£25 for not receiving my V5C!

[morts]

Hi,

I bought a new car recently and still haven't received the V5C.

DVLA have told me that I have to pay £25 for a replacement as I did not tell them within 6 weeks. How was I meant to know this, wasn't told on any correspondence I have??

Complained to Royal Mail - they say sender should make sure I get the item, not their fault.

Complained to garage I bought the car from - they say they are not obliged to tell a customer this information, not their fault.

Complained to DVLA - still have to pay!

Isn't this unfair?

Edited June 7, 2013 by morts

[Kiki1]

If you have the main (not tear off) slip still from the original V5© this will suffice as it has the detail within it for you to do the 'important' things such as tax the vehicle.

 

It the DVLA also confirms that you are the new owner then before the tax period is up you will receive the V11 which also has detail in it relating to yourself.

 

I wouldn't bother paying out the money.

[morts]

When buying a new car at first registration you sign a 'confirmation of registration details' which is emailed by the garage to the DVLA. Thats all you have and it says "Statement does not form proof of

ownership of the vehicle, nor does it replace the Registration Certificate (V5C), which will be

sent to you shortly from the DVLA"

 

I argued that "sent to you shortly" does not mean "within 6 weeks", could be interpreted as a day, a month, a year??

 

I don't want to pay, but is it a legal requirement to have a V5C?

 

[Kiki1]

My mistake, I did not spot the 'new' in your opening post.

 

Was the vehicle taxed by the seller ? If so I would think that there is nothing else you need that is within the V5 until the first year is up.

[SmallFrowne]

Hmm, not sure if this is at all helpful but I didn't receive my V5 for my car either. It must of been quite a bit longer than 6 weeks - it being my first car I wasn't sure how long it would take, but it didn't really matter, was just enjoying being on the road . I did eventually ring them and ask where it was, they told me I'd have to pay for a replacement too. But the interesting thing is, the address they had (the updated address) was incorrect. It was the correct street, but they couldn't tell me the house number (probably data protection) they had - I wondered who on the street could have my V5.

 

My options where to either pay the money and fill in a V62 (iirc), knock on doors and see who had it, OR "sell" it to my sister/family member/trusted person. They could receive a new V5 free of charge using the same form (again iirc) and I would send a letter to the DVLA saying that I was no longer the owner. Then again could swap back once the new V5 was received. A bit long winded! Also thinking about it now, this could invalidate the insurance as it stated on the policy that the main driver (me) was the registered keeper. This would put an extra 2 previous owners on the log but wasn't fussed after already reaching 11.

 

BUT when the tax came close to renewal I somehow managed to receive the V11 reminder

The address had the house number 78.. my street only goes up to 30 and I lived at 28. Clearly somebody, or something (automated scanner) had got my number wrong. A "7" for a "2", quite possible I thought but although my handwriting may be complete spider writing it definitely said 28. On the phone to the DVLA again and explained, took some slight convincing but "we'll update that and send you a new one out".

 

So this might be worth checking, as it might be more common than I first thought, my girlfriend is now called Bath instead of Beth on her V5 after an address change.

 

Sorry for length! Paul

[SmallFrowne]

Also didn't spot the "new" part. So probably not helpful in the slightest.

[Kiki1]

Also didn't spot the "new" part. So probably not helpful in the slightest.

 

[morts]

Kiki1 and SmallFrowne - Many thanks for you advice:-D.

 

Shall wait in the hope it may turn up one day, though it wouldn't suprise me if they've also put the wrong address on it!

 

Still think it's unfair so have now written to the Chief Executive of the DVLA.

 

Shall post the outcome when I hear (probably in quite a while by their standards).

[Kiki1]

Well, even though the new part was 'overlooked', unless you are thinking of selling the car in the immediate future, you can do everything else required by use of the V11 each time you need to retax the car (that is, until the day it does not drop on the mat 11 months in).

 

But of course that could never happen, the DVLA is always spot on with the required documentation.

[bunkmedal]

Word of warning here - if you don't pay the £25 (and fill in the V62 to get a new V5C) and they never received the confirmation from the garage that the vehicle was sold, then it won't be registered at your address. That sounds like nothing right now, but if you leave it until your tax is due and you don't get the reminder or the new V5C sent to your house then you won't be able to tax your vehicle.

 

That's exactly what happened to me the first time I bought a car. I didn't really think to chase them up about it when I didn't receive my V5C. I then discovered after my tax reminder didn't show up that I had to pay the £25 for a new V5C before I could tax it, but far more annoying than that is that it takes them an appallingly long time to process the V62 and send your new V5C. It took them around 7 weeks in my case, during which time I was unable to drive my car at all because it wasn't taxed. I can't even begin to explain how much of a hassle that was given where I work.

 

It's an absurdly stupid system and it seems like a bit of an injustice having to pay the £25 for what is (at least mostly) somebody else's mistake, but under no circumstances leave it right up until your tax is due or you might find yourself in the same mess I was in. When dealing with the DVLA you have to accept that they're completely and utterly impossible to reason with and are only capable of dealing with anything if it conforms with their (entirely arbitrary) procedures. Don't expect any sympathy from them - they'll essentially just repeat their procedure (i.e. that you have to pay the £25, no matter what you say) and tell you to go away. Even getting some sort of update on how long it would take to get my new V5C was completely beyond them.

[Kiki1]

As it is a new car, it would have to be registered at a valid address in order to have the first year of tax applied for. If the garage of the o/p isn''t playing ball then a quick word with a local solicitor and the mandatory crossing the palm with silver should give answers as to the paperwork detail sent off at the time of purchase.

[morts]

Thanks for the warning bunkmedal, I will make sure I apply for the V5C a few months before time of renewal. I know it is registered in my address as they did originally confirm by telephone.

 

Still no reply from the CE. According to their complaints procedure they are meant to confirm receipt of a complaint instantly and provide a formal reply within two weeks, now almost three weeks passed (since they signed via recorded delivery) and still no reply - have written chasing and will no doubt have to again!

[Blondmusic]

I bought a car in March 2013, previous owner insisted that she would send off the paperwork. I still hadnt received my Log Book by June 2013 so I applied for a new one by filling in a V62 which I then sent to the DVLA by first class post. I finally received my new log book yesterday and the DVLA never charged me a penny for it.