Hi Adey, I would write or call the DVLA and inform them that you will not be paying their demand for money from you, as you have done nothing wrong and have carried out all legal responsibilities required under law. I would also point out that continuing to attempt to prosecute drivers, who have NO legal obligation to chase up the DVLA after you notify them of a vehicle sale, transfer or disposal can be construed as fraudulently attempting to obtain money, since they are themselves aware of multiple court rulings where a magistrate or judge has ruled that a defendant (driver / owner) has not 'offended', because there IS NO LEGAL OBLIGATION to chase the DVLA for confirmation they had received your sent documents or not. The DVLA are simply relying on the majority of these cases to never reach court, in order to be thrown out. This way, most people will just pay up frightened of the court system, or of getting a conviction against them, and they are quids in. I would go to court myself if they won't give in, and i would ask the court why they are still trying cases that have no basis in law, to still keep coming before the courts repeatedly, even after it has been proven that there is NO case to answer, as there is no legal obligation on the part of the vehicle owner / keeper to chase up. I reckon the DVLA will throw in the towel if you put them right with a few facts. Good luck.

This is just yet another example of exactly the modus operandi of the con the DVLA is attempting (and apparently getting away with wholesale!) to perpetrate on the British people. Basically, because the DVLA is a government department, the British Government is in fact attempting to defraud the British people, using the 'not followed up with a call ruse, such as in your case explained in your post. This is patently obvious, it is an out and out fraud, as there is PLENTY of legal precedence already gone before the courts and on record, of plenty of losses for the DVLA on this particular issue. Therefore, the DVLA (the Government) is attempting to defraud you and all of the others it takes to court for this so called 'offence', even though they and the courts are WELL AWARE, according to the court losses PROVING that the people do NOT have a legal obligation to chase up the DVLA as to whether or not they have received notification of sale or disposal of a vehicle! This is outrageous that it is STILL going on. The Courts, by continuing to attempt prosecution of these cases (and make money from them) are complicit in the fraud too, as they should be refusing to try them, as they are aware the claims and cases are invalid in law. Yet they continue to try them! And the DVLA continues to take people to court for the same 'offence'. Doesn't this tell any reasonable human being exactly what the motives of at least the DVLA actually are? How about a class action suit againt the DVLA (Government) for corporate fraud, tried under common law? We have proof, by their continuing to try cases based on this faulty (manufactured) premise.

I do appreciate RayKays' comments, and his/her offering to impart knowledge. I was frustrated, that's all. Don't speak Russian, have no money (in fact, we're in minus figures monetarily!) , and am out of work, so moving my family there isn't really an option, even if i could afford a ticket and passport. Glad to hear the adventurous British spirit is alive and well in the East though mate!

