The Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) Regulations 2002

PART IIIREGISTRATION AND REGISTRATION DOCUMENTS

Registration and issue of registration document

10.—(1) A vehicle shall not be registered under section 21 of the 1994 Act unless a fee of £25 has been paid to the Secretary of State.

(2) Paragraph (1) does not apply to a vehicle which is an exempt vehicle by virtue of paragraph 18 or 19 of Schedule 2 to the 1994 Act(1).

(3) The Secretary of State may register a vehicle in either the GB records or the NI records as he considers appropriate and may, if he thinks fit, remove the particulars of a vehicle included in one of those parts of the register and include them in the other.

(4) On registering a vehicle the Secretary of State shall issue a registration document to the keeper of the vehicle.

(5) Subject to paragraph (6) and regulation 11, the Secretary of State shall issue the registration document forthwith, except where the vehicle is registered in consequence of an application for a vehicle licence by a person applying as mentioned in section 7(3A) of the 1994 Act(2), in which case the registration document shall be issued when that person asks for it to be issued.

(6) Before issuing a registration document to the keeper of a vehicle, the Secretary of State may require him to produce the vehicle for inspection or to produce other evidence that the vehicle accords with the particulars furnished when a vehicle or nil licence was applied for in respect of it.

(7) The Secretary of State may refuse to issue a registration document or replacement registration document for a vehicle if he is not satisfied that the vehicle accords with those particulars.

Production of vehicle for inspection before assignment of registration mark

11.  Where at the request of the keeper of a vehicle a particular registration mark is to be assigned to it, having previously been assigned to another vehicle, that other vehicle shall be made available for inspection by the Secretary of State at a place designated by him, and the keeper of the first mentioned vehicle shall, before the registration mark is so assigned, pay to the Secretary of State a charge of £80 for the assignment.

Production of registration document for inspection

12.  The keeper of a vehicle in respect of which a registration document has been issued shall produce the document for inspection if he is required to do so at any reasonable time by a constable or by a person acting on behalf of the Secretary of State.

Issue of replacement registration document

13.—(1) Where a registration document has been, or may have been, lost, stolen, destroyed or damaged, or it contains any particulars that have become illegible, the registered keeper shall apply to the Secretary of State for the issue of a replacement document.

(2) In a case where the registration document has been damaged or contains any particulars which have become illegible, an application under paragraph (1) shall be accompanied by the document and, in any other case, the Secretary of State may, if he thinks fit, accept an application made orally by telephone.

(3) If the Secretary of State—

(a)receives an application made in accordance with this regulation; and

(b)he is satisfied that a registration document has been, or may have been, lost, stolen, destroyed or damaged, or that it contains any particulars that have become illegible,

he shall, subject to regulation 15, issue a replacement registration document to the registered keeper.

(4) If a replacement registration document has been issued on the ground that the original has been, or may have been, lost, stolen or destroyed, and the original is subsequently found or recovered, the keeper of the vehicle—

(a)if the original is in his possession, shall forthwith return it to the Secretary of State, or

(b)if it is not in his possession but he becomes aware that it is found or recovered, shall take all reasonable steps to obtain possession of it and return it to the Secretary of State.

Correction of registration document

14.—(1) Where the keeper of a vehicle believes that the particulars in the registration document issued in respect of that vehicle are, or have become, inaccurate, he shall forthwith notify the Secretary of State of the inaccuracy.

(2) Notification under paragraph (1) shall be accompanied by the registration document, unless it has been, or may have been, lost stolen or destroyed.

(3) Where the Secretary of State believes that the particulars in the registration document issued in respect of a vehicle are inaccurate—

(a)if the document has not been sent to him in accordance with paragraph (2), he may require the registered keeper of the vehicle to send it to him;

(b)whether or not he has received the document, he may correct the particulars in the register; and

(c)after correcting the particulars he shall, unless he has not received the registration document as required by paragraph (2) and subject to regulation 15, send a registration document containing the correct particulars to the registered keeper.

Issue of new registration document

15.—(1) Before issuing a new registration document in respect of a vehicle under any provision of these Regulations, the Secretary of State may require the keeper of the vehicle to satisfy him by the production of the vehicle or other sufficient evidence that the vehicle—

(a)accords with the particulars furnished when a vehicle or nil licence was last applied for in respect of it; or

(b)is the registered vehicle.

(2) The Secretary of State may refuse to issue a new registration document in respect of a vehicle if he is not satisfied as mentioned in paragraph (1).

(3) The provisions of Schedule 3 shall have effect in relation to the issue of a new registration document in respect of a vehicle (in this regulation and in Schedule 3 called “the relevant vehicle”) where—

(a)the relevant vehicle falls within category M1 of Annex II to Council Directive 70/156/EEC(3), and

(b)either an insurer has informed the Secretary of State that it has decided to pay the value of the relevant vehicle to the owner in preference to paying for the cost of repairing it or the registration document has been surrendered to the Secretary of State under regulation 20(5).

(4) For the purposes of paragraph (3) and Schedule 3 the return of a registration document for a vehicle registered in the NI records in accordance with regulation 18(2)(b) shall be taken to be the issue of a new registration document.