To think that if the post office taxes your old car

[montysma1]

And not your new car as asked at the counter then this is THEIR mistake and not yours?

Husband presented all documents for new car, also had v5 for old car in case this was needed, as he wasnt sure how the new discless system works.
The branch unknown to us, because you have no tax disc actually taxed the old car , which was still taxed ar the time, and not the new car.
Today, after 3 months we have 3 £60 fines as he has been driving around untaxed.
£210 tax charged on old car
£160 to very hurriedly tax the new car(cheaper)
£180 In fines
£550 In total spent.
We will get some but not all of the £210 tax on the old car back...
Post office says this is OUR mistake. Their employee does not pay attention to what is asked, presses send without final check and this is our fault? We would normally do this online but the system wouldnt let him for some reason so he had to use the post office.
Post office complaints team not helping, dvla not interested. No higher body to appeal to......Be aware in the absence of a tax disk, you have no idea whats been done and no protection in the event of a mistake.
Just need a rant.

That's how I understood it, LIZS.

What are emission docs?

MOT is all computerised so the tax system knows the car has a valid MOT. It also knows that your car is insured. When you tax online, it is all there by the time you get back from the garage if you do it the same day as an MOT.

You seem unwilling to accept that your DH bears any blame for is at all and you change details of your story to suit. First he had the old V5 because he thought you needed to transfer the tax from one to the other, then it was because he was asking about SORN. If you are planning on making a complaint, you really ought to get your story straight and work out what the actual truth is.

As you need the tax renewal notification or the V5, I imagine that the PO worker asked for the V5 having not seen the small change of ownership slip for the new car. Your DH handed over the old V5 rather than saying that she already had the slip with the details on. That was the error. The PO worker taxed the car that she was given the V5 for. The paperwork for the new car was largely irrelevant as the old car's MOT would have been checked online when she entered the registration from the V5 she had been given by your DH.

Looks like problem happened when she was taxing the new car and asked for the v5 and your dh handed her the v5 for the old car.

Ah soup by joe you've got it!!

The DVLA web page requests mot and reduced emission certificate. Looked at it again this morning. You.mean you didn't know? Tisk. Fancy not being up to date with every Nuance of the DVLA.

No it does not! see

The reduced pollution certificate or low emissions certificate is not necessary for every vehicle. It's here!

I havent changed anything so please dont suggest that I have to suit your own idea of events.

The woman was aware that he was discussing 2 different cars with her. If she was in any doubt which was which she should have asked, its not up to him to second guess why she asked for the old car doc back through. If she was not clear, she should have asked, not guessed because there was a big pre christmas queue and she was in a hurry or had had a long day.

Ultimately she entered the wrong data and the customer cannot see the screen to know what what she is entering. It was her error. In the same way if he had been able to tax online and put in the wrong info it would have been his error.

I am aware that the new car docs were largely irrelevant as they are checked online. I am also aware that the DVLA website does ask for document presentation and that is why we produced them.

All this proves is that the DVLA/Post office systems and operators make mistakes and dont always coincide with their requrements.

In addition a detailed receipt was not provided. The old car WAS taxed twice inspite of the fact that "this actually cant happen" and automatic refund was not certainly not produced The fines for the untaxed vedicle offences were not sent till up to 7 weeks after the initial offence leading to 2 further offences.
Actually a quick google will show hundreds upon hundreds of instances of DVLA//post office cock ups "that just cant happen". But no doubt they are all liars too.

Yes it does

""Renew your vehicle tax without a V11 reminder letter using your V5C registration certificate (logbook) online or at a Post Office.

You can apply for vehicle tax using the 12-digit reference number on your New Keeper Supplement (V5C/2) if you’ve just bought the vehicle.
Apply online

You can renew your vehicle tax online if you’ve got your V5C registration certificate and the name and address details on it are correct.
Apply at a Post Office

You can apply at a Post Office that issues vehicle tax.

You’ll need:

your V5C registration certificate or new keeper supplement (V5C/2)
a completed V62 ‘application for a registration certificate’ if you don’t have a V5C (and an application fee of £25)

If required, you’ll also need:

payment for your vehicle tax
an MOT test certificate (it must be valid when the vehicle tax starts)
a valid reduced pollution certificate""

The system would not allow him to tax on line and he was directed to this page about taxing in a post office.
The post office told me this morning that this is a DVLA error.

No one has called you a liar, monty.

A cock up obviously occurred. What happened is up for conjecture as other people's experiences do not coincide with yours. Something does not make sense, so it is causing debate. No one is saying that the PO never makes mistakes, I am willing to bet that many of us have stories about them cocking up something or other.

