Priceless... !!! - Thousands unable to re-new car tax, as new system stalls

[citizenB]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-29430979

 

 

 

Thousands of customers have been unable to renew their car tax online, after the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) website was swamped.

 

A new system comes into operation on Wednesday, after which it will no longer be necessary to display a paper tax disc in the windscreen.

 

But some motorists have spent up to 13 hours online, trying to get their car tax renewed.

 

The DVLA said the site had seen "an unprecedented volume of traffic".

 

[Bazooka Boo]

Does anything this government change ever go to plan....? Incompetent corrupt rotten to the core clowns.

[citizenB]

I cant believe they didn't realise that there would be a substantial increase in people applying online !! As you say, usual government incompetence.

[Conniff]

I think it goes to show how many are late renewing their license.

[letsgetitsorted]

surely the DVLA would have known by their own records how many people needed to renew their tax, with this they should have prepared better, unless of course they are looking to send out their penalty notices for not having tax

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-29430979

Well no tax disc on my car, and low and behold our local plastic plod has just knocked on the door

note book in hand "Where's ya tax disc?"

The PCSO is walking round the village now still looking at the " school run" cars.

 

 

The DVL says all agencies have been advised Ohhh Yes!

[citizenB]

Was your car on your own drive or the road, Brig ?

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Was your car on your own drive or the road, Brig ?

 

 

Rear drive outside garages facing the road!

Our neighbourhood police sgt. lives only few houses away and is a good friend he has just hit the roof apparently

all PCSO's have had "appropriate" training in the last couple of weeks.

Me thinks chaos is in the offing!

[citizenB]

Can they look at your tax disc if it isn't on a public highway ?

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Can they look at your tax disc if it isn't on a public highway ?

Yes, unfortunately.

 

 

Seen in a quiet Essex village at the weekend:

 

 

A small white van with a logo of " National Car Tax Enforcement Agency" crawling along the streets check cars via ANPR.

[Old Cogger]

pandemonium = no doubt - laughing stock if people but new it!

[Conniff]

surely the DVLA would have known by their own records how many people needed to renew their tax, with this they should have prepared better, unless of course they are looking to send out their penalty notices for not having tax

 

I don't think you can put any blame on the DVLA for this happening. Tax is not renewable on the 1st of the month as that will mean you are untaxed from midnight until the time you apply for the tax.

 

 

Tax runs continuously so that means it should be renewed at such a time as to be in force at midnight on the last day of the month preceding.

[Old Cogger]

use to allow 14 days for paperwork to be sorted by all and sundry, but greed stepped in! words of an officer few years ago who was involved

[kabukiman]

I don't think you can blame the DVLA, what's changed, you could renew your tax disc online as before. It's people perception "why do things now when you can do it in the last minute".

[hessey50]

I believe the 14 days was always an urban myth but that no action for not taxing was taken if the vehicle was taxed from first of month, the offence that has gone is the failure to dislay a valid tax disc which as an absolute offence if you had a dork you could be done for even if it had fallen off when parked, but only if you were on the highway as redefined by the section in the continuous insurance leglisation. The real con is that unless you sell or buy a car at the begining of the month the gov grabs the part portion whereas you used to be able to use tax to add value to the sale with the high value tax groups that is going to be a tidy sum. This may also account for the extra end of month rush.

[Tony P]

No urban myth.

Many years ago (certainly in the late 50s and 60s) a period of some days grace (7 or 14, I forget) was allowed during which one could use the vehicle on the road PROVIDED the duty was paid before the grace period expired.

 

I fully agree with your last two sentences.

[Conniff]

50s or 60s, Isn't that when a man walked in front with a red flag

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

No urban myth.

Many years ago (certainly in the late 50s and 60s) a period of some days grace (7 or 14, I forget) was allowed during which one could use the vehicle on the road PROVIDED the duty was paid before the grace period expired.

 

I fully agree with your last two sentences.

7 days and the licence dated from the 1st Day of the current month.

[Tony P]

7 days and the licence dated from the 1st Day of the current month.

Thanks.

 

And also conditional on the 7 days period of grace commencing on the expiry of a previous licence - i.e. no grace period if the vehicle had been unlicenced prior to the 1st of the current month.

[hessey50]

Thanks.

 

And also conditional on the 7 days period of grace commencing on the expiry of a previous licence - i.e. no grace period if the vehicle had been unlicenced prior to the 1st of the current month.

Sorry but spent many years with local Authority with devolved powers from DVLA and there never was a 14 day/7 day period in which you could drive your car after the disc had expired when sorn came in you could have 14 days to get the paperwork sorted eg go to tax find MOT expired you could tax car from 1st of month or Sorn it within the 14days but it had to be off road. Provided you taxed on line BEFORE the current tax expired , you had 5 days,then it changed to 14 to allow cheaper postage. There were a couple of times with strikes weather etc the limit was temp. extended. Now of course there is no tax disc but a car has to be taxed to be on the road and there is no grace period at all for that.

In practice DVLA would not authorise removal save for special issues unless it was more than 28 days out and we didnt issue the CLE26? a note put on car saying it was on highway untaxed before 14 days, this though was in the days before all the instant links and ANPR

[Tony P]

Sorry but spent many years with local Authority with devolved powers from DVLA and there never was a 14 day/7 day period in which you could drive your car after the disc had expired when sorn came in you could have 14 days to get the paperwork sorted eg go to tax find MOT expired you could tax car from 1st of month or Sorn it within the 14days but it had to be off road. Provided you taxed on line BEFORE the current tax expired , you had 5 days,then it changed to 14 to allow cheaper postage. There were a couple of times with strikes weather etc the limit was temp. extended. Now of course there is no tax disc but a car has to be taxed to be on the road and there is no grace period at all for that.