Do you work for the DVLA by any chance? Not trying to offend you, but the exchange i'm having with you seems eerily reminiscent of conversing with the DVLA! I can and DO blame the system though, that's my point. How does one 'get documents together' that do not (did not) exist? That's a neat trick, obtaining documents for a vehicle before the vehicle is either inspected or indeed purchased. I'd be interested how someone could reasonably be expected to achieve this feat, short of possessing the gift of clairvoyance! As i have said at least three times so far, i did NOT have the documents required by the DVLA in order to purchase tax, from either the DVLA directly or from the post office. The document in question preventing this, was the insurance documentation, as it took a while to arrive and i don't have a fax machine or didn't have a printer. It's a bit glib to say i should have kept the vehicle off the road, i had fully intended to buy tax for the period the car was on the road, indeed i TRIED to buy tax on many occasions, so reasoned i would be fine as any REASONABLE human being, not out to raise revenue by any means, would immediately realise i had only just bought the car a couple of days previously, would know from my previous driving record that i have always been conscientious and diligent with ensuring that any vehicle i have ever owned was mot'd, taxed and insured, and upon checking the website logs for the period in question, would have seen for themselves that i had tried repeatedly to tax the vehicle using the online system and hence known that i fully intended to buy tax. (I've not even had a speeding ticket since the 80's!) I'm leaning towards the DVLA DELIBERATELY making it impossible for people who buy a used car privately, on which the tax has expired in order for the driver to alert the DVLA that they have access to an untaxed car (by the driver trying to tax it online) then the DVLA dart around to the address of the driver who is attempting to buy tax hoping to find any excuse within the statutes to impose fines. It's a cynical and insidious business strategy, nothing more. IF the DVLA genuinely wanted to encourage drivers to obtain tax for their vehicles, then it would follow that vehicle tax would be something that any vehicle owner, insured or otherwise can purchase to remain legal. Driving without MOT or insurance is a completely separate issue and separate offence that could and should be pursued as a separate and distinct matter (if applicable). Basically, the DVLA has forced me and probably hundreds of thousands of other drivers into this position, because they favour illegally imposing fines on motorists over actually making buying tax a much simpler affair for people not in possession of the required documentation. This basically amounts to legalised extortion, using the excuse of no valid tax when an individuals' history and circumstances clearly show i had always been a legal driver, had been trying repeatedly to buy the tax they claim to want me to have, but prevented me from obtaining. I would argue that it is not beyond the wit of human beings, or specifically a government department who genuinely exist as part of their remit to provide a means to buy tax, and not exist as a means to extort fines from motorists, to have a system of 'interim tax' or 'short period tax', solely based on the vehicle (as it should be anyway) and not on the availability of insurance or mot documentation (which would only allow the vehicle to be considered legal for taxation purposes only) which could be purchased online, in a post office or even a supermarket. It could cover the vehicle's taxation class for a maximum period of say two weeks, after which a driver would have to purchase another short period tax disc (or normal duration tax bought while in possession of required documentation), to a maximum of four consecutive fortnightly interim discs, after which a six monthly or yearly disc would need to be purchased. This system would probably be charged with an attached premium cost due to the extra administration, and so while allowing drivers in my situation and similar predicaments, to remain legal and offer a buffer of a few weeks or so for us to obtain the required paperwork from insurers, for DVLA to amend registered keeper details and the MID database, in order for a driver to obtain tax from the online system, which is impossible as it currently stands for drivers which find themselves in the situation of buying a used car with an expired tax disc. Too difficult? For British men and women, who once ruled over a third of our planet...i think not. On the contrary, i suspect it would encourage a far greater uptake of vehicle tax, reduce the numbers of uninsured drivers and encourage a greater sense of civic conformity and consequently i assume therein lies the reason we do not have such a system! Too many drivers taxing their vehicles, means too few fines for drivers not taxing their vehicles! Yes, i am cynical, and becoming more so as the weeks roll by. If the evidence of legalised extortion is in my face, i cannot fail to see it! The revenue raising by extorting monies from drivers who are acting in good faith and are honestly trying to remain within the law, in spite of the many obstacles placed in our way, is obvious for all to see, once one removes the rose tinted spectacles and actually delves into the past record of the DVLA, notwithstanding their recent and ongoing prosecution for fraud, then we begin to see exactly what they are really all about of late...extorting money from the public. Frankly, i'm an 'ordinary' family man, but i'll tell you this i am really, really starting to see the light, and am now having my eyes well and truly opened to what a monumental con mechanism the DVLA has turned into, using the authority of the government to basically cheat and steal by playing the system to it's maximum, and even overstepping legality (trampling while laughing their heads off more like!) in their seemingly blinkered pursuit of ever more revenue. I can appreciate the 'occupy' mindset increasingly over the 'legal' mindset, and i think i'll be joining them sooner rather than later. The UK government needs to urgently clean house methinks, or else they will be stringing up their own noose (metaphorically, of course) if they continue to ride roughshod over honest people this way. I'll not ask you to comment further RayKay, as to be perfectly honest mate, you sound as though you're 'batting for the other side' as it were, and frankly, i can do without comments like 'you should have taxed it', especially after i have written at length to explain why i was prevented from doing so, so thank you for your input thus far. I would ask anyone else who has been in a similar situation to me to comment though. Think I'll go and have a drink now, before i burst a blood vessel with rage. Cheers.

