DVLA

[Pete-M]

Wankers. That is all.

[marcus]

+1

[Guest]

I reckon the Dearne Valley Licensing Authority do pretty well - can't be much fun enforcing places like Mexborough etc.

[Pete-M]

Tax on the Audi runs out at midnight, so in my usual oh-so-prepared way, I toddled off to the Post Office with all the documents other than the V5C, but I had the green slip so thought all would be good.

 

Oh no. Not that simple.

 

Audi had the previous owners private plate on when I bought it, I've been waiting for the V5C with the 'proper' plate on, but have had a veritable multitude of DVLA paperwork sent to me, stuff to get the reg plates made, replacement MOT (although I MOT'd it within a week of getting the plate change paperwork through anyway so that's irrelevant), and the green slip all stamped by the DVLA to say the reg has been changed.

 

'All good', I thought. Post Office bloke took one look and said "No mate, you need to go to (the God Forsaken Shithole that is) Trafford Park and tax it there, or you could try Chester VRO, but there's nowhere to park near there for miles and there's always traffic wardens wandering about."

 

So, I wandered out to the car and rang DVLA's splendid not-so-cheap enquiries line, which was engaged the first two times. Then the automated "I'm sorrrry, but all our operators are busy right now, please hold the line", I hold the line... ringing tone, "Hello, this is the DVLA, thank you for calling, all our operators".. FFS. Eventually, after about £3 worth of faffing about pressing about a billion numbers "Do you have the green slip?, press one. Do you want to tax your car? Press 2. Do you want to tax your car with the green slip? Press 4. Do you have an MOT? Press 3472834891872347" etc. Eventually get through to the people who deal with tax? "Oh, I'll put you through to the cherished transfer people....", "Hello, do you have the green slip?, do you want to tax your car?", "Yes....", "You'll have to go to your 'local' office, which is in Manchester".

 

Bollocks. Hey ho, worth a shot.

 

Anyway, go to Manchester and there's a proper queue there, explain to one bloke who tells me all about his eye infection, hands me some forms, fills some forms in with the old reg number and then again with the correct one when I point it out, gives me a little ticket like you get in the Deli and sends me to another bloke to check I've filled my forms in properly who then tells me to sit in another queue and wait for my number to come up. The wait wasn't too bad, about 5 minutes, and then another bloke who hands me a tax disc and then tells me "Oh, we'll have to keep this green slip, watch out while you're in Manchester, the Police have this 'Operation Wolverine' to seize any car that isn't in the right name that the owner doesn't have the V5C or green slip for.... I'll photocopy this for you and hopefully you'll be ok. You'll have your logbook in a few weeks. Hopefully. If it's not been sent to the previous keeper.."

 

Marvellous. Local Government at its best, but at least they got the job done.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

if you go on www.saynoto0870.com they have proper regional numbers for the DVLA on there so you can ring them up without having to take one for the team. Of course, you still have to go thorugh all the bo11ox about 'press 1 for bowel problems' and so on.

 

Sounds like you got to the bottom of it in the end so fair play to ya, just wait till the inevitable privatising of the DVLA and you will be able to look back with rose-tinted geps at this little carry-on.

[Richard]

Sounds like you got to the bottom of it in the end so fair play to ya, just wait till the inevitable privatising of the DVLA and you will be able to look back with rose-tinted geps at this little carry-on.

Oh yes! Ditto the Royal Mail.

[Volksy]

DVLA I had a run in with them a couple of years back. The previous owner of my car never sent the V5 off when I bought the car. It had 12 months tax on it when I bought it, so never really occured to me to chase it up, as you only really need the V5 to tax it. A year later when it came up for tax, well a year and a bit to be honest as it slipped my mind, a kind neighbour shopped the car to the DVLA and it was duly Clamped for not being taxed. So I call the clampers - NCP have the contract in Leeds - and pay the £95 release fee, the £250 retainer until I prove it's taxed ("within 14 days Sir, or we clamp it again and keep the £250"), and they come and release it. Off I toddle to the Post office - Nope can't tax it there, so trek to the DVLA office in Leeds, Nope can't tax it there until I have the V5, Right, so I pay £25 for a new V5 - "Be with you in about 21 days" "But I only have 14 to tax it and get a refund of the retainer""Nothing I can do about that Sir""But it will get clamped again""Nothing I can do about that Sir""And I'll then owe another £250""Nothing I can do about that Sir" (See a pattern emerging here?)In the end I manage to get the oik to call the clampers and get an extension. Which they are more than happy to do! But getting him to call what is essencially a dept of the DVLA to arrange this was impossible until I ask to see the Manager, who then umm's and ah's as it's obvoiusly 'outside the box' thinking to ask another department to do something.You would think, in this day and age, that with insurance, MOT, ID (passport, drivers licence, several utility bills, credit and debit cards all in my name and address) You would be able to register a car in your name AT THEIR OFFICE, and get the paperwork for said vehicle there and then. I guess everything is sent to some Gorgon in Swansea who must rubber stamp everything before it is approved, and then typed out on an old Angela Landsbury style typewriter. They're systems in place quick enough to be able to spot an uninsured/untaxed/unMOT'd vehicle driving down the high street at 500 yds, So why does none of this technology work the other way for the Consumer...Fuggin dark ages.......

