D.V.L.A. aaaaaagh

[brian]

Hi,I bought my car on the 24/3/10,sent away the V5 on the 25th,the Insurance was done and the mot was on the 31st,and I joined mmoc.I could not get the tax as the V5 was sent to swansea,top part of the form from me and the bottom part the seller,I rang swansea and ask how things were proceeding as I did not have a tax disc yet,they say that it may take up to SIX WEEKS,and I may not use my car,which is most inconvienant as I need to get a new hood and a servo fitted,they are just not interested.I have e-mailed them several times and but all I get back is standard notes copied from there forms,and now they say they have not recieved my docs,and they want me to pay £25 for a form V5c ( mine was a V5 ),the story continues,cheers, Brian

[neilchadburn]

Yep, me also, I phoned today after being told to send everything to the Welsh Emporium of Stupidity and now they tell me that they can't find anything, and not to telephone before Monday when they think it might show on the system as having been sent to Exeter!!!

They really are hopeless, if you have an MO, driving licence, a V5 (or copy of one that you sent them) and insurance ( you can check your car is on the insurance database by logging onto www.askmid.co.uk ) then the only offence you commit is one of failing to display a tax disc.
An old fashioned notice in the car window with "historic vehicle tax disc applied for, tax exempt" seems to suffice, if everything is in place I really can't see that it would yield a successful prosecution in the magistrates court.
Good luck, hope they get their act together.

[aupickup]

they can in theory prosecute for not displaying a valid tax disc

[Dean]

I had the same problem. I sent off the old type V5 with my new details and so did the seller (my parents) after I took ownership recently. I heard nothing for weeks, so rang DVLA who said they had not received either slip from seller or myself. I said they did as the seller (my parents) shown me the acknowledgment letter from DVLA! They then told me to fill out a form to get a new V5c and send a cheque for payment.... well I filled in the form and sent with it a letter telling them them why I'm not paying with a copy of the letter of acknowledgment they sent to my parents.

Two weeks later I had a new V5c through the post free of charge.

[bmcecosse]

Well done mate! You 'beat' the system!! Whatever you do - don't tell them about an engine change UNLESS you have a nice new tax disc on the car. Then you will have a full year to sort out the resulting tangle.........

[timmo]

Well done mate! You 'beat' the system!! Whatever you do - don't tell them about an engine change UNLESS you have a nice new tax disc on the car. Then you will have a full year to sort out the resulting tangle.........

I sent the Traveller V5 off last week to notify change of engine size Also, when i got the Traveller (year ago) i sorn'ed it online, but i hadn't had a reminder come. Cant sorn it without the reminder or a V5. Thought i'd have a look on the dvla website vehicle enquiry to see if the engine size had been changed yet and saw that the date of liability was 01/04/2009 so when i did the online sorn it didnt go through! So phoned them last night and told them, got to send them a form V890 and a covering letter now

[neilchadburn]

Good luck, I've spent the afternoon on the phone again to the asylum, they are absolutely useless, they've lost everything, I have to get a signed letter from the previous owner and send another detailed letter, only this time I managed to get them to accept it as a fax, and I have been promised that when they receive the fax tomorrow, they will at least change the ownership details to me.
Then we start all over again to try and get the historic tax disc.....oh me..oh my...

[marcusthemoose]

i also dislike the DVLA. they appear to have no common sense! the v5 was sent off when i bought my car, then a fortnight later i get my neighbour knock on my door asking if this letter is for me. my new v5. turns out they had misread 20 for 30.
so i go up the post office ( mine has avoided the closures) get it changed and they put it in the post for me- i watch them do it. i also get a sorn form, which i fill out and put in the post the next day. v5 comes back two weeks later changed !!horay!!
then next get a letter- "we have received your sorn application blah blah blah. we notice the address on the application does not correspond with that on the v5 blah blah blah. we enclose form 123xyz for you to reapply for your v5. WHAT? they think because the address is different that i have no v5. they can't work out they have got it wrong- my licence, application and new v5 are all the same address, doesn't take much working out does it. however as they have sent it to my address i presume they understand. NO. last week i get a letter from my neighbour at 30. my sorn notice. what the hell is wrong with them. i have now sent them a a semi- irritated letter telling them to change their records- time will tell if they do

rant over

[Matt]

I bought my transit... (was a van modified to a minibus) and sent of the V5 with a change of seating and body style and it took over 8 months for me to get the V5c

[Fingolfin]

Wow...and I thought the Missouri Department of Motor Vehicles was sheer bureaucratic insanity...

Is it telling that the DMV is a sub-agency of the Department of Revenue?

[neilchadburn]

V5 finally arrived today............still awaiting the tax disc!

[ASL642]

Shame you've decided to sell

[rayofleamington]

If the car is on a V5 - not a V5c, then Make sure to take a copy before it is posted, and it needs to be sent recorded.
The V5 has (in many ways) stopped being a valid document, which is probably why they are having trouble to process it.

I was fortunate to find ways to update all my valid V5's to V5C as I needed to change address at the same time. If the car was not taxed "during the change-over period" and has not been sold/new address etc.. since then, it'll still be on a V5 and you can no longer expect to update the details without getting hassle. Sad but true.

[brian]

Hi, Had the reg docs back from swansea,could not tax as I was told to send all my details ,ie, mot ,Insurance,reg docs,to my local office which is Truro,they were quick and have sent the tax exempt disc back,and now my reg docs have gone back to Swansea to update them to a Historic vehicle,why they could not do this the first time I do not know,cheers,Brian[frame][/frame]

[ASL642]

'cos it's a Government Department and they can only "process" one instruction at a time!

[MarkyB]

Weren't they privatised some time ago?

[ASL642]

May have been, but it's still got the same staff, and they still seem to work in the same way as before - if not slower.....

[Dean]

May have been, but it's still got the same staff, and they still seem to work in the same way as before - if not slower.....

I guess there is now less of them so they have to work hard too.

[neilchadburn]

Typical, I knew it would happen, Mo went today, and I picked up Wilson, and when I got back, yep you've guessed it historic tax disc for Mo was on the doormat.

There is one useful snippet I can give anyone in this situation with DVLA, I managed to get a direct dial telephone number for Michelle Davis at DVLA who seems to be the only person willing to sort these problems out 01792 766639, and the complaints manager is Maggie Gethin and her fax number is 01792 766416, hope this helps with any frustrated Moggy owners.

[brian]

Hi everyone,just to let you know,my saga with the dvla has come to an end,my car is now tax exempt and I have the disc,and the car is registered in my name and I can now officially drive it,all legal and above board,ye ha !cheers,Brian