Vehicle tax issue

skj82

Hello all.

I received a letter this morning from a debt collection agency acting on behalf of the dvla. I initially thought this must be a scam so contacted the dvla who confirmed the letter was genuine.

Basically, I moved house last year but forgot to send off my v5 document updating my vehicles registered address. I did get the address changed on my license and the vehicle is registered to me so the dvla will have had my new address.

So this year my car tax expired and the reminder must have gone to my previous address where the new occupants have failed to forward it on. Without any reminder I forgot to renew my tax which I accept was my error.

Any way, I have now been told I have a bill of almost £600. This is for...

Tax for the next year £240, which I have no issue with.
A fine of £80 for failing to renew the tax plus a further £74 in arrears payments.
A fine of £150 for driving the vehicle untaxed.

Do all these charges seem correct?

The dvla are charging me a monthly fee for arrears despite clearly having my address as I changed it on my license. They have made no effort to contact me until today after charges have been built up.

It seems like I am being charged multiple times for the same offence.

In people's experience is it worth me challenging any of these charges?

Thanks

Skj82

wgl2014

The address on your licence has nothing to do with where your car is registered.

If this has been to court but this is the first you have heard of it you can do a statutory declaration if you want to argue your case, bear in mind that nothing you have said sounds like a defence.

If what you have received is just from DVLA and it hasn't gone to court you can argue the toss with the magistrates but again if you're going to consider this you need a defence.

Aylesbury_Duck

skj82 wrote: »

Hello all.

I received a letter this morning from a debt collection agency acting on behalf of the dvla. I initially thought this must be a scam so contacted the dvla who confirmed the letter was genuine.

Basically, I moved house last year but forgot to send off my v5 document updating my vehicles registered address. I did get the address changed on my license and the vehicle is registered to me so the dvla will have had my new address.

So this year my car tax expired and the reminder must have gone to my previous address where the new occupants have failed to forward it on. Without any reminder I forgot to renew my tax which I accept was my error.

Any way, I have now been told I have a bill of almost £600. This is for...

Tax for the next year £240, which I have no issue with.
A fine of £80 for failing to renew the tax plus a further £74 in arrears payments.
A fine of £150 for driving the vehicle untaxed.

Do all these charges seem correct?

The dvla are charging me a monthly fee for arrears despite clearly having my address as I changed it on my license. They have made no effort to contact me until today after charges have been built up.

It seems like I am being charged multiple times for the same offence.

In people's experience is it worth me challenging any of these charges?

Thanks

Skj82

I don't think it's worth you challenging any of them. They seem reasonable and it's a fair cop. The address on your licence doesn't mean anything. You could own a car and have it registered at an address different to that where you live.

forgotmyname

I know several people that have a licence but no car. Do you expect the DVLA to try and match a car to them?

What about people with the same name? As with many my age my name is the same as my fathers, only difference is my middle name but i dont use those.

Nodding_Donkey

Don't forget the fine for not changing the V5 address as well. That could be winging it's way towards you as we speak OP.

I pay nearly £1200 a year in road tax. It really grips my !!!! when people come on here whining because they have been caught avoiding it.

Geoff1963

DVLA will probably say the reminder is a courtesy ; so they wouldn't be liable even if it was lost in the post / never sent.

Johno100

Nodding_Donkey wrote: »

Don't forget the fine for not changing the V5 address as well. That could be winging it's way towards you as we speak OP.

And it could have been even more expensive for the OP if they'd found his/her untaxed vehicle and they'd clamped and towed it.

Shoshannah

Nodding_Donkey wrote: »

Don't forget the fine for not changing the V5 address as well. That could be winging it's way towards you as we speak OP.

I pay nearly £1200 a year in road tax. It really grips my !!!! when people come on here whining because they have been caught avoiding it.

I didn't think the DVLA had any authority to spot-fine for failure to change address? My understanding is that they'd need to take you to the magistrates' court to follow through with that one.



OP - the charges that have been imposed are fair IMO. You have not been charged more than once for the same thing.

The £80 is the standard fine for failing to either renew or declare SORN on time. That gets issued automatically if you fail to do one or the other in time. The £150 is for driving the vehicle without tax - a completely separate offence. You must have pinged one of DVLA's ANPR cameras. If you hadn't used the vehicle in that time, I doubt you'd have had the £150 fine - but you still would have had the £80 one.

The £74 covers the tax you would have paid had you remembered to renew, and the £240 is the upcoming year's tax as you say - so that's all legit.

I did exactly the same thing you did. I updated my change of address on my licence and two of my cars, but for some reason missed the third car. It was due at the start of May, but without the reminder (and of course no tax disc any longer) I only remembered last week! I immediately taxed the car and sent back the V5C to change the address, and called DVLA to ask if I had to pay anything more.

I was expecting the £80 non-renewal fine, and was hoping I hadn't pinged a camera. They told me I had no fines, and I just had to pay £20 to cover May's tax. I honestly couldn't tell you why I didn't get the £80 fine as I was truly expecting it and it was a fair cop. Maybe I wasn't late enough to generate it?

As others have said, the address on your licence has no connection to the address on the car's V5C, and the DVLA reminders are just a courtesy as far as I'm aware so unfortunately I think you need to just grit your teeth and cough up.

At least it won't happen again now you've updated your address!