Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 section 36

Failed payments: additional liability

Section 36 sets out the additional financial liability imposed by a court on a person convicted of a failed payment offence in relation to a vehicle licence or trade licence, over and above any criminal penalty.

• When a person is convicted of a failed payment offence (under section 35A) relating to a vehicle licence or trade licence, the court must order them to pay an additional amount on top of any fine.
• The additional amount is calculated at one-twelfth of the appropriate annual vehicle excise duty rate for each month, or part month, within the relevant period — essentially back-duty for the time the licence was meant to cover but was not properly paid for.
• The relevant period runs from the start date of the licence applied for until the earliest of: the end of the month in which the failed-payment notice was sent, the licence expiry date, or (for vehicle licences only) the end of the month before a new licence took effect.
• Any amount the person has already paid under a requirement imposed at the time of the failed-payment notice, or any amount already ordered under section 30 for keeping an unlicensed vehicle during the same period, is deducted to prevent double counting.