The following are extracts from form V100 – Registering and Licensing a Vehicle

Under the system of Continuous Registration (CR), which commenced in January 2004, it is not necessary for your vehicle to be sighted on a public road, for an offence to have been committed. DVLA now has the authority to carry out enforcement action against the registered keeper from information held on the vehicle licence records. By law, you must display a current licence at all times that the vehicle is in use.

If you are the registered keeper of an unlicensed vehicle, you can be fined up to £1000, or five times the annual rate of Vehicle Excise Duty (VED), whichever is greater. In addition to this, you will be required to purchase a licence, pay arrears of duty accrued whilst the vehicle was unlicensed and a penalty of £80.

If you still do not license your vehicle, you may be fined up to ten times the annual rate of Vehicle Excise Duty (VED). As well as this, you could find your vehicle wheel-clamped by our wheel-clamping firm. It would cost you to have your vehicle released, and you would also have to produce a valid licence disc or a surety fee. If you did not pay this within 24 hours, we would impound your vehicle. If you did not pay the necessary release and storage fees, we would get rid of your vehicle, generally by crushing it.

The maximum penalty for making a false declaration by declaring SORN when the vehicle is actually used or kept unlicensed on a public road, is £5000 and two years imprisonment. In exceptional circumstances you may apply to relicense the vehicle by post up to 42 days in advance, to one of the Post Office® branches listed on page 14. If you give an address abroad, the licence can be sent to you there. You can also apply by post or in person at a DVLA Local Office. When relicensing at either a Post Office® branch or DVLA Local Office, you will need to provide a letter to accompany your application explaining why you are applying so far ahead. If you are abroad but the vehicle is off road in the UK, you may also declare SORN to DVLA at that time. If a vehicle is abroad when the licence expires but is still registered in the UK, you must relicense your vehicle. If you are no longer registered in the UK you must comply with the licensing regulations of the country concerned.