V5 'Cancelled' stamp query

OK, just picked up the Suzuki TS250ER template/donor bike for my
restoration.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/330454509700

Very nice indeed. Small hole blowing in the exhaust - nothing a blob of
weld or Chemical Metal won't cure. Engine sounds perfect, rides nicely,
happy bunny am I.

Only thing is - the V5 is one of the old-style ones, in the name of the
previous owner, complete with the old tear-off strip (as we all used to
do, ahem) and there are two stamps on it.

One reads: CANCELLED and the other: EXCHANGE FOR HRC (Her Majesty's
Revenue and Customs, I assume)

The seller seems straight as a die, the numbersd match the V5 and
haven't been tampered with, and a check on the DVLA site verifies that
the bike is on the computer. So it hasn't been written off.

My own thoughts, verified by my local dealer and by Lozzo, is that it's
therefore totally kosher. But I've never seen or heard of these stamps,
and neither had they.

Anyone got a clue? I've told the seller that if I have to re-register
the bike (but it's got a brand new MoT, so it *must* have been matched
against the DVLA computer) then so be it, but if there's anything
remotely hookey, I'll be bringing it back, and he's OK with that.

Suggestions, please? I'll give the DVLA a call tomorrow and see what the
score is.

 

(The Older Gentleman) wrote in

Is it definitely HRC, as VRC would make sense as we went from V5s to V5Cs a
few years ago where VRC is vehicle reg cert? Current owner should've had a
V5C obviously and would've needed that or a road tax reminder to SORN the
bike.

Have you checked the MOT is kosher? There were a load of blanks stolen a
while back.
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/OwningAVehicle/Mot/DG_10020539

 

This usually means that the number has been transferred to another
vehicle or held by a previous owner on a retention certificate ready
for transfer.
IOW you need to contact DVLA and get a replacement number which will
probably cost you.
The old cancelled V5 is your record of the original number.

 

(The Older Gentleman) gurgled happily,
sounding much like they were saying:

HMRC, usually - I'd go with the VRC (or even V5C) theory - how clear is
it?

Not showing up on cardatachecks.co.uk; and the tax disc site shows it as
a yellow 246cc Suzuki unlicensed since 1994.

My money's on legit, with a V5C in the post to him.

 

That makes sense.

How does that tie in with the MoT, though?

 

Good point. If I'd stolen an MoT cert, though, I'd use it on something a
bit more upmarket than a 30 year-old £500 ShiteOldSuzuki.

I'll check.

 

No idea, but at a (wild) guess if a retention certificate has expired
the system could revert the number to the original vehicle.

 

V5's surely?

 

gurgled happily, sounding much like they were
saying:

No, it'd just be lost into the ether - same as if a vehicle it was on was
scrapped without the number being transferred off.

 

Just checked. It's kosher.

 

That would make perfect sense. Thanks.

 

(The Older Gentleman) wrote in

as others say, it's going to be fine. Unloved vehicle recently
resurrected. DVLA probably thought it was dead and didn't issue a new
V5C when we switched over in <whenever>. Technically, according to
http://www.whatcar.com/car-advice/glossary/V it shouldn't be sold
without the V5C so you may have a little bureaucratic debate with the
Swansea jobsworths...

 

Probably no more than the usual "Missing V5C? That'll be £25 (or however
much)"

 

Er, except that they won't have his address....

 

(The Older Gentleman) wrote in

depends: if it has been SORNed then he would've needed to do the lost V5C
thing, as you can't SORN it without a V5C. Of course, as mentioned above,
as far as DVLA is concerned it may be in the "ignore, assume dead" category
along with all the other bikes in boxes sitting in sheds. Getting an MOT
will wake it up on the database and start the "send a fine if not
taxed/SORNed" letters, to whoever is the registered keeper.

 

Last MOT'd 16 years ago...

Oh, well. I reckoned it was kosher, and it is indeed rather a nice bike
for a very decent price. Shame the seller didn't mention the V5 thing on
the auction page..

Just one of the hassles of messing with SOBs.

 

I thought that bikes that had been off the road since before SORN
(spit) was introduced didn't need SORN? Or have they changed the rules
again?

 

isn't that what I said with the phrase, "ignore, assume dead?"

The last part is speculation, that activating the bike in the database
by getting an MOT would trigger the "we can make some money from this
one" flag.

 

(The Older Gentleman) gurgled happily,
sounding much like they were saying:

Indeed - but, thinking about it, perhaps the "Exchange for..." stamp
would be better interpreted as "Must be exchanged for..." rather than
"Has been exchanged for..."

Either way, it shouldn't be difficult to get it sorted.

Not one of the biggies, not in the grand scheme of things. I wouldn't see
it as a showstopper.

 

Sorted. Rang the DVLA today. They said the 'Cancelled' stamp is what
happens when someone asks for the old V5 to be returned to them after
some change or other (address, ownership, whatever), usually because
they want to keep a complete record of paperwork (as many SOB and SOC
owners do). They confirmed the bike's straigjht, and told me to get a
V62 form from the PO, fill it in, and if I send off the old V5 with
it, then the bike is registered in my name for free, or if I want to
keep the old V5 (which I don't), there's a fee payable. £25, I think,
but I won't be doing that anyway.

Interesting, anyway. It's the very first time I've encountered this,
and I thought I'd seen just about every aspect of vehicle ownership
paperwork in the last 35 years. Every day's a schoolday etc....

So if it ever happens to the rest of you, you now know what to do