We recently did a registration inspection for a lady who told us she had just been fined for driving unregistered; she hadn’t realised that her registration had expired.  The fine for driving (or parking) an unregistered vehicle on a public road is around $690.  Not only does that sting, but at the same time you are up for the actual cost of registration and third party insurance.  We all felt for this lady and I hope sharing the information below means it won’t happen to you.

Enforcement cameras can now detect unregistered vehicles so it’s more likely it’ll get picked up by the police if you have overlooked your renewal.  It’s important to realise that getting caught is not the worst thing that could happen.  Far worse would be to have an accident which results in an injury when you are without the protection of third party insurance, as you could be personally liable.

I did a little research and found that it’s the person driving (not owners) responsibility to ensure registration is up to date.  That means if you drive a company vehicle or borrow a friend’s car you could be fined if the rego has run out.  There is a quick online check you can do, just type any cars number plate into the search on the Service NSW- Vehicle Registrations page and it will tell you when registration is due.

The Roads and Maritime Services send vehicle owners a paper renewal notice by post six weeks prior to the expiry date.  Make sure your address details are up to date in their system by checking online or calling 13 22 13.  You can also request a free registration reminder from Service NSW which will notify you by email two weeks before the registration is due.  Setting a reminder in your phone is a good idea too.  

For vehicles 5 years or older you need a passed safety inspection before you can renew so we send a text reminder to our regular customers which makes it a lot harder for them to overlook their renewal.