Strange Car tax issue

Jonah01

Hi,

I'm confused. I am terrible at keeping track of mot, services and car tax. Today i asked my other half to check her tax disc to see how long it had. She rang me and said it expired 30/12/07.

I don't remember receiving a reminder (i know this is know excuse for not renewing it).

I had thought maybe it didn't arrive in the post.

This is the strange bit. We have not received a fine for this and when i do a vehicle enquiry at www.vehiclelicence.gov.uk it tells me the car is taxed until october this year. A 6 month or 12 month disc would not give me this date.

I found the reminder for the year before and it says it runs until the end of dec 07 just like the tax disc says.

What should we do? Own up or just apply for a duplicate tax disc at £7.

I have check my accounts and the last time i paid to the dvla was dec 06.

It does seem like the dvla have mucked up.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

Conor_3

It'd be worth a punt to see what happens.

Keith

You should pay the tax you owe, the DVLA will go back and check the last disc issued and realise a mistake was made and then make your vehicle unlicensed.

As you then would have made an application for a duplicate tax disc, there may be a fraud case against you, however unlikely that may be.

I know they check there records because I had a vehicle removed which was taxed which their PCs said was untaxed, so they pulled the paper record to check, with so few motorists requesting tax discs I'd guess they do the same.

Perhaps it's time to buy a calendar or diary to keep track of the important dates during the year, that way you can try and find better deals on insurance and perhaps get your MOT 4 weeks in advance

Jonah01

Thanks for the replies.

One question. If i am honest and upfront about the confusion are they still going to try and fine me for not having tax for the past 3 months?

I believe this to be an honest mistake on my part and also theirs. As i am still not 100% sure if i did renew it or not??

They may not see it this way though.

Shall i just ring them and see what they say. I suppose i could start it with "I have a friend......" :-)

Thanks

oldagetraveller

If there's valid MOT and insurance for the vehicle I'd just go ahead and buy a new tax disc and say nowt. You'll lose a few days (from 1st April).
They could realise there is a gap and fine you for not declaring a SORN, they surely can't prove that the car has been in use for three or more months untaxed.

ChasingButterflies

A similar thing happened to my FIL - bought a car from a dealership and when the 6months tax expired did not get a notice to renew prior to this. He also didn't get any "fines" in the post prior to getting in touch with them. I can't remember how many months off the top of my head it had lapsed for.

However he had it taxed when he realised, paid the fine when it arrived and moved on. Although he didn't receive a reminder - I think it is probably DVLA's view that it is up to the owner of the car to ensure their car is taxed...

And as an aside - he wasn't actually using the car then due to health issues.

Jonah01

I think i might just tax it tomorrow.

Surely though doing a vehicle check on their website is the same as ringing them and asking is my car taxed or has it expired. The answer according to their systems is the car is taxed. This is what they would probably tell me if i called them.

.

windswept

I know (to my cost) that you don't think of checking your tax disc, you just expect a reminder.
I have just had a fine of £60, but it could have been a LOT worse - I bought a car last September from a garage, supposedly with 8 months tax left on it.
On Friday, my daughter was pulled over and informed that the car had no Tax, she pointed to the disc and he inspected it, only to find that it was for the wrong car! It was for a very slightly different reg number and if she hadn't been pulled over, we would have taxed the car this month and never been any the wiser. The tax for our car had run out the week after we bought it!
If the DVLA couldn't even tell me that my car needed taxing when I registered it in my name in December after not receiveing a log book for it, I wouldn't worry about it, just tax it now at the post office.

wazza

Could be you might have renewed the tax disc, misplaced it and forgotten about it.

Jonah01

thanks. I don't think i have renewed it. Also it runs out in sept according to their website. this means we would have renewed it before the existing tax expired. Is that possible?

Will i be able to renew it if there systems say its already taxed?

I suppose if they don't let me then problem solved.

flutterbyuk25

The vehicle enquiry service could be showing a SORN rather than a tax disc (maybe done in error by previous owner?), it does not distinguish between the two when you check.

Ring DVLA to check, they can't just issue you a fine if you ring. Fines are computer generated and no-one has power to issue/prevent issue of one. You will then be advised on the best way to proceed with re-taxing and paying what you owe.

You say that you don't think you received a reminder (which DVLA have no obligation to send you) so it could be that a fine has been issued and you have just not reeived it through the post. If that is the case and you rung DVLA now, they can tell you how to pay but if you leave it then the fine could increase, or be passed to Courts/Debt Collectors, Not trying to scare you, just saying it's best to sort it out asap as it's cheaper in long run for you and less hassle!

You can renew it straight away at Post Office (quickest way) with V5C, insurance and MOT. It may flag up an overlap in licence but PO can override that no problems.

Vehicle should be kept off road until you are displaying valid tax disc.

HTH,

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