[STUNO]

To tax my car here.Go to testing station, post office, AA or a few other places, whichever suits.Quote registration to clerkPay the required amountLeave with (our version of) tax discIt's as hard as that and takes a long a typing this.

[Pillock]

I once bought a car for an hour. Put my name on the V5 new keeper bit but then the chump backed out so no deal was done. Thought nothing of it.6 months later he scrapped the car, so sent the v5 off with the scrapped box ticked, but also my name still on the new owner bit. DVLA promptly send me a new V5 for it, and then a fine for not taxing it Phoned up, managed to press the secret key combo to speak to a person, and he was pretty clued up TBH. Told me to send the V5 back, and put a letter with it saying "I do not own this car. I have never owned this car." He told me not to put any long words in as it might confuse them, and it was all sorted. I was quite impressed with that, especially since it was a fairly easy mistake to make.They also let me backdate the purchase of a car by four years once, I just put a much earlier date on the form and it propagated through to the printed one! I'd forgotten to send it off when I bought it.

[AnthonyG]

Got yourself a pig farm yet Pete? (Reference to avatar, the very nice 'Bricktop' from 'Snatch')

[Roc 24v]

1st of the month, tax disc expired, probably lots in the same boat this morning.DVLA online tax disc website, down for maintenance! FFS!

[andrew e]

Spare a though for Mrs E, 1st of the month, she's a village post mistress. In her defence she is pretty kind to her traders (she gets lots) if they accidently forget the odd document - I mean HM Gov gets its money still, everyones happy. She even has printed directions for the local DVLA and what forms to ask for (that she sourced herself to make her life easier).

[Cavcraft]

DVLA: lazy wankers mostly. Waiting on tax disc to come back from a car that had a registration transfer. V5 came back after about a week, MOT six days after that and still no sign of the fucking tax disc. 'There's been a postal strike' so wait until the 6th October and if it's not there we'll re-issue another one.Good bloody job it's not my only car then hey as if I drove it I could get done for failure to display. Twats.Post Office: Happy to tax 6 cars in four months on trade insurance then decided they won't do it if name of insured not on V5. Argument ensues and they say 'we're not allowed to do it and never have been'. When I pointed out that they'd taxed 6 in the last 4 months without my name being on V5 they denied it. I even offered to go and get proof and they just said it must have been a mistake on their part. Six fucking mistakes in a row? Yh rly. Now I'd be on to DVLA and they said P.O should tax it and they even gave me a contact name and number.P.O aren't having it and said not their job to call them.The one in town is random: one time they will, next time they won't. Why don't they get some consistancy and stick to the DVLA's bleeding rules then?No wonder people risk driving without tax if you can't get past the officious twats in the first place.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Just go to another post office! I tried to tax a car off the green slip. I'd left it too long, green slip was more than 3 months old so they sent me packing. I changed the date on it and went back in. 'You've changed the date on it' they said, and sent me packing again. Went to the stretford post office instead of the chorlton one, bobs your uncle.

[Volksy]

Just go to another post office! bobs your uncle.

Done that quite a few times!

[Milford Cubicle]

I don't understand the hatred for the DVLA, they're usually very efficient. I've never had any trouble with them.Then again, I'm not the kind of person who goes mental when Government organisations make a small mistake.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

When these small mistakes end up costing you, the taxpayer, time and money, it's taking the piss. These days I just do everything well ahead of time and tax cars on line. I only have two so it's not so bad.Except utility bills - those bastards can wait until the final red reminder.

[AnthonyG]

Leaving it too late is usually a cause of problems.The tradition/urban myth/belief that you have two weeks grace after the date the last tax disc expires doesn't help. To be honest although the paperwork is a pain, in other countries the cost and bureaucracy involved with changing can be much higher - I know in Italy it used to be a really involved process.Since some of us on here will use it almost constantly, such as MrB and PeteM, we are bound to find fault with it.

[Guest]

I think the thing is with the DVLA, you're generally OK until you run into anything that is even a little bit out of the ordinary - some things are overcomplicated and made a ballache for no real reason.

