Morning All,

My car tax runs out today and I’ve just gone to renew it to discover that I dont have the letter with the refernece number on it.

I’m at work until late tonight and only have a tablet at home so may not be able to use the DVLA website. I can get to the post office in the morning but my tax would have expired, is there a grace period after the expiration date or am I screwed?

There isn’t a grace period but in the past they haven’t always chased people down the day it expires so long as you do it quickly after that.

You should be able to use the website on a tablet though. I’m pretty sure I have (android)

There isn’t a grace period

Yes there is, it’s 14 days.

Oh… I was always told not (by the post office IIRC). LIARS!

If you can get back to a Post Office today and have access to a variety of pieces of information about your car you can get a tax disc using a form that’s specifically for when you can’t find your V5 or renewal notice. Sadly I can’t remember what code it has off the top of my head but there is such a thing.

If you have your V5 to hand you can use that to renew your tax, you don’t need the reference from the reminder.

I don’t know how much slack the DVLA will cut you if you don’t renew it in time. Last December I failed to renew mine in time but it quickly became apparent that the DVLA had messed up the processing needed when it lost its previous owner’s custom plate so their systems were probably not actually aware that it was untaxed until I started asking them why I couldn’t tax it…

Ah, wait.

The grace period is for displaying, not purchasing.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/179258/ved_administration.pdf.pdf

A person is not guilty of an offence under subsection (1) or (1A) of
section 33 by using or keeping a vehicle on a public road during any of
the following periods.
…
Renewal of licence etc.
The period of 14 days following the time when a licence or nil licence
for or in respect of the vehicle, or a relevant declaration applying to the
vehicle, ceases to be in force, but only if an application for a licence or
nil licence for or in respect of the vehicle to run from that time has been
received before that time.

(Emphasis mine for clarity)

I’d read conflicting reports about a 12 day period since 2012 (?) so fingers crossed thats the case. I can’t find anything on the DVLA site about it, my tab gets a bit twitchy at times so hopefully will be ok.

I’ve renewed mine on a phone previously so I can’t imagine using a tablet will cause any problems

Also did it after midnight so it technically expired because I had to wait up to get paid and that didn’t cause any problem

Don’t forget the rules on car tax change tomorrow. No paper tax disc required from 1st Oct but traffic police and ANPR cameras will know if you’re not taxed… you take the risk …

@stayhigh – there are two ways to renew although perhaps plan B needs you registration document.

TBH I think you are ok for one day. The tax will be back dated to oct 1 anyway and from now n there is no paper disc to display it’s all electronic. From memory the DVLA website works from an iPad so tablet should be fine.

I remember in the old days we used to stick a note in the window which said “tax applied for”, you could win an extra month or two 😉

I’ve regularly forgotten to renew the tax in time and as long as it’s done within a week or so, I’ve not had any penalties.

I’ve renewed my Tax online using the tablet before.

Plus my missus just did her’s online and was told she’d not be getting sent a disc anymore, they’ve bough in the discless VED as promised, I told her to print the receipt/confirmation and keep it in the glove box just to be on the safe side, should the rozzer’s challenge her over it…

So renew it online tonight OP and you should be covered straight away…

No reason why you can’t use the dvla website on a tablet, I have and it works fine.

Not sure if its still the case but it isn’t a police matter if you aren’t taxed. I think its an hmrc matter as I was pulled a few years back and as long as I taxed it from the beginning of the month (from when it expired) there was no problem.This may have changed in ten years since I suppose

Thry need to sort their whole system out tbh.
Was refused tax recently both online AND in the PO as the “system” said there was no MOT.
This was despite me having said MOT certificate in my hand. They have it set up so that if there is less than a month left it WILL NOT allow tax to be issued.
So I ended up with a vehicle SORN’d and out of MOT because I wasn’t able to book it in to take it for a new MOT. Add to that by the time I was it was then the middle of the month so I would’ve lost several weeks of tax.
The system is bent on purpose – its designed to make money – nothing more….

I’ve renewed tax nearly 2 weeks overdue without a problem.

Online not at a PO.