In practice DVLA would not authorise removal save for special issues unless it was more than 28 days out and we didnt issue the CLE26? a note put on car saying it was on highway untaxed before 14 days, this though was in the days before all the instant links and ANPR

 

If you read my posts you will see I was referring to the 1950s and 1960s. DVLA wasn't even a twinkle in anyone's eye in those halcyon days!

 

All Vehicle Registrations and Driving Licences administration were carried out by County Councils. When the functions were transferred to the newly formed DVLA in the early 1970s they commenced on a series of well publicised blunders, delays, data losses that they seem to happily continue to this day (eg. last week after 7 weeks waiting my Son's UK address received a response to my letter pointing out they failed to issue my "Tax Free for Visitors" vehicle with the correct "Export" Registration Document and now just included a load of forms for me to deal with. No apology - of course).

 

Your post seems of the DVLA mould - "you are always wrong, we are always right" and there was never a life before us.

 

There most certainly was life before DVLA and seemingly with fewer problems, but there was no -

- SORN. You just kept your vehicle car off the road when the tax expired.

- Continuous insurance. Ditto as above.

- "line" to go "on-line" to tax your car, you went to a Post Office or the CC or did it via mail.

- MOT. A simple, three point "10 year old test" (lights, steering and brakes working reasonably well) came into being in the early 60s.

- loss of drivers records. The County Councils kept all papers including ones Examination Pass Certificates. Drivers had to apply for a new licence page periodically that was pasted into their red Licence - thereby preserving a second official paper record of earlier entitlements should Council's records get 'mislaid'.

- V5. Each vehicle had a folding beige card log book in which new owners (yes, Owners!) put in their details and sent it to their County Council to update their records, the Log book endorsed and promptly returned to the owner.

 

We've come a long way since then under DVLA. Or have we?

 

Be assured as stated before, in those days a vehicle could continue to be used on the Public Highway for up to 7 days upon immediate expiry of Road Tax provided it was applied for by that 7th day. These conditions were printed on Renewal Forms or Instructions - possibly to even out the work flow. I remember them well - unlike DVLA.

 

[hessey50]

Remember both the old red licence think 2s6p for the licence fee I will have to dig it out, and the brown log book still got one for my old A30 that was knicked some 40 years ago dont remember anything in the 1920 Act but I agree with life before DVLA in 77 and i would certainly not imply they are always correct.

I have often had Kafkaesque conversations being told that the vehilcle i am standing by cannot exist as its been scrapped "so can it be removed?" "No it does not exist" "But I am looking at it and the details all match", I have had vrm queries tell me that the vehicle is a Morris Minor belonging to a scottish gentleman not the Ford Transit caught busily fly tipping in southern england.

I would no more send off my licence without making sure I had a copy, preferably signed by the head of legal services, than help someone get their money out of a Nigerian Bank by supplying my details and an up front fee.

The fun I have had over my tax exempt car Sorn, it had not been taxed before the inception date so was Sorn exempt as well, and demands for tax owed has kept me happily amused in my retirement

[Gick]

Tony P

Whilst much of what you say is correct, I must advise that it was not just County Councils who were the Licensing Authority, City and County Boroughs also issue Registrations. Hence, for example Northamptonshire had the letter combinations of RP; NV and BD, whilst Northampton issued NH and VV.

 

Also the grace period was 14 days.

 

I cannot speak for the 50's; however, for the 60's until SWANSEA , my reference is The Road Vehicle (Registration and Licensing) Regulations 1964 which provides:-

 

A person who keeps a mechanically propelled vehicle and desires to obtain a licence for it shall apply to (a) the council with which it is registered, or (b) where he has not previously obtained or had transferred to him a licence for the vehicle, to the council in whose area the vehicle will be kept or is at the time of application, or © where a licence has previously been issued, application for a renewal may be made to an authorised post office within the area of the council with which the vehicle is registered, provided the application is made within 14 days of the expiry of the last licence and the licence is for the same duration................etc

[hessey50]

Tony P

Whilst much of what you say is correct, I must advise that it was not just County Councils who were the Licensing Authority, City and County Boroughs also issue Registrations. Hence, for example Northamptonshire had the letter combinations of RP; NV and BD, whilst Northampton issued NH and VV.

 

Also the grace period was 14 days.

 

I cannot speak for the 50's; however, for the 60's until SWANSEA , my reference is The Road Vehicle (Registration and Licensing) Regulations 1964 which provides:-

 

A person who keeps a mechanically propelled vehicle and desires to obtain a licence for it shall apply to (a) the council with which it is registered, or (b) where he has not previously obtained or had transferred to him a licence for the vehicle, to the council in whose area the vehicle will be kept or is at the time of application, or © where a licence has previously been issued, application for a renewal may be made to an authorised post office within the area of the council with which the vehicle is registered, provided the application is made within 14 days of the expiry of the last licence and the licence is for the same duration................etc

 

Yes portsmouth had its own registration, dont quite follow the logic of the Act which seems to say you can unless there has been a change of keeper or keepers address you dont have to go to the council to get it taxed you can do at a post office within 14 days of the tax expiring but dont see anything about allowing the vehicle to used or kept on the highway (33c?) without diplaying a valid tax disc?

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Yes portsmouth had its own registration, dont quite follow the logic of the Act which seems to say you can unless there has been a change of keeper or keepers address you dont have to go to the council to get it taxed you can do at a post office within 14 days of the tax expiring but dont see anything about allowing the vehicle to used or kept on the highway (33c?) without diplaying a valid tax disc?

 

 

It was an implicit agreement rather than an explicit statement as a new driver in the early 60's buying a different car when the old one died it was always understood that there was a 14 day period of grace but the tax would be back dated to the start of the month.