Forgot About Road Tax

dalianatkinson

Firstly, I've read through the other threads on this but they can't answer my questions.

I moved house and forgot to tell DVLA, thus I didn't receive anything reminding me to renew my road tax.

Realised today that it has been expired for 7 months!

My questions are:

1. Will there be a big pile of reminders/warnings/fines waiting for me at my old house?
2. How much will these amount to? I know the original fine for not renewing is £80 (does this go up?), and I know there is a fine for driving without (how much is this?)
3. Is there any risk I'll have some sort of CCJ against my name? It's been so long that I worry I may have been taken to court (without knowing) for not paying the fine.
4. Is there a chance someone could have seen my car out and about and reported it to the DVLA? If so would I know about it, or would they have sent me a letter to the old house?
5. Are there fines etc for failure to re-MOT as well?

I'm quite happy to pay up if it's just a question of paying the tax I should have paid plus a penalty.

However, I'm worried it could be a huge fine, and even worse some sort of criminal record.

Many thanks in advance.

hethmar

I should think there will be a fine of some sort to pay - have you looked on the DVLC website? Because even if you claimed the car had been off the road, you should have advised them of it.

Have a look at their website and then make a decision.

dalianatkinson

Thanks.

I've looked at their website but it mainly aims to scare (fair enough): talk of £1000 minimum fines etc.

In reality the normal person's (on here) experience seems to have been a lot less scary.

I'm concerned about the possibility of a CCJ or similar above anything else.

vaio

I think the starting point is £80 plus the outstanding duty but if/how that escalates if you don't respond I don't know.

I'd be tempted to ring them and ask

MOT is not a worry, just go and get it done

I didn't know that tax could involve CCJ but if it does and you have got one I'd guess you have goods grounds for getting it set aside as you weren't served with the papers

dalianatkinson

I will ring them and ask.

A bit concerned I'll have a CCJ by now as it's been so long. That could also mean a large fine.

How long would it normally take for someone to get a CCJ against another party? From application to judgment?

GentleGiant_2

Just make an anonymous call asking a 'hypothetical' question.

dalianatkinson

Don't see how that helps. I don't want to bury my head in the sand. It's the CCJ I'm worried about and that'll be on my record even if I ignore the situation.

flutterbyuk25

OP - I'm ex DVLA and used to deal with this but I left over a year ago so things may have changed.

The standard fine used to be £80 plus 2 months arrears of road tax. A letter would have gone out 2 months after the expiry date, then a follow up letter 6weeks later. Unpaid fines over approx 4months old used to be passed to debt collectors, who would try to track you down to get payment.

I never dealt with courts or CCJ's so can't really tell you about those.

What you need to do is tax car ASAP. Fill out change of address on logbook Section 6 and sign Section 8. Take to Post Office with insurance and MOT and tax from this month (April), it cannot be backdated. Post Office should send the logbook off for change of address.

Then ring DVLA for advice. They cannot really answer hypothetical questions as each case is different. They will ask for the registration mark and your details. You wil lthen either be transferred to penalty dept or given direct tel no to ring. All penalty dept can do is take payment. No appeals can be made via telephone. Once payment is taken the case is closed and you should here no more (- unless courts/CCJ involved - and then I'm not sure what happens)

HTH

x

dalianatkinson

flutterbyuk25 wrote: »

OP - I'm ex DVLA and used to deal with this but I left over a year ago so things may have changed.

The standard fine used to be £80 plus 2 months arrears of road tax. A letter would have gone out 2 months after the expiry date, then a follow up letter 6weeks later. Unpaid fines over approx 4months old used to be passed to debt collectors, who would try to track you down to get payment.

I never dealt with courts or CCJ's so can't really tell you about those.

What you need to do is tax car ASAP. Fill out change of address on logbook Section 6 and sign Section 8. Take to Post Office with insurance and MOT and tax from this month (April), it cannot be backdated. Post Office should send the logbook off for change of address.

Then ring DVLA for advice. They cannot really answer hypothetical questions as each case is different. They will ask for the registration mark and your details. You wil lthen either be transferred to penalty dept or given direct tel no to ring. All penalty dept can do is take payment. No appeals can be made via telephone. Once payment is taken the case is closed and you should here no more (- unless courts/CCJ involved - and then I'm not sure what happens)

HTH

x

Thanks for this. Hopefully I can sort something out.

Do you think I should get a new tax disc before ringing the DVLA then. (I'm not driving the car at the moment).

Do you know if courts/CCJ are ever involved?

I don't have any insurance either. As I don't plan on driving it. Insurance ran out last month.

Thanks.

dizzyblonde82

dalianatkinson wrote: »

Thanks for this. Hopefully I can sort something out.

Do you think I should get a new tax disc before ringing the DVLA then. (I'm not driving the car at the moment).

Do you know if courts/CCJ are ever involved?

I don't have any insurance either. As I don't plan on driving it. Insurance ran out last month.

Thanks.

If you have no insurance or valid MOT for the car you will be unable to get a new tax disc, plus you would either need the reference number to apply online or the paper form which is issued by the DVLA.

I would ring the DVLA and explain your circumstances and declare the car SORN if you are not using it.

dalianatkinson

Hopeful bump.

Is it true you can't tax it without insurance?