Car tax disc to be axed after 93 years

Tilt

AdrianC wrote: »

It changed a few months back.

Go into a PO to buy a tax disc, and you're no longer asked for an insurance certificate. They don't check it online, either. The logic goes that, since it's an automatic offence to have a car taxed but not insured, they'll sell you a disc, but then send you a fine for doing so.

And, of course, we all know that nobody ever commits any motoring offence, and that every car has a registered keeper who's traceable at all times, don't we?

Confirms my theory then. Ridiculous (and dangerous) move. It will simply encourage more drivers to flout the law by not paying the road fund duty AND insurance in my opinion. The tax disc has always been the only visible indication to the legality of a vehicle being on the road and now they are doing away with it.

Stupid idea. :mad:

sinbad182

In this day and age there is no reason to be issuing paper tax discs.

Law enforcement officials can tell who has tax and who doesn't, and as AdrianC points out, a tax disc is no indication of insurance status.

Tilt

sinbad182 wrote: »

In this day and age there is no reason to be issuing paper tax discs.

Law enforcement officials can tell who has tax and who doesn't, and as AdrianC points out, a tax disc is no indication of insurance status.

Well I disagree. The likelihood of an untaxed car being observed by "Law enforcement officials" as you put it, is in reality going to be a rare occurrence. I can drive for days without seeing a police car. BUT when I park up in a high street, I am more likely going to be observed by a bobby on the beat or a CEO. Without a tax disc an un-taxed car will be un-noticeable. Also, the lack of insurance checking during the tax dis application process astounds me quite frankly. As AdrianC also points out, it seems that the government seems to be confident that "nobody ever commits any motoring offence, and that every car has a registered keeper who's traceable at all times" thus they are trusting the motorist to pay his road tax and insurance as opposed to having realistic methods of deterrent in place to make sure that they indeed do so.

This new system will more likely encourage more uninsured and untaxed cars to be driven on the road in my opinion.

I've said all I am going to say on the matter.

londonTiger

expect the charges to spike as soon as it goes paperless.

AdrianC

Tilt wrote: »

Confirms my theory then. Ridiculous (and dangerous) move. It will simply encourage more drivers to flout the law by not paying the road fund duty AND insurance in my opinion.

Umm, no. Because if the registered keeper omits either or both, they now automatically get prosecuted - without the car even needing to be seen on the road. The only ways out are to declare the car SORN (which will ping it straight up on any ANPR, now on virtually every police car) or to have it keeper-less. Again, instant ping.

The tax disc has always been the only visible indication to the legality of a vehicle being on the road

The only value, since everything went computerised, has been to give neighbourhood busy-bodies some justification for their sad self-righteousness. Honestly, I think civilisation will survive.

As AdrianC also points out, it seems that the government seems to be confident that "nobody ever commits any motoring offence, and that every car has a registered keeper who's traceable at all times"

Umm, not quite. Having a valid tax disc has always given a false sense of security. All it's ever proven is that somebody, not necessarily anybody that's had anything to do with the car for eleven months or so, once had insurance (maybe long since cancelled or expired, maybe relating to somebody else entirely) and MOT (maybe long since failed badly). Maybe the tax disc was cashed in months ago, too - "It was lost"... But - oh, look - there's a little round easily forged piece of paper in the windscreen, so it MUST be legit.

Tax and insurance are actively prosecuted now. MOT perhaps should be, in a similar way. The primary record for tax and MOT is the computer record, not the piece of paper. If the car was keeperless, it's always been impossible to prosecute, short of making the carrying of ID and levying of on-the-spot fines possible. Get a ticket, sure. Then ignore it, and watch it wither away in the dark. You give that little round piece of paper FAR too much credit.

~Chameleon~

AdrianC wrote: »

It changed a few months back.

Go into a PO to buy a tax disc, and you're no longer asked for an insurance certificate. They don't check it online, either. The logic goes that, since it's an automatic offence to have a car taxed but not insured, they'll sell you a disc, but then send you a fine for doing so.

It is checked against the MID. If you're not insured you can't buy a tax disc.

AdrianC

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

It is checked against the MID. If you're not insured you can't buy a tax disc.

Not over the counter, and not since the last couple of months, it isn't.

~Chameleon~

AdrianC wrote: »

Not over the counter, and not since the last couple of months, it isn't.

They scan the barcode on the tax reminder which wouldn't have been issued if the car wasn't insured otherwise it would have been SORN instead.

And it's not just police cars people need to be wary of as there are thousands of fixed ANPR cameras all around the country. You wouldn't get very far before being picked up on one and you wouldn't know a thing about it until a summons or fine landed on your doormat.

AdrianC

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

They scan the barcode on the tax reminder which wouldn't have been issued if the car wasn't insured otherwise it would have been SORN instead.

Nope, you can do it with a V5C or - if you don't have that - a V62 form plus £25 to apply for a new V5C. Oh, and reminders have been issued recently for uninsured vehicles, because they also acted as a SORN reminder until SORN went permanent in December.

And it's not just police cars people need to be wary of as there are thousands of fixed ANPR cameras all around the country. You wouldn't get very far before being picked up on one and you wouldn't know a thing about it until a summons or fine landed on your doormat.

Assuming the car's registered in your name/address. And there aren't that many. 18mo ago, I drove an untaxed car from the M25 to Herefordshire. The ANPR camera that wrote to me was on top of traffic lights on the A40 in Oxford. So nothing from suburban roads, M25, M40 or A40 in to Oxford. There may have been something after that, but I doubt it. Easy 'nuff to avoid. And, no, I didn't get actually fined - because I was returning from an MOT and it was taxed the following morning.

Norman_Castle

Go into a PO to buy a tax disc, and you're no longer asked for an insurance certificate. They don't check it online, either. The logic goes that, since it's an automatic offence to have a car taxed but not insured, they'll sell you a disc, but then send you a fine for doing so.

If there are no insurance checks, how would they know to fine someone for being uninsured?.