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DVLA - charged twice for tax disc
taxiphil
Posts: 1,980 Forumite
This is a serious rant and a warning to all motorists...
At the end of December my partner decided to renew her car tax using the supposedly new "convenient" online system from the DVLA.
It all seemed to go smoothly and the tax disc arrived in the post within a couple of days, until my partner checked her online banking a few days later to find her debit card had been charged TWICE for the same tax disc.
That was on 1st January. It's now 24th January and despite 4 phone calls and 3 e-mails she's no nearer to getting her money back.
We've spent a total of 1 hour and 25 minutes on the phone to the DVLA's rip-off 0870 phone number only to be repeatedly fobbed off and told that their systems are down and someone will call back (they never do).
Our e-mail complaints have only been met with automated responses saying "we have received your complaint" etc.
It's impossible to get hold of an intelligent human being to actually resolve the problem.
What I find worrying is that their system is capable of double-charging, and they don't even notice it's happened. Don't they notice the discrepancy when they come to balance their books?
If a motorist makes an honest mistake like letting their car tax lapse for a few days, or forgetting to declare a SORN on time, the DVLA are the first to pounce on the motorist like a pack of wolves and issue a penalty. They don't accept excuses like "human error" when the tables are turned.
Yet they are entitled to make similar "mistakes" with absolute impunity, and not make any reasonable effort to remedy them. It's an absolute disgrace and a reflection of the complete lack of accountability in this government department.
At the end of December my partner decided to renew her car tax using the supposedly new "convenient" online system from the DVLA.
It all seemed to go smoothly and the tax disc arrived in the post within a couple of days, until my partner checked her online banking a few days later to find her debit card had been charged TWICE for the same tax disc.
That was on 1st January. It's now 24th January and despite 4 phone calls and 3 e-mails she's no nearer to getting her money back.
We've spent a total of 1 hour and 25 minutes on the phone to the DVLA's rip-off 0870 phone number only to be repeatedly fobbed off and told that their systems are down and someone will call back (they never do).
Our e-mail complaints have only been met with automated responses saying "we have received your complaint" etc.
It's impossible to get hold of an intelligent human being to actually resolve the problem.
What I find worrying is that their system is capable of double-charging, and they don't even notice it's happened. Don't they notice the discrepancy when they come to balance their books?
If a motorist makes an honest mistake like letting their car tax lapse for a few days, or forgetting to declare a SORN on time, the DVLA are the first to pounce on the motorist like a pack of wolves and issue a penalty. They don't accept excuses like "human error" when the tables are turned.
Yet they are entitled to make similar "mistakes" with absolute impunity, and not make any reasonable effort to remedy them. It's an absolute disgrace and a reflection of the complete lack of accountability in this government department.
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Comments
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Your partner is possibly complaining to the wrong people. She should go to the bank or building society that issued her with the debit card. She should tell them that she gave authorisation for the DVLA to take one lot of money and that the second amount was taken without authorisation. She should insist that the bank reverse the second debit.古池や蛙飛込む水の音0
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also write a letter to DVLA and send copy of your phone bill in order to try and obtain compensation.Baby Milk Action is a non-profit organisation which aims to save lives and to end the avoidable suffering caused by inappropriate infant feeding.0
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Good ideas there - thanks Alfie and Sara0
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It's impossible to get hold of an intelligent human being to actually resolve the problem.
If a motorist makes an honest mistake like letting their car tax lapse for a few days, or forgetting to declare a SORN on time, the DVLA are the first to pounce on the motorist like a pack of wolves and issue a penalty. They don't accept excuses like "human error" when the tables are turned.
Yet they are entitled to make similar "mistakes" with absolute impunity, and not make any reasonable effort to remedy them. It's an absolute disgrace and a reflection of the complete lack of accountability in this government department.
Agree... your comments are spot on. I've been stung by the SCORN scam.
Civil servants !!!... boy, if it wasn't for tax payers keeping these people in a job they would be unemployable......
Am just in the process of taking the DVLA to court. My 84 year old father wrote his car off on 25 September. Unroadworthy, has not been used on a road since. Just under a month after the accident he applied for a refund to be told they had paid it out to a third party.
When he asked 'Who To' they advised him he would need to send them £5.00
Have received part payment from the Scrap Merchant but am waiting to go to court for the rest...
My advice... don't waste your breath on these morons.... send a recorded letter giving them 14 days to refund the sum. If the money fails to materialise issue a summons in your local county court for £30.00
Good luck0 -
Hi there,
i have seen your posts about the dvla and car taxing systems. i too have had a massive blow with them, to cut a long story short i have £240 so far for a years tax on a fiat punto as they told me to buy it again and now wont refund me like they said they would as they have made an error and paid a third party!!
I may be gathering people that have had dvla car problems and taking it to watch dog or consumer rights, would u be willing to put your case with mine and others?
Regards
Emma
[EMAIL="0pinkerbell@gmail.com"]0pinkerbell@gmail.com[/EMAIL]0 -
how has this, gone from looking at my post above qould you say i should take it to court?It's impossible to get hold of an intelligent human being to actually resolve the problem.
If a motorist makes an honest mistake like letting their car tax lapse for a few days, or forgetting to declare a SORN on time, the DVLA are the first to pounce on the motorist like a pack of wolves and issue a penalty. They don't accept excuses like "human error" when the tables are turned.
Yet they are entitled to make similar "mistakes" with absolute impunity, and not make any reasonable effort to remedy them. It's an absolute disgrace and a reflection of the complete lack of accountability in this government department.
Agree... your comments are spot on. I've been stung by the SCORN scam.
Civil servants !!!... boy, if it wasn't for tax payers keeping these people in a job they would be unemployable......
Am just in the process of taking the DVLA to court. My 84 year old father wrote his car off on 25 September. Unroadworthy, has not been used on a road since. Just under a month after the accident he applied for a refund to be told they had paid it out to a third party.
When he asked 'Who To' they advised him he would need to send them £5.00
Have received part payment from the Scrap Merchant but am waiting to go to court for the rest...
My advice... don't waste your breath on these morons.... send a recorded letter giving them 14 days to refund the sum. If the money fails to materialise issue a summons in your local county court for £30.00
Good luck0 -
Ive used the online system for getting a tax disc and ive had no problems0
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0pinkerbell wrote: »how has this, gone from looking at my post above qould you say i should take it to court?
A letter to your MP outlying the facts might help..T
hat's what they are there for"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts."
Bertrand Russell. British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 - 1970)0 -
DampProof
I'm not sure whether your father has been done by DVLA or not. It sounds rather like he sold the car to a scrapyard, and the scrapyard surrendered the tax. That is completely normal practice and there's nothing wrong with DVLA paying out to the scrapyard in those circumstances.
If he foolishly sold the car for less than the tax value, that is his own fault and not DVLA's.
Please correct me if I have understood things wrongly - the timing of the various events isn't clear from your post. I'm also not sure why you say he's had a partial payment from the scrapyard.0 -
Damproof - if the car was written off by the insurance company, and they paid your father money under the insurance policy, the car's ownership (including the road tax disc) transfers to the insurance company. If they then sell the car to a scrap merchant, the ownership transfers to the scrap merchant."You were only supposed to blow the bl**dy doors off!!"0
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