I’ve tried to grt it done online but their system is down for “essential maintenance” ffs. Post office desperation for me tomorrow it is then.

Website and poneline not working. If it can’t be done electronically how will the post office do it?

When does the monthly by dd option come in? I’ve got a month left on mine, would like to avoid shelling out a lump sum if I can.

 its designed to make money – nothing more….

Well duh

Just to be clear then. The DVLA have never, as far as I am aware, chased people who haven’t paid their VED. It’s the police who do that and they’ve been doing it with cameras for a long time. You may get away with not paying for a week or a couple of weeks but sooner or later one of their cameras will see you and that’s when it all goes down.

The DVLA have never, as far as I am aware, chased people who haven’t paid their VED

i had no tax and got caught by a VOSA unit setup near the local supermarket, its there maybe once a quarter

That’s interesting, I’ve only ever seen police ones. Did they have police with them?

The DVLA have never, as far as I am aware, chased people who haven’t paid their VED.

Grace period used to apply if you had paid in time but not received your disc in time. It wasn’t extra time to pay. My understanding is that it is now irrelevant with the demise of the paper tax disc.

DVLA do chase people – well they certainly did. I used to see them around Nottingham early doors clamping cars with no tax.

OP – I don’t imagine you will have a problem being one day late to be honest. Most cops I know applied there own grace period which was far more generous than the DVLA’s one.

Yeah great, have you got any pictures of real ones?

It is my understanding the “average speed cameras” check tax and insurance too.

Website was hosed last night. They must have rebooted the server this morning because I have just managed to renew.

One of my brother’s wasn’t using his car over summer so let that run out of tax whilst it was sat on his drive, with the intention of just taxing it before he started using it again (only a month or so later, maybe not even that long). He received a letter from DVLA stating that he either pays the tax but it is backdated to start from the day it should have been renewed or pays a fine for failing to SORN it.

have you got any pictures of real ones?

Well if you think it’s fake then presumably there aren’t any real ones. Although I have in the past seen the DVLA enforcement vehicles out and about, and I have seen vehicles which have been wheel clamped by the DVLA.

Here’s the back of the fake vehicle :

The wheelclamping of untaxed or improperly taxed vehicles is operated by Vinci Park Services UK Limited in partnership with the DVLA. In addition, a number of local authorities and police forces, including all London boroughs, operate wheelclamping schemes using powers devolved to them by DVLA.

http://www.warwickshire.police.uk/view_ask_the_police_faq?questionnumber=Q1000463&SearchableText=council%20tax

I’ve just gone to renew it to discover that I dont have the letter with the refernece number on it

I’m fairly sure that the reference number is also on your V5 doc too, and is the same number each and every time you renew..

I’ve see a few cars with clamps on and a big sticker on the window with ‘UNTAXED VEHICLE’ in big red letters on it.

In fact I was working next door to a compound the other week and that had several such cars in it, I guess the owners did nothing after being clamped and the were taken away?

theotherjonv – Member
When does the monthly by dd option come in? I’ve got a month left on mine, would like to avoid shelling out a lump sum if I can.

November apparently, so you should be okay, I wasn’t as both cars needed doing this month 😥

Good photoshopping jota180 🙂

What??

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/car-tax-evaders-face-getting-120831

It was just a joke…

(A picture of a DVLA van was posted earlier and questions raised as to its authenticity).

well you learn something new every day. That van is appalling as well as being, obviously incorrect.

I have said reminder notice in front of me now, and it says at one point (paraphrased):

“If you can’t tax on time, by law you will not be committing an offence as long as you tax the vehicle within 14 days of the date your tax runs out. However, you must keep the vehicle off the road during this time.” (My emphasis.)

All pretty academic though, as the road tax website is currently down.

There is a new number plate recognition camera been put up this summer on the main road near to us. On enquiring I was told they have been put up all over the country to catch the untaxed car owners once the tax disc has been done away with.

All pretty academic though, as the road tax website is currently down.

Yup, DVLA website has crashed as it’s overwhelmed by applications 6000 a minute I read. All the other gov websites are bust as well, I cannot do a change of address for my driving licence this morning either.