Having said that, given that the PO worker made a mistake and you are(?) taking it up with them (and I hope you can explain their error and get then to reimburse you). I am just still puzzled as to why you are so determined that your DH has no responsibility for the error. He has, the law says so... and common sense suggest he might have noticed the error earlier.

If required,

So that means

A heavy goods vehicle over 3,500 kilograms used for trade or business, or any public service vehicle (bus or coach) that was registered in the UK prior to 1 October 2006, may be eligible for the RPC test, provided it: [list of criteria]

or

LECs can be issued to vehicles or engines that are not eligible for the RPC, such as:

^vehicles and passenger carrying vehicles used for trade or business that have more than nine seats - including the driver's seat
vehicles in tax classes that are not eligible for an RPC^

Vehicles which are not UK-registered prior to 1 October 2006, or first RPC tested before January 2001, can also be eligible for LECs. To be eligible vehicles must be:

identified on the Transport for London (TfL) Eligible Engines list
known to comply with an enhanced environmental standard
modified to an enhanced particulate matter standard
re-engined to a higher environmental standard
fitted/converted to run solely on petrol or gas

www.findlaw.co.uk/law/small_business/business_operations/environmental_regulations/london_low_emissions_zone/2127.html

www.gov.uk/specialist-tests-for-coaches-and-buses/reduced-pollution-certificate-rpc-and-low-emissions-certificate-lec-tests

No! Wait!
Drivers can tax their vehicles in one of the reduced pollution taxation classes when they produce a valid Reduced Pollution Certificate (RPC).

Is that what you mean? The new to you car has been adapted and is now a PSV or similar? It only applies to heavy/commercial vehicles, as far as I can see!

The emission rates are on the V5C!

I think that both your DH and the post office have made a mistake here. Unfortunately I suppose it will be impossible to prove that the post office are partly responsible as you can't prove that your DH had a conversation with them about whether or not he needed to transfer tax on the old vehicle etc. I sympathise but I think it is one of those situations where you have to just pay the money and forget about it. I don't blame you for wanting to rant though.

I have been accused of changing my story which is pretty much the same as being accused of lying.

Re above, the emissions may apply to heavy goods, the mot does not. The page he was linked to asks for the above documents. The post office customer services acknowleged that this this morning and added that current documents also still demand it and that it is a DVLA error.

He had no way to be aware of a mistake as he was only given a switch receipt.

If his error and lack of common sense was to assume that the post office employee was competent and not to go straight home and check that the car was taxed correctly then yes that was a mistake. I would have made the same mistake, I have never in my life gone home and checked that the tax is in place.

I warrant most of the population dont go home and check that the post office has actually taxed their car correctly either unless they had some reason to suspect that there was an error.
But thats in the real world not the world of mumsnet super beings.

Oh, come on. How much intelligence does it take to look up on the internet how to tax a car? Sorry OP, you're being ridiculous, and your husband sounds as thick as a plank.

He had the other V5 because he thought you needed to transfer one to the other

I thought the v5 is the car's birth certificate as it were- each car has its own unique v5. Taking the old one along for the new car is a bit like using your eldest child's birth certificate for another child.

i am confused [confuse firstly
Lizs is saying that you get automatically get a refund now when you sell a taxed car.so is it not possible to sell a car with tax now?
I believe the op. a while back I renewed my tax at a dvla office an then got a fine notice several months later.I has to send in receipt s which took ages to dig out and the fuckers never even wrote back to acknowledge much less apologise for their mistake

Judge no they've changed it now and cars don't/shouldn't get sold on with tax, you have to apply for it whenever you purchase a 'new' car. Not honestly sure how it's enforced though

I added a link a little bit up thread, it is an online blog/consultation thing with the government bloke responsible. He explains what happens... you sell you car with tax on it, the buyer buys it and taxes it, you get an automatic refund.

So, effectively, no. You can no longer sell a car with tax on it.

And no one has said OPs story isn't true. No one! I am not a super being, just a bog standard working bod with a mistrust of automated systems! I had to check. Story's like monty's make it really obvious that checking is necessary!

If his error and lack of common sense was to assume that the post office employee was competent and not to go straight home and check that the car was taxed correctly then yes that was a mistake.

His mistake was to give the v5 for a car that he didn't want taxed to the PO counter assistant. I can see that he may taken if with him to check whether he needed it because he didn't understand the system but there was no need to hand it over.

God, I'm sorry, what idiot doesn't "understand the system"? Look it up on the DVLA website, it's not bloody rocket science, is it?! How do you get to adulthood without understanding how to tax a car? It even tells you what to take with you in the reminder letters you get!

Your husband, who sounds as dumb as a box of rocks, frankly, gave a completely unnecessary V5 to the post office clerk and she taxed the car of the V5 he gave her. His own silly fault and you haven't got a leg to stand on.