Bought car with private plate - tax disc still shows old reg
Discussion
What's going on here then?
Bought a car a few months ago which carries a private registration. I've never really been a fan of private plates, but it's nothing particularly special just takes a bit of visible age off the car & it came with it anyway. The car was taxed and MOT'd when bought and neither are due to expire for a month or two yet.
The other week I received a letter from the DVLA stating that the car has been caught on camera driving untaxed (in a location that is very normal) and that we face an imminent fine. Initially I was staggered at the accusatory tone of the letter painting me as a deliberate lowlife criminal in the face of what is obviously a mistake on their database (I've had mistakes from them in the past). However when I went out to check the tax disc I noticed that the disc on the car displays a completely different registration to the plates on the car - which some research revealed was the original plate of the car. So, this disc was bought before the plate went on.
However what this means as far as I can determine is that my car, bearing the private plate, could be completely untaxed (and has been for some indeterminate length of time) while a car (if any?) bearing the original plate is, officially, taxed (though the disc resides in my car).
I'm not sure how the whole private plate/tax thing works, having never had one before. The issue is very poorly described on the Directgov site and could be interpreted many different ways as to what I need to do now. (Could be post office, could be DVLA office, could be just by post, may not even be necessary at all until next year's tax?!)
Where do I go from here? I don't want to be driving untaxed, nor do I want to pay for more tax than is necessary. I was under the impression you had to hand in the tax disc when you transferred the plate onto the car so they could issue a correct one, meaning you can't have the plate and the old disc at the same time - so how do I have both? Help!
Bought a car a few months ago which carries a private registration. I've never really been a fan of private plates, but it's nothing particularly special just takes a bit of visible age off the car & it came with it anyway. The car was taxed and MOT'd when bought and neither are due to expire for a month or two yet.
The other week I received a letter from the DVLA stating that the car has been caught on camera driving untaxed (in a location that is very normal) and that we face an imminent fine. Initially I was staggered at the accusatory tone of the letter painting me as a deliberate lowlife criminal in the face of what is obviously a mistake on their database (I've had mistakes from them in the past). However when I went out to check the tax disc I noticed that the disc on the car displays a completely different registration to the plates on the car - which some research revealed was the original plate of the car. So, this disc was bought before the plate went on.
However what this means as far as I can determine is that my car, bearing the private plate, could be completely untaxed (and has been for some indeterminate length of time) while a car (if any?) bearing the original plate is, officially, taxed (though the disc resides in my car).
I'm not sure how the whole private plate/tax thing works, having never had one before. The issue is very poorly described on the Directgov site and could be interpreted many different ways as to what I need to do now. (Could be post office, could be DVLA office, could be just by post, may not even be necessary at all until next year's tax?!)
Where do I go from here? I don't want to be driving untaxed, nor do I want to pay for more tax than is necessary. I was under the impression you had to hand in the tax disc when you transferred the plate onto the car so they could issue a correct one, meaning you can't have the plate and the old disc at the same time - so how do I have both? Help!
Are you SURE you bought the plate when you bought the car?
It is possible the driver transferred the number off, got the original number restored to the car and the tax disc in the window is the new replacement, but the plates weren't changed over.
In the circumstances I'd certainly contact the ticket office, explain the situation and ask what make and model is in their picture - it could be the seller with his private plate on his new car.
It is possible the driver transferred the number off, got the original number restored to the car and the tax disc in the window is the new replacement, but the plates weren't changed over.
In the circumstances I'd certainly contact the ticket office, explain the situation and ask what make and model is in their picture - it could be the seller with his private plate on his new car.
Fox- said:
My guess: Original disc should have been surrendered but was not. Previous owner then cashed in correct disc after selling the car, leaving you wiht an untaxed car which happened to have a tax disc in the window for a different, non existent reg, and was thus void.
It seems this is what happened. Thanks for the suggestions guys, some things I hadn't thought of in there. I ended up ringing the DVLA (haven't done so until now as I assumed they were only open working hours & I haven't had a chance). They were actually open and actually helpful, gasp!
The car has been untaxed for over six months, it seems as the poster above suggested the previous owner cashed in the new tax disc and left the old one in the window. The question is whether it was done by the dealer I bought the car from, or the person who sold it to him...
I'm to phone the Enforcement Team tomorrow who will [hopefully] waive the fine I face for having an untaxed vehicle for so bloody long considering the circumstances. If not, well, I'll be back in touch with the dealer.
Grrr.
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