Why tf do they make it to hard to tax a car?

[mildgreenfairyliquid]

I'm not terribly organised. I realise that if you do the car tax as soon as the reminder arrives, this doesn't apply. I'm not after replies telling me to just be better organised (although obviously crack on if that's what gets you up in the morning).

But WHY will they not just let you pay the fucking tax? Why does the reminder letter RUN OUT? Why won't they accept the code on the vehicle owner slip, even if they say they will. Why won't they let you renew if the reminder letter has gone awol? Are there rogue vehicle-tax-payers out there trying to tax other people's cars for them, that the DVLA is having to crack down on? Or is it just to make life that bit more fucking difficult? (Or perhaps to increase the possibility people will need to pay fines...).

I'd love an explanation. That is all.

Probably to force you to be more organised.

We pay monthly by DD. Never have to think about it then.

I looked at the DD option but even that runs out and doesn’t renew! Still have to setup one each year from what I can gather!
I hear you OP, didn’t do mine straight away this month and had to tax the day after the reminder…lots of dvla tax checking cars in my area

I have thought this too op. I lost the letter with the special code on, I didn't understand why I couldn't use just the car reg! I learnt that lesson.

Haha, but why do they care about my organisational skills? Don't they just want my money? Take my fucking MONEY!!

Sorry, that was to @gamerchick

@MamaInWales and @Sunshineandrainbow thank you for sharing my pain....

As soon as my reminder arrives I leave it sitting on the tv unit so that I pay for it when I have a spare minute to do it. Then once it’s paid I put the letter away.

I saw an untaxed clamp on a car this week and in the last 2 months saw them clamping a car outside my work. They must be clamping down (Ha ha) as not come across this before and I work out and about a lot.

Annual Direct debit.
Once you set it up you don't have to do anything as long as you have the car.

Maybe as soon as it arrives take a photo of that special code in case the letter is snatched by those pesky fairies!

I pay mine annually by DD - never need to think about it, I just set it up when I got the car.

Can you not do that this time round?

They have been doing that in my area for the last 10 years

There were always randomly a couple of cars with clamps on them before covid I haven't seen them since in the area.

I suspected at the time it was because there was a DVLA office a few miles away.

Good solutions - thank you!

I still just don't understand WHY? Can anyone tell me why they need to do this? Seriously? Who would pay someone else's vehicle tax (presumably that's what they're guarding against?)?

https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/news/motoring-news/dvla-launches-new-online-system-for-drivers-to-renew-car-tax-without-v5c/

https://www.gov.uk/tax-vehicle-without-v11-reminder

https://www.gov.uk/tax-vehicle-without-v11-reminder

Have you got the log book?

I pay monthly by direct debit, so not the issue you describe. But it's £3 a month and it really winds me up that it's impossible to change this to a yearly fee. I know it's an odd thing to be annoyed about but it drives me mad each month 😂

My son sent everything off to the DVLA to tax two vehicles in my name after my DH died. He paid £8 for a signed for delivery. The letter never arrived, which was down to Royal Mail.

However, the DVLA were completely hopeless in helping me when I called them. The first person I spoke to clearly didn’t listen, as she sent me an email telling me what to do, as if I was starting from scratch. The second person told me to take it up with Royal Mail.

The next person binned the call after I explained why I was ringing. I spoke to five different people at the DVLA and got five different responses.

In the end a woman told me to download and print specific forms for my situation, along with a covering letter. I did that, the forms were long and complicated, especially as I’m not currently at the top of my game. I struggled when they asked for chassis numbers. I eventually got it all done and sent the whole lot off, paying this time for guaranteed next day delivery.

When you consider that people are dying every day, you would expect the DVLA to have a better grip.

DVLA is a nightmare to deal with. On holiday in Cornwall once I realised I’d forgotten to renew my car tax before I left - the letter was at home. I rang them assuming I could do it with the reg but nope. The woman on the phone was delightedly unhelpful, really enjoyed telling me it couldn’t be done without the reference number on the letter.

I asked why and she said I could be anyone - I mean who’s going to maliciously tax someone else’s car fgs. Awful organisation to deal with. I once I had to sort out an error on my driving license and that was a similar uphill struggle.

In my experience if you're having problems, just call them. I bought a car without a v5, and had no way to tax it. I rung them, and over the phone they were very helpful, and sorted it within about 5 minutes.

I've just checked mine and mine has auto renewed every year for the 5 years I've had the car....

I set mine up to pay annually without me having to do anything when I bought my car 11 years ago. And then, when it came to selling, I was worried I wouldn't know how to stop them taking the payment. But I bought a new (to me) car two years ago and the garage sorted it out for me, stopping the old one and starting the new one. So it has caused me no hassle at all in the end. Not a solution for you now but perhaps when you get your next car...

You have my sympathy though. This kind of thing is one of my least favourite things about modern life. In the 'old days' you could have simply gone into a Post Office to get it sorted.

Presumably it's so people can't input the number plate wrong and accidentally drive around untaxed?

@MamaInWales We've got 3 cars - 2 on annual DD and one on 6 monthly. They go through every year without the need for us to do anything. DVLA just send us a letter in the post a few weeks before which requires no action.

Its very annoying.

I have several vehicles to tax every year some of which are nil charge for tax (tractors/ utility vehicles). Our letters mostly come in March and April which are our busiest times of year due to lambing and frequently got forgotten about and then we would have this issue.

I have moved all of them over to direct debit where possible and it's so much easier - however we can't do that for the nil charge ones so every year I have to log in and do a pointless vehicle tax renewal for the tractors.

Even though it's a nil charge we would still get fined if we didn't 'pay' it.

It's farcical.

Pay by dd, easier

thanks for this @daffodilandtulip
I was considering monthly DD as an option this time but will do a 6 month renewal and go back to annual in September rather than stay tied in

@mildgreenfairyliquid from PPs it looks like annual DD is your best option