Section 31B sets out the circumstances in which the registered keeper of an unlicensed vehicle will not be guilty of the offence under section 31A of keeping an unlicensed vehicle.

• The registered keeper is not the person actually keeping the vehicle and has notified the authorities of the change as required by regulations.
• The registered keeper is keeping the vehicle but it is not kept or used on a public road, and the keeper has made the required statutory off-road notification (SORN).
• The vehicle was stolen before the relevant time, has not been recovered, and the theft has been reported in the prescribed manner.
• The vehicle's licence has recently expired and falls within a short prescribed grace period, provided a new licence is taken out within that grace period to run from the start of the grace period.