Tried to get a new Tax disc today...failed...what to do?

[sparks_E39]

Tax disc expires tomorrow, tried phoning up the automated service to renew, got as far as them checking my insurance details, and because my insurance is renewed at 12pm today they currently think I am uninsured, even though I'm still with the same insurance company and the policy is just carrying on. My new Insurance details are still in the post (sorted it yesterday, is all that strike action still going on?) so going to the post office is out of the question, so I take it its just a case of putting the car on the drive for a couple of days? The automated guy said that it may because of the above isuue with my insurance, and that may be why its currently not on the system. Does anyone have any idea how long it takes them to get up to date information, or am I buggered? Also how long do I have (with my car on the drive) before I get in truble for not renewing my Tax disc, considering I have made every effort to sort it out?

[sparks_E39]

hornetrider said:

Can you get to the PO before 12?!

I have the same issue having just bought a new car and insured it, but luckily flux email the insurance docs so I've printed them out and I'm popping to the PO at lunch today to sort it out.

Unfortuantly no, as I am at work till late, and have no way of getting the documents there, I don't have fax facilities either.

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paoloh said:

If it's just renewing, why is car coming up as uninsured?

They said there may be a delay in thier system knowing that I have renewed.

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aeropilot said:

sparks_E39 said:

Tax disc expires tomorrow, tried phoning up the automated service to renew, got as far as them checking my insurance details, and because my insurance is renewed at 12pm today they currently think I am uninsured, even though I'm still with the same insurance company and the policy is just carrying on. My new Insurance details are still in the post (sorted it yesterday, is all that strike action still going on?) so going to the post office is out of the question, so I take it its just a case of putting the car on the drive for a couple of days? The automated guy said that it may because of the above isuue with my insurance, and that may be why its currently not on the system. Does anyone have any idea how long it takes them to get up to date information, or am I buggered? Also how long do I have (with my car on the drive) before I get in truble for not renewing my Tax disc, considering I have made every effort to sort it out?

Why did you leave it until the last day to sort, as you could have applied online for the new tax up to 14 days before it runs out, so tbh, that's not making every effort to sort it out?
The automated systems take a while to update, I fell foul of this when my motorbike was one year old, so I then got a 6 month tax to split the tax/insurance renew at the same time, so I can now happily renew online with no issues.

Edited by aeropilot on Friday 30th October 10:35

Usually I'm not such a slacker, but due to money issues which I don't want to go into, I had to wait until today, Payday.

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KaraK said:

hornetrider said:

aeropilot said:

Why did you leave it until the last day to sort, as you could have applied online for the new tax up to 14 days before it runs out, so tbh, that's not making every effort to sort it out?

There's always one who chooses to criticise instead of offering advice. My mrs renews through Direct Line. Now, I don't know what the DVLA cut-off point is, but her renewal was up just before the end of this month and she tried to renew at the earliest opportunity when she had a week or so left on her insurance but the online system said no dice. She had to wait for her new docs to come through.

It doesn't matter how early you try and tax it your still stuck in the same predicament, the insurance has to be valid when the tax disc starts and Direct Line's auto-renewal system is appalling - it can take a couple of days for them to update the MID and you end up not being able to tax the car through no fault of your own. I had all this drama myself this year and ended up going a teensy ballistic at their "supervisor" over it and their attitude.

It would appear that the only way round it is to ring the insurer a week or two in advance and demand that the send the documents early. It kind of defeats the point of the auto-renewal process but it's either that or you need to move your tax date away from your insurance renewal.

I'm going to get 6 months now, and in 6 months time buy 12 months worth to avoid this issue. Its only because I picked up my car exactly a year ago today with fresh tax and MOT. Its all in the same bloody month, MOT too