phil d
Well-known member
Got home last night to find a letter from the DVLA, you know the one, you must tax your vehicle! Excuse me, I set up a direct debit when I picked it up from the dealership, what's going on? I look on the DVLA database, no tax since 18th of October, interesting, I bought it on the 11th. I rang my bank and they confirmed that 2 payments had been taken, 1 on the 25th October and another on the 1st of November.
I rang DVLA to be told it was indeed untaxed, end of, I needed to tax it! I could tax it now which would start from the beginning of November, or wait until Saturday and start it from the beginning of December, but that's not right, you've taken my money already I protest. I ring the bank again to confirm the direct debit has been taken, it has, I then ring back to DVLA, 3rd call, and get a different story, yes they did take the money, and yes they have cancelled the direct debit, and yes the vehicle is untaxed!
By now I'm starting to lose the will to live, what IS going on here? Then it all becomes clear, and it's all my fault( well what did you expect) apparently because I didn't have the vehicle in my name when I did the tax, the computer wasn't happy (didn't stop it taking the money though) then, and this is where it gets really hilarious (not), when they received the V5, (log book) with the new keeper details (mine) the computer decided to take another months tax out of the bank, then cancel the tax, because apparently the name on the log book didn't match the name of the account that was paying the direct debit, only it did! On the log book it states that I acquired the vehicle on 11/10/2018., now remember, it took the first payment on the 25th of October, 14 days after the keeper change! I go absolutely ballistic, so in effect, I've been driving an untaxed vehicle since the 18th of October, "yes, that's right" replied the girl on the phone, "but you've taken my money" I protest, "yes, that's right, but your vehicle is still untaxed" I try another tactic, "so you owe me just over £51 then?" I ask, "no, that was to pay the tax" she explains, "but you just said it isn't taxed" I insist. It's all getting too much, I look around desperately for a sharp object, it's probably best if I just slash my wrists now and get it over with! Several more minutes of arguing ensue, the result being that they will now change the tax status to taxed, until December the 1st, then I'll have to redo it all again, but it could take several days to update the system, so in effect a police car with ANPR ,could pick me up for driving an untaxed vehicle, "true, but if they ring us, we'll explain it all and it will be ok" she assures me, the thing is they close at 7 pm, what happens if I get stopped after that, I know the answer, they'll impound the car! Apparently, she informs me, the same thing would happen if your wife set up the direct debit, if the name on the direct debit is different from the name on the insurance paperwork, they automatically cancel the tax! But the name on the log book and the direct debit, and the insurance was the same in my case, so what went on?
I rang DVLA to be told it was indeed untaxed, end of, I needed to tax it! I could tax it now which would start from the beginning of November, or wait until Saturday and start it from the beginning of December, but that's not right, you've taken my money already I protest. I ring the bank again to confirm the direct debit has been taken, it has, I then ring back to DVLA, 3rd call, and get a different story, yes they did take the money, and yes they have cancelled the direct debit, and yes the vehicle is untaxed!
By now I'm starting to lose the will to live, what IS going on here? Then it all becomes clear, and it's all my fault( well what did you expect) apparently because I didn't have the vehicle in my name when I did the tax, the computer wasn't happy (didn't stop it taking the money though) then, and this is where it gets really hilarious (not), when they received the V5, (log book) with the new keeper details (mine) the computer decided to take another months tax out of the bank, then cancel the tax, because apparently the name on the log book didn't match the name of the account that was paying the direct debit, only it did! On the log book it states that I acquired the vehicle on 11/10/2018., now remember, it took the first payment on the 25th of October, 14 days after the keeper change! I go absolutely ballistic, so in effect, I've been driving an untaxed vehicle since the 18th of October, "yes, that's right" replied the girl on the phone, "but you've taken my money" I protest, "yes, that's right, but your vehicle is still untaxed" I try another tactic, "so you owe me just over £51 then?" I ask, "no, that was to pay the tax" she explains, "but you just said it isn't taxed" I insist. It's all getting too much, I look around desperately for a sharp object, it's probably best if I just slash my wrists now and get it over with! Several more minutes of arguing ensue, the result being that they will now change the tax status to taxed, until December the 1st, then I'll have to redo it all again, but it could take several days to update the system, so in effect a police car with ANPR ,could pick me up for driving an untaxed vehicle, "true, but if they ring us, we'll explain it all and it will be ok" she assures me, the thing is they close at 7 pm, what happens if I get stopped after that, I know the answer, they'll impound the car! Apparently, she informs me, the same thing would happen if your wife set up the direct debit, if the name on the direct debit is different from the name on the insurance paperwork, they automatically cancel the tax! But the name on the log book and the direct debit, and the insurance was the same in my case, so what went on?
