'Fake' Tax Disc Renewal site - £40 fee. **REFUNDED bar £8**

[bewillded]

went onto the GOV.UK site to renew tax disc queried this when i was charged £165 and not £125, Was told by DVLA that i had used a tax disc renewal service that charges £40.00 for renewing tax disc.

Debit on bankstatement came up as taxdisc.direct.co.uk

Any one else had experience of this? Registered this with the DVLA as a complaint and also with citizens advice consumer line.

[Raykay]

You didn't use the 'taxdisc.direct.gov.uk' site, you used the 'taxdisc-direct.co.uk' site - hence the £40 fee.

[citizenkain]

that's how sneaky some of these sites are,you need eyes in the back of your head,theres a company doing the same kind of thing with passports and European health certs,charging folk money when they don't need to be paying it!

[Surfer01]

went onto the GOV.UK site to renew tax disc queried this when i was charged £165 and not £125, Was told by DVLA that i had used a tax disc renewal service that charges £40.00 for renewing tax disc.

Debit on bankstatement came up as taxdisc.direct.co.uk

Any one else had experience of this? Registered this with the DVLA as a complaint and also with citizens advice consumer line.

 

If you paid by card, try claiming the whole lot back as fraudulent activity.

[renegadeimp]

Strange. The site now seems to be closed.

[Raykay]

Strange. The site now seems to be closed.

 

 

Try taxdisc-direct.co.uk. Very similar to the DVLA one.

[renegadeimp]

Well.. Even though they are clearly trying to mislead people into thinking its a genuine site, they do clearly state ( although its in the small print), that they arent affiliated with DVLA)

[andymr]

I friend of mine used this site thinking it was the Gov site. But its a cloned site if you look up in top corner you will its says 'TaxDisc-Direct' bank refuses to give a refund.

She paid £111 for £71 tax-disc only to get a message telling her to go to the post office.

She has also had an email asking for her bank details so they refund her the money less £8 admin fee.

Don't fell able to tell to give them the bank details.

Anybody got any ideas?

[bewillded]

Hi Andy

 

We did just that having looked at the website we went down thr oute of asking for our £32.00 back leaving just an £8.00 admin fee payable and having given them the bank details and three chases later we did get our £32.00 recredited.

I think it is appaling that these types of site operate and that they give out the DVA telephone number for queries!

At least getting £32.00 back helps!

[andymr]

Thanks for info Bewillded

 

I'm just worried that they try [problem] some more money from the bank account.

I wonder if anybody else out there has managed to get most of their money back from these [problematic].

[f16]

Thanks for the "Heads up " on this.

I was just about to sort my car tax online for the first time.

Cheers

[Conniff]

This site is registered to:

 

 

Claire Hall

Unit 2

The Old Stables

West Tisted

Alresford

Hants

SO24 0HJ

 

 

Why not write direct and also report the site to advertising standards: http://www.asa.org.uk/Consumers/How-to-complain.aspx

 

 

 

It might also be a good idea to write or email HMRC https://online.hmrc.gov.uk/shortforms/form/TEH_IRF?dept-name=TEH&sub-dept-name=&location=39&origin=http://www.hmrc.gov.uk

as income is being received and may not be being declared.

 

The original 'taxdiscdirect' complained about, (that's without the hyphen) is registered to:

 

 

Belcanto Investment Group Limited

Dixcart House

Fort Charles

Charlestown

Nevis

012 345

Saint Kitts and Nevis

 

 

So out of reach of UK regulation.

Edited May 8, 2014 by Conniff

[sharkfin]

This has just happened to me tonight with taxdisconline.uk.com. Right after I had paid I realised something wasn't right, and phoned my bank to cancel the payment. They said they couldn't, and that the site was legit, as it does provide a service. I then went through the genuine DVLA site and paid them for the disc directly, and emailed the fake company asking to cancel the whole transaction and issue a refund immediately. I'm waiting to hear back at the moment.

 

Surely this can't be legit? The site looks identical to the real DVLA site apart from a teeny tiny little notice in the corner saying they're nothing to do with DVLA at all! Bloody mental, that's what it is...

[sharkfin]

This has just happened to me tonight with taxdisconline.uk.com. Right after I had paid I realised something wasn't right, and phoned my bank to cancel the payment. They said they couldn't, and that the site was legit, as it does provide a service. I then went through the genuine DVLA site and paid them for the disc directly, and emailed the fake company asking to cancel the whole transaction and issue a refund immediately. I'm waiting to hear back at the moment.

 

Surely this can't be legit? The site looks identical to the real DVLA site apart from a teeny tiny little notice in the corner saying they're nothing to do with DVLA at all! Bloody mental, that's what it is...

[silverfox1961]

If nobody has reported this to the ASA, I feel a complaint would be justified. I will be doing one.

 

The layout of the website is very similar to the .gov website and they use the same colour scheme.

 

While they do say they are not part of the 'system' this is very well hidden within a large block of text. This should be a paragraph of its own.

[sharkfin]

If nobody has reported this to the ASA, I feel a complaint would be justified. I will be doing one.

 

The layout of the website is very similar to the .gov website and they use the same colour scheme.

 

While they do say they are not part of the 'system' this is very well hidden within a large block of text. This should be a paragraph of its own.

 

I have already submitted an online complaint to the ASAP but I'm sure more than one wouldn't do any harm.

 

I received a reply to my request for the transaction to be cancelled, saying I would receive a full refund within 48 hours. Guess I'll just wait and see...

 

It may be legal but it's still a [problem] IMO...

[silverfox1961]

One complaint done. Please do the same. It is very easy

[Conniff]

Online companies set up to mimic Government websites continue to trick consumers into paying hefty fees for everything from renewing a passport or driving licence to filing a tax return.

This is despite promises from regulators, Government departments and leading internet search engines to crack down on these websites that charge fees of up to £1,000 for services that are often free on official Government websites.

The Advertising Standards Authority labels them ‘copycat’ sites. Hundreds of readers have contacted The Mail on Sunday in the past month to demand that such websites are shut down. This followed our report on websites that promise to process, for a substantial fee, your self-assessment tax return.

 

 

 

 

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-2533771/Copycat-websites-I-paid-49-extra-renew-daughters-passport.html

 

 

Get onto your MP, there is a full list with postal addresses and email addresses in my signature, click on the link.

[sharkfin]

Oops! Earlier message meant to read ' I already complained to the ASA...'

 

And why the asterisks? I was just calling it an Ess Cee Ae Emm...