SORN figures surge during Covid
New analysis by Kwik Fit has found that the pandemic resulted in an additional quarter of a million cars taken off the road.
Researchers analysed the latest government data to assess how many vehicles were officially off road with a registered SORN (Statutory Off Road Notification) in the last quarter of 2020, compared to the last quarter of 2019.
They found that at the end of 2020 there were 3,261,901 cars officially registered off road compared to 2,984,042 at the end of 2019, an increase of 277,859 vehicles.
The national average increase in cars with a SORN was nine per cent but in Guildford the number rose by a massive 27.5% in the last 12 months. This was followed by Watford which saw a 12.5% increase in cars designated as being off road, then Worcester (12%), Southall (11.9%) and Oxford (11.6%).
The increase in vehicles being taken off road was mirrored in part by a reduction in licensed cars over the same period, which fell by 0.57%, some 187,000 cars.
Roger Griggs, communications director at Kwik Fit, said: “It was clearly a sensible move for many owners to save money on tax and insurance during the pandemic by taking their cars off road and registering a SORN. However, we anticipate that many of those SORN registered cars have now been brought back on to the road as the country has opened up and traffic volumes have returned to normal levels.”
