Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994

7 Issue of vehicle licences

(1) Every person applying for a vehicle licence shall—

(a) make such a declaration, and

(b) furnish such particulars,

(whether or not with respect to the vehicle for which the licence is to be taken out) as may be prescribed by regulations made by the Secretary of State.

(2) The declarations and particulars which may be so prescribed include, in relation to a person applying for a licence for a goods vehicle, a declaration as to, and particulars of, any of the matters specified in subsection (3) as to which the Secretary of State may require information with a view to an alteration in the basis on which vehicle excise duty is chargeable in respect of goods vehicles.

(3) The matters referred to in subsection (2) are—

(a) the construction of the vehicle,

(b) the vehicle’s plated gross weight or plated train weight (or, in Northern Ireland, relevant maximum weight or relevant maximum train weight) or, if the vehicle has no such weight, the vehicle’s weight when laden with the maximum load which it is constructed or adapted to carry, and

(c) the use to which the vehicle has been or is likely to be put.

(4) A vehicle licence—

(a) is issued for the vehicle specified in the application for the licence, and

(b) does not entitle the person to whom it is issued to use or keep any other vehicle.

(5) The Secretary of State is not required to issue a vehicle licence for which an application is made unless he is satisfied—

(a) that the licence applied for is the appropriate licence for the vehicle specified in the application, and

(b) in the case of an application for a licence for a vehicle purporting to be the first application for a licence for the vehicle, that a licence has not previously been issued for the vehicle.

(6) Regulations made by the Secretary of State may provide for—

(a) the issue of a new vehicle licence in the place of a licence which is or may be lost, stolen, destroyed or damaged, and

(b) the fee to be paid on the issue of a new licence.

(7) Where, following an application made in accordance with regulations under paragraph 13 of Schedule 1, a licence is issued for a goods vehicle at the rate of duty applicable to a weight specified in the application which is lower than its actual weight, that lower weight is to be shown on the licence.