Car tax expired end of April and I just renewed it online tonight, a week late.
Do you think there’s likely to be any comeback from DVLA given that we’re now in the era of continuous insurance with no gaps allowed?
(I missed the reminder due to not having updated the address on my V5 when I moved last year… double Ooops!.. will send that off tomorrow)
I don’t know if it’s an issue legally. I’d suggest you set up a direct debit for your Road Tax which you can set up online then you don’t have to remember. I have one for the car and bike.
Nah. There’s no process for them chasing you up. You’re good.
The only thing affected - that I am aware of - relates to private number plates and even then it’s a bit iffy:
How to take off a number
You can take off a private number online or by post. It costs £80. If you don’t assign the number within 6 years, you can apply for a refund.
You can’t use the online service if the vehicle isn’t in your name, you have to apply by post.
If the vehicle isn’t taxed
You can take off the number as long as:
- its vehicle tax has run out within the last 12 months
- there’s no break between the date the tax runs out and when you registered your vehicle as off the road (SORN)
Generally they wait 15 days before sending out a notification/last chance letter and then as long as you either SORN or buy tax they sre happy as you pay from start of month anyway
Explain ?
They do chase
They will add it to a database of untaxed vehicles .
Untaxed/not sorn they begin by issuing a reminder letter .
If not sorned/taxed they can fine you .
Their vans with anpr cameras drive round looking for untaxed vehicles which they will clamp on the spot
.or they have roadside monitors that will pick up untaxed being used on public highways and you Will get a lovely letter .And then you will get charged back tax as well from its last expiry .
It’s now taxed. If he hasn’t been fined by now he’s good. The DVLA / DVSA processes are pretty terrible.
It shouldn’t be a problem they backdate it to the start of the month anyway
I’ve done it loads of times
To be clear I’m talking about their back office processes. I’ve had some involvement with them in a work capacity and it wasn’t something they used to do.
Have you updated your Driving Licence details?
Wont be a problem…I have done it before and I believe they would only take action if you didnt renew after weeks (month or so, and only if you got pulled over or picked up on a camera).
Yes, at least I remembered that! Probably because I do some driving work and need my licences updated for that. Thinking back, I never updated my V5 because I moved to Scotland for what I expected was to be for no more than a year and put Royal Mail re-direct on. The year has now passed, so the reminder will have gone to London.
Have you updated your Driving Licence details?
National Treasure
When I bought the tax yesterday it did say it would run from 1st May, so hopefully I’m within some unofficial ‘grace period’. Going by previous experiences with the DVLA and their multiple previous mess-ups, I reckon any ‘grace-period’ is more for their benefit to give them a few days before wrongly fining innocent motorists.
There is some merit on maxing out your redirects to two years. Shame the old ‘Tax in Post’ windscreen note doesn’t cut the mustard anymore.
Two years back I forgot to tax the car for TWO days and they fined me £80 through the post.