 

One good example would be disabled road tax - if you as a non-disabled driver buy a car which has free disabled tax on it, then want to buy a tax disc for it, you'd think it'd be easy. Take your new keepers section and other documents to the Post Office, hand over the cash and receive your new non-disabled tax disc. Easy! But no - you need to change it from disabled tax at the "local" DVLA office which is only open during office hours on Monday to Friday. Don't think there's any way of doing it over the phone or by post either. Why? You're trying to give them money! What is there to gain from doing it that way?!

 

Another thing is SORN - it's free, what's the point of having to renew it? Wouldn't it save everyone some time/effort if it just auto-renewed itself? It's not like it costs anything to renew, or there's any particular advantage you're gaining. It'd save you the bother of renewing it and them the bother of sending you a reminder. Everyone's happy.

 

I just get the impression with the DVLA that there's some people in there trying to make a difference with things like the online tax disc system, but they're constantly hampered by po-faced old men who've been there for 30 years and don't like the idea of change.

[Pete-M]

To give the DVLA their due, they're not as bad as they used to be. I've had some proper run-ins with them in the past, on one occasion ending up in court over one of their many cock-ups. I gave them numerous chances to back down over their mistake and they just wouldn't and started threatening me with court, so I took them up on their threat.I posted what happened on another forum back in 2004 when it happened..

"Last week I got a summons to appear in court today about "failing to replyto an official letter regarding the driver of VW Golf reg number B??? ???"which is my faithful mk2 GTi.So I rang the DVLA in Preston who sent the letter, and informed them in mybest highly peeved way that I didn't receive any such letter, and that I'm abit pissed off that I have to go to court and pay them £45 for the joys of avisit to the Magistrates.They replied "We're the DVLA, we can send you a letter in the normal postand treat it as if it's recorded delivery, if I were you I'd plead guilty bypost and pay the fine, you could try faxing us to get the proceedingsstopped, but you will still have to pay the £45 court costs and the fine,which can be up to £1000".I informed them that they could "stick their special postmen up their arse"and that "I'd see them in court"..I then hung up and thought "Fuck, that's gonna cost me a grand that is"...Anyway, today I was up in Liverpool Magistrates...Walked in, had to do the usual "Are you Peter M?, do you live at?, is yourdate of Birth?" etc stuff.Clerk - "Mr M, do you have a solicitor?"Me - "Not right now, no, I doubt I need one to be honest"C - "right, er, ok then. Do you know why you're here?"Me - "yes"C - "On the 10th April last year you were sent a letter asking who thekeeper of a VW Golf, B??? ??? was, you failed to reply to that letter, whichis an offence against RTA blah blah, do you understand the charge broughtagainst you"Me - "Yes, I understand that's what is meant to have happened"C - "Meant to have happened?"Me - "I didn't receive the letter, and as I wasn't in the country, Icouldn't SORN the vehicle because it's an offence for someone who's not acompany secretary or Director to fill in any official documents regarding acompany vehicle. Besides, it was taxed when I left the country, but itexpired when I was away. Nothing I could do, I wasn't going to break the lawjust to keep the DVLA happy. I've already explained this to the DVLA inPreston who told me I should just pay the fine".Woman from DVLA - "I'd like to drop all charges"Magistrate - "Ok, Mr M, you may go. Sorry for the inconvenience."Quality. Left room to sounds of Magistrate tearing shreds out of DVLAwoman. "

This wasn't the first time they'd tried it on, a couple of years earlier I had an Integrale which they wanted to 'Q' plate because they didn't believe it had had a full colour change repaint - even though I had the previous owners photographic record of the colour change and it had been registered in the new colour for the previous seven years. They're not as bad as they were, but they're still pretty shit.

[Negative Creep]

In the last 6 weeks or so I bought 2 cars and sold 3. Number of V5s/confirmation of sales I've had in the post? Zero.

[AnthonyG]

When these small mistakes end up costing you, the taxpayer, time and money, it's taking the piss. These days I just do everything well ahead of time and tax cars on line. I only have two so it's not so bad.Except utility bills - those bastards can wait until the final red reminder.

I find the online tax thing really good - again you have to do it in advance (and trust the Royal Mail, of course).

[Cavcraft]

Just go to another post office! I tried to tax a car off the green slip. I'd left it too long, green slip was more than 3 months old so they sent me packing. I changed the date on it and went back in. 'You've changed the date on it' they said, and sent me packing again. Went to the stretford post office instead of the chorlton one, bobs your uncle.

I have and will but it's random as some won't accept it. If the green part has been filled in already I'm knack'd as you said, but they used to let me tax them regardless as long as I had the V5 even when not in my name.

[Guest greenvanman]

Another thing is SORN - it's free, what's the point of having to renew it?

Same reason they introduced it - to make money when some owners inevitably forget to renew their SORN. There's no profit in renewing it automatically.