Twist & Go Magazine

in the advise section someone asked if you could ride a bike that is uninsured but is mot'd and taxed using your own bikes insurance that covers you to ride other bikes,the advise was no you could not and that the bike would need to be declared sorn,well your advise is wrong as sorn is only used on an untaxed vehicle,you dont need to inform no one if the bike is off road but uninsured,as to riding it using your insurance the answer is still a very grey area,some say yes you can as you are using the bike on your insurance,others say no as the vehicle does need insurance,on the police programs the police do say that someone who has cover to drive the uninsured vehicle can drive the vehicle away withou insuring the vehicle in question

We checked on this before we published the original letter and our advice is correct. Obviously we can't comment on individual incidents because we don't know the circumstances.

The law is quite clear. If a bike isn't insured, then it is illegal to use on public roads and deemed as 'unroadworthy'. Again, we can't comment on individual cases, but the wording of an insurance documents (albeit in the small print) should normally state quite clearly the provisos for driving another person's vehicle on their own insurance policy. It normally goes along the lines of something like this, although it may vary from policy to policy:

"The policy holder may also drive a vehicle not belonging to them, provided the owner has given them permission and at the vehicle in question is fit for use on public roads".

It therefore follows, that if someone hasn't got their own insurance policy on their own vehicle, then that vehicle is not legal to be used on public roads. If it was any other way, then there would be a loophole in insurance laws that could have a whole load of other legal implications.


For reference, SORN stands for 'Statutory Off Road Notice'. Whenever a new tax disc is applied for, the DVLA will check to see if it the vehicle is insured. If it is not, then the DVLA will NOT issue a new tax disc and the vehicle is legally obliged to be SORN'd and once that is done, riding on the road is illegal.

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