Cheers for that mate, but as i say, the new keeper supplement portion is and was useless, as it cannot be used online, or at a post office without the other documentation being in place (insurance documents had not arrived in the post). The car is required to be taxed...i wanted to tax the car, due to the vagaries of their own system, they effectively blocked me and wouldn't allow me to tax it, then call me a criminal because i had the car on the road outside my house for 2 days after buying it! Personally, i think this is outrageous, and is NOT the Great Britain i grew up in. Common sense has deliberately been thrown out of the window, in favour of downright unfair bureaucratic traps and pitfalls designed to extort money from honest motorists using the slightest excuse or misdemeanour. I purchased the extortionate bloody tax disc at the earliest opportunity, and this STILL isn't good enough! I wouldn't mind if i had a history of being some kind of arse, who never has bought car tax or insurance for years, i have always had my cars and bikes taxed, mot'd and insured, always...so perfectly law abiding history for nearly three decades, have a car on the road for 2 days because DVLA arses won't allow me to tax it, and now i'm a ******, worthy of being in court! Bugger them then, i'm going to be taking a leaf out of 'A Freeman's' book and they can talk to the birth certificate, seeing as that's who they claim committed this outrageous 'offence', the fictitious creation of the 'person' named similarly to myself. They'll have a job getting fines out of a piece of paper. Bastards. Thanks anyway RayKay.

Thanks for your reply RayKay, The portion of the logbook i got with the car was useless in obtaining tax. The DVLA online system would not accept the number on the slip, as their database had not updated (i had literally JUST bought the car 2 days before), and i had not yet received my insurance documents either, so the online service, nor the post office would have issued me a tax disk, what am i to do? I fully intended to buy the tax, it's just that the DVLA system prevented me from buying it. How can that be a crime on my part?

I'm in a similar boat with the DVLA. Here's a quick run down of my situation, hopefully, it will look familiar to some of you if you've been through this yourselves. With any luck, some kind soul can offer me advice as i'm a complete legal newbie. (i've read up and searched online for advice, and found this site) Bought a used car earlier this year on the 16th of May. The tax disc had expired at the end of April, so was out of date. I got the car home, and being a conscientious sort, wanted to tax it as soon as i could - so tried to tax it online, using the DVLA online service..it rejected my application as the MID database hadn't updated the owner details and i wasn't the registered keeper according to their records, and the car did not have valid insurance certificate either. I tried about five separate times to tax it...i even tried to SORN it, and was also rejected by the system for the same reasons. I resolved myself with having to wait for the registration to be changed by the DVLA and my insurance documents to reach me, so i could go and tax it at the post office. One and a half days later (on the 17th May, although DVLA claims it was the 18th!) a DVLA van screeched to a halt outside my home, where the car is parked (on the road) and out jumps a bloke with a camera, taking snaps of the car and the out of date tax disc. I approached him, and told him that i'd only just bought the car a couple of days ago, and that i have been trying to tax it, but without the relevant documents i could not do so...he said, "Oh that's all right mate, we're just taking a picture for our records", and in reply to my statement about trying to get tax, he said "yeah, sure...that's fine mate". With that he jumps back in his van and drives off. Remembering being in similar circumstances decades ago, i always remembered there was a couple of weeks leeway given to owners of cars to get tax, if they'd just bought their cars...this is no longer the case apparently, as a short while later, i got a demand for payment of a 'penalty' from DVLA for not displaying a valid tax disc, and pay up or else! (paraphrasing). I was hopping with anger i can tell ya! Bloody cheek! Their own bloody system wouldn't allow me to obtain the tax, despite repeated attempts to try and get the bloody tax, yet they were demanding money from me in the form of a fine for not having tax!! I replied to the 'demand' for money and explained that i had only had the car for 2 days at the most, and that i had immediately been trying (unsuccessfully) to tax the car, and was fully prepared and willing to tax it, if their system had allowed me to do so, and that a quick check of ISP logs from the date i bought it, up until when the goon swooped in the van snapping the photos, i had tried on many occasions to tax the car. They replied saying basically 'Tough luck'! (again, paraphrasing), and pay up or it's going to court. I have since received a court summons in regard to this tax fiasco and they want me in court in Jan 2012. Any one else have experience of this sort of thing, and have any advice for me? I realise all advice is on a take it or leave it basis, and forms no 'professional advice' or similar. Cheers all. (i want to fight this extortion)