My wife forgot to tax her car.....
Discussion
My wife just realised that she forgot to tax the car at the beginning of September...
She moved into my house last year, then we moved to a new house, in the process she forgot to update the registered keeper address to the new house. So that is why no reminder arrived. On top of this our daughter was born in August, she has been away (with baby) to visit her parents in france and has not used the car since before the baby was born (when it was taxed)...
In the meantime the tax expired at the end of August, so now she needs to
1 Update registered keepers address
2 Buy new tax (which can only start from the beginning of October)
Should She
1 - Apply for the tax online? When doing so it me informed that the offence still exists...
or
2 - Go to the post office and buy a new disc over the counter, then update the registered keepers address?
This is a genuine mistake but somehow I doubt that matters in the grand scheme of things..
What is the fine likely to be?
Any advice on the best way to proceed is appreciated...
She moved into my house last year, then we moved to a new house, in the process she forgot to update the registered keeper address to the new house. So that is why no reminder arrived. On top of this our daughter was born in August, she has been away (with baby) to visit her parents in france and has not used the car since before the baby was born (when it was taxed)...
In the meantime the tax expired at the end of August, so now she needs to
1 Update registered keepers address
2 Buy new tax (which can only start from the beginning of October)
Should She
1 - Apply for the tax online? When doing so it me informed that the offence still exists...
or
2 - Go to the post office and buy a new disc over the counter, then update the registered keepers address?
This is a genuine mistake but somehow I doubt that matters in the grand scheme of things..
What is the fine likely to be?
Any advice on the best way to proceed is appreciated...
Edited by jesusbuiltmycar on Wednesday 10th October 21:45
Hooli said:
i suspect you can only tax from the begining of this month & will have to pay the £80 penalty. its automatic fine now, so i bet no excuse can/will change it. bad luck.
What is the period of grace? I've known people to do it late, and heard nothing, unlike the 'DVLA supercomputer' ads.
Mattt said:
Hooli said:
i suspect you can only tax from the begining of this month & will have to pay the £80 penalty. its automatic fine now, so i bet no excuse can/will change it. bad luck.
What is the period of grace? I've known people to do it late, and heard nothing, unlike the 'DVLA supercomputer' ads.as others have said though, ring them. you cant loose anything after all.
Adam_BGT said:
re-register the car in your name at your new address. If you're lucky, you may manage to avoid paying back tax!
This is a decent plan B. Or 'sell' it to you so the whole computer set-up changes.This is a bit 'underclassy' though, and the 'additional owner' could depreciate the car more than 80 quid???
Only other option is to call/write and be 100% honest....you may get the first time offence let off. To be fair to the DVLA, this does happen quite a lot with minor discrepancies....but 7 weeks late might be a bit excessive.
You tend to find that if you are working and paying taxes, middle class if you like, you will be hounded to hell and back by the authorities and rarely shown compassion.
The abovementioned methods of the underclass, or being a member of the underclass, often guarantees free lunches and blind eyes.
Sad.
Yep, what he said. Just go in and try to buy the tax over the counter. Then independent of this ring up the dvla and say you want to change the details. If they say anything about the out of date tax then just play dumb and say you sent a sorn. Just be adamant that you did so and they can't very well prove you didn't. Chances are they'll be happy with this explanation and won't query it.
Honesty is usually the best policy, but not in this case. Honest mistakes are punished and scum get away with all sorts. So best to lie through your teeth and save yourself a few notes.
Honesty is usually the best policy, but not in this case. Honest mistakes are punished and scum get away with all sorts. So best to lie through your teeth and save yourself a few notes.
Unless I'm behind the times, by purchasing my Tax online for a while, can't you go to the post office and purchase the Tax for Sept 1st?
I'd bet if you can there's a backlog of naughties that the computer is chasing and in the event that you get a letter, send a photocopy of said disc - not avoiding the fine just paying what you should have to avoid the mistake.
Have I missed something and have things changed?
I'd bet if you can there's a backlog of naughties that the computer is chasing and in the event that you get a letter, send a photocopy of said disc - not avoiding the fine just paying what you should have to avoid the mistake.
Have I missed something and have things changed?
In theory you could do that but if it is picked up on then they can still fine the op because it was untaxed for a period. Why take the risk when its likely they will pursue as we aren't just talking a couple of weeks here.
If he feels bad about doing them out of 6 weeks (?) worth of road tax etc, then just donate that amount to charity or summat.
If he feels bad about doing them out of 6 weeks (?) worth of road tax etc, then just donate that amount to charity or summat.
Just to let you know the outcome:
My wife taxed the car the next morning (earliest possible opportunity) and wrote a letter to the local DVLA office explaining that the car was effectively untaxed for 1 month, asking how much tax was owed. They replied on Saturday asking for £9.71ish. So no fine and a good outcome...
Bottom line - hosesty was the correct policy
My wife taxed the car the next morning (earliest possible opportunity) and wrote a letter to the local DVLA office explaining that the car was effectively untaxed for 1 month, asking how much tax was owed. They replied on Saturday asking for £9.71ish. So no fine and a good outcome...
Bottom line - hosesty was the correct policy
The Griffalo said:
Buy tax starting Oct 1st at the Post Office tomorrow. Chances are it'll all get resolved in the end. If they come after you say you sent a SORN in. They lose LOADS of post at the DVLA, I bet they don't even blink.
They've lost my post several times, and on every occasion they've chased me for the fines.Mad Dave said:
The Griffalo said:
Buy tax starting Oct 1st at the Post Office tomorrow. Chances are it'll all get resolved in the end. If they come after you say you sent a SORN in. They lose LOADS of post at the DVLA, I bet they don't even blink.
They've lost my post several times, and on every occasion they've chased me for the fines.Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff