Have I been stitched up by DVLA? Yep, got refund today

[DSdriver]

Bought car

taxed car for six months to get it home and hoon about for a couple of days. Cost £162.25

End of month sorned car

Received refund cheque from DVLA for £98.33

So less than a month's road fund licence cost me £63.92.

Surely that's not right?

[Junkman]

There is no road fund licence. Since 1937 it has merely been a 'because we can fuck you as we please' tax.

It's pretty obvious that they now fucked you even more than they normally do.

 

Not sure what you expect a car forum to do about it, but here are my three suggestions:

 

A. Contact the DVLA for clarification

 

B. Start a revolution

 

C. Both

 

Should you opt for B or C, please don't start the revolution without me!

[DSdriver]

We need to sort the film rights first because this revolution will be televised.

[forddeliveryboy]

Just let us know where to meet and when. I'll be there. (Do give them a ring first to allow them to sort it out, though). 

[Junkman]

Film rights. There aren't even pics of the car!

[vulgalour]

Straight to pirate radio broadcast is the best we can hope for, Herr Junkman.

 

On the refund, the DVLA view it as follows:

 

£27.42 per calendar month

First calendar month you paid for: NO REFUND

Calendar month you cancelled in, if different to the first: NO REFUND

 

So yes, you've probably paid them for 2 complete months, even though you didn't use 2 complete months of tax, and they refunded you 4 months less whatever admin fee they felt like sticking on too.

[forddeliveryboy]

Anyway, what sort of ice-age preventer did you buy? Something with a 2.7HDi V6? C5 estate? 

[steveo3002]

nice of them to do that ...extra kick in the nuts if you want to legaly run a car about for a couple of weeks so get stung 2 months min

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Not really, you just have to remember that they only deal in WHOLE MONTHS so if you buy/tax a car on the 20th November then cash it in on the 1st december, you will have to pay for december's tax too - 2 months.  However if you buy/tax on the first and cash it in on the 31st - thats 1 month.

[Richard]

I think he did cash it in within the calendar month.

[Dave_Q]

Doesn't say dates just a couple of days. If those days were from the 31st August to 1st September they take 2 months.

 

For future reference the correct manoeuvre here is to set up a DD.

Will show as taxed straight away but 1st payment doesn't come out for 14 days, cancel DD and sell/SORN before then and you're BEATING DA SYSTEM.

 

I suppose they could technically come after you for the money but I don't think they do as the cost of sending you a letter or two would wipe out what they'd recover.

[richardmorris]

They also don't refund the 6month premium from what I hear, so they only refund you on the 12 month rate not the six month one- you may have had more back if you'd paid for twelve in the first place.

[martc]

We need to sort the film rights first because this revolution will be televised.

 

I'm sorry, the revolution will NOT be televised.

 

See https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=the+revolution+will+not+be+televised+gil+scott+heron+official

[neil1971]

Presumably DVLA now effectively get paid twice for the month a car is sold - for a taxed car changing hands today, the previous owner would get a refund for December onwards but buyer would have to tax the car from the start of November, would add up to a decent chunk of money across all transactions

[forddeliveryboy]

Presumably DVLA now effectively get paid twice for the month a car is sold - for a taxed car changing hands today, the previous owner would get a refund for December onwards but buyer would have to tax the car from the start of November, would add up to a decent chunk of money across all transactions

 

Even with that scam they're still down on takings since some bright spark in Whitehall decided to do away with the tax disc.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/aug/18/dvla-disputes-revenue-loss-tax-disc

[neil1971]

If it ain't broken, fix it until it is!

[Cavcraft]

What did the DVLA say when you rang them about it?

[DaveAspley]

I've had this conversation quite a lot recently, the basic utter simple way of taxing a car under the new rules is to do it on a monthly direct debit. Especially if you change cars regularly as it's simply a case of SORN one and tax the other. Yes it may cost 20 quid extra over the year but by God it saves a lot of hassle.

[EssDeeWon]

In a nutshell yes you have been stitched up by the DVLA, in fact we have all been stitched up by the DVLA.

[Pillock]

TBH, you're probably better off than if you had taxed it for 6 months and then sold it with the tax on as per the "old" system. The price of the car would always be on condition, miles and MOT with hardly any thought to how much tax was on it.

 

Ring 'em and check, get them to break down what you've paid from what date to when. They may have made a mistake, and it probably gets you further than asking a load of blokes on the internet.

[For Fiats Sake]

Which reminds me that they're still taking for the bloody regatta, probably because the V5 hasn't been sent in, I shall be trawling through my personal messages and when I find out the shitter who bought it they will be getting a stern ticking off!

 

Surprisingskoda come on down!

[DSdriver]

I bet the reply they give me won't be half as much fun as what you guys reckon.

I will ring them tomorrow because I did wonder if they had charged me an extra month because I had to post the form to them because I hadn't at that time received the V5C so no docref number to do it online. 

[DSdriver]

I would have been OK with them hanging on to the money till I unsorned it in the spring like payments to the Dartford crossing. 

The reason it was sorned straight way is because it is a Saab floppytop so not really useful in winter.

[loserone]

Surprisingskoda come on down!

 But not too quickly, and make sure you park legally.

 

Isn't sending off the V5 the seller's responsibility?

[Pillock]

Aye. Buyer gets the green slip, seller sends off the V5.

Or, in this wonderous age we live in, goes online and does it instantly.

[meshking]

I sorned my lotus on 31st October, and the direct debit for the monthly tax went out on 1st November as usual. I did nothing but keep faith in the system - on 10th I was refunded.

 

I think for any car that is used just for summer or for 6 months, you're better off using the direct debit. But that doesn't apply in DsDriver case, because of the short period.

[purplebargeken]

DD really is the best way in this matter.

[EssDeeWon]

Yeah its abit of a god send the DD set up especially having a big old car that costs about £250 a year to tax.

 

You just have to think about when you start and stop the tax, but for me its continuous so it works very well.

[surprisingskoda]

Do I even have the v5 for it? I'll check the glove box and see if it's in there.

[DSdriver]

After emailing the DVLA with a query, asking them to tell me how they arrived at that figure I got a cheque today for another £24.60. No explanation or apology of course but hey ho.