Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 section 35A

Failed payments

Section 35A sets out the criminal penalty that applies when a person fails to pay the amount demanded following a failed or dishonoured payment for a vehicle excise licence or trade licence.

• Where a payment for a vehicle excise licence fails (for example, a dishonoured cheque or missed direct debit instalment), the authorities will send a notice requiring the person to pay a specified amount within a reasonable period.
• If the person does not pay within that period, they commit an offence punishable on summary conviction by a fine equal to the greater of level 3 on the standard scale or five times the annual rate of vehicle excise duty applicable to the vehicle (or that would have applied had the licence been taken out for twelve months).
• The amount demanded in the notice is calculated at one-twelfth of the appropriate annual rate of vehicle excise duty for each month, or part of a month, in the relevant period — broadly, from the start date of the licence until the earlier of the end of the month in which the notice was sent, the licence expiry date, or the end of the month before a new licence takes effect for the vehicle.
• For trade licences, the appropriate annual rate used in the calculation is the basic goods vehicle rate (or, where the licence covers only certain lighter vehicles, the rate applicable to those vehicles), and the relevant period ends at the earlier of the notice month-end or the licence expiry date only — the new-licence end point does not apply.