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When applying for car tax using PIP disability discount scheme you have to apply by post sending in all relevant documents.This was done & received at DVLA on 2nd October but vehicle still not taxed so I rang them to query it. Initially the recorded message apologises for delay as they are busy but eventually you get through to a very helpful lady who says the delay is (wait for it) due to Covid & staff having to work from home ! Does working from home make it harder for the staff or they just not putting in the hours ? I was told it is taking longer than the 2 weeks Ive been waiting & the car shouldnt be on the road so I called 111 & asked the police .I have photographic evidence to prove tax applied for & was told they would probably accept that if I was stopped but it would depend on the Officer.Im lucky enough to have off road parking but having no car is a real problem. Any advice welcome

DVLA has been having issues setting up their HQ for socially distanced working.

It took 7 weeks for a logbook to come back to me.

Gibbo was your vehicle taxed or did you have to keep it off the road for 7 weeks or did you have to sorn it. Thanks for responding.

I'm surprised they don't let you appy online.
I'd go with what the bobby said, "they would probably accept that if I was stopped" and just drive.
For a lot of disabled people, your car is your lifeline.

Whilst some of the call-centre type staff may be working from home, the manual processing of paper-work is done at Swansea where they have reduced staff present.

As you no longer have to display a tax disk, if they have taken your payment through the bank or whatever, they would have a hard time trying to state you haven't bought your vehicle tax.

Apart from that, common sense should prevail but obviously some idiots will try and take advantage and spoil it for others.

They have automatically extended driving licence applications but not vehicle tax.

Thanks people knew you would help . The cheque still hasnt been banked & Im wondering if the delay is because the previous garage didnt send V5 off immediately .I suspect DVLA only received it last Thursday or Friday.

These days when you buy a car you have to tax the car immediately before you drive it away, it is normal that DVLA doesn't get the V5 until later.

Hi Digging ,The car was delivered to my home address using trade plates .It was showing taxed on Gov web site until Saturday presumably by the garage .

These days only the owner can tax a vehicle, the instant a car is sold any tax is no longer valid which is why it had to be delivered on trade plates.

Its a real pain when you travel to buy a car especially privately, you don't know if you are going to buy the car until you see it, then you have to tax and insure it on the spot to drive it home.

The car was quite a distance away & although we viewed & tested it we had no means of getting it home so the garage offered to deliver it .I dont know why it still showed taxed on Gov website which is why I suspect they were a bit slow sending V5 to the DVL A. .The car is being used with everything crossed in the hope the local constabulary will be sympathetic as everything possible has been done to tax it.They even wanted original insurance document (not a copy) & Ive had no documents returned.Thankfully I sent them recorded delivery

That doesn't make sense. My insurance is sent via email every year and I print off the documents. If someone needs the original I have to print it off which makes it a copy.
Another thing, one Government department doesn't know what the next Government dept is doing. The DVLA is a Gov dept after all, and can check this online. They don't know their arse from their elbow and need to be spoon fed information that they are able to find out themselves.

Im hoping this method of taxing car is because its the first time using PIP as you can only apply to renew A couple of days before its due I think & cant be doing this every year. They also owe 15 months overpaid tax on previous vehicle as award was back dated ,Cant wait to see what sort of confusion that causes.Maybe by the end if this week all will ve resolved.

These days the pdf the insurance send you has a watermark which is normally accepted as being an "original document". But strangely some companies that send you actual paper copies don't have a watermark so they could easily be faked!

Morning All, Just checked, still untaxed so will continue to use & if the vehicle is left unattended a notice along side the blue badge will be displayed . Today is the 12th day the DVLA have had my application. Surely it cant take much longer.

Nope, new owner so there was no tax to speak of, so I had to keep it on my drive. It was a real bugger because the previous owner had lost the green slip so I couldn't even tax it.

Funny how the DVLA are on the ball for some things & so slow in others. This morning I got an email asking me to reinstate the direct debit & pay for this months road tax which I paid last Thursday ! The reason I cancelled direct debit is simple, I no longer have that vehicle & they have a cheque for tax for new vehicle & they owe me approx £150 back dated refund .

Like I said, they don't know their arse from their elbow.

Hey Mike.It gets worse Ive just asked for an update only to be told its now taking 6-8WEEKS & the only solution was to tax car at full rate without PIP discount then claim it back. By my reckoning Ive now paid £205 by visa,£105 by cheque & They still owe me approx £150 back dated overpayment from previous vehicle . Ok £355 should be refunded in 6-8 weeks but where do they think a disabled unemployed person gets the money from.Ive got my fingers crossed that they dont cock up but whats the odds .So annoyed.

What they are doing to you is a joke because the barstard have got you over a barrel here. How can they justify this?
Your PIP status is easily accessible to them through gov.uk, and your insurance and MOT status is also available to them so why do they need original documents?
I suppose you just have to bite the bullet here and just cross your fingers you get your money back.
Good luck Lincle.

Very true. When I wrote to them after six weeks asking where my log book was and asking for a replacement as it may have been lost in the post, they responded in three working days with a letter saying if I wanted another log book it would be £25.

Thanks so much for the support .Ive texted our MP with the details as she wrote to PIP supporting the claim

Hi Folks the saga continues.Yesterday a letter arrived from DVLA returning all documents & turning application down for lack if evidence !! I rang DVLA as Id sent the court tribunal letter as proof but thats not good enough you need to send a certificate.What dam certificate ,never heard if it so had to ring DWP bear in mind its easier to get through to the Pope than these departments but eventually spoke to a guy who wanted to know if the award was higher level or standard as both have different certificates & the lower one isnt called a certificate. You couldnt make it up😡.The outcome is that the certificate or whatever its called should be delivered within 5 days then everything will have to be posted again. Maybe refunds will be sorted before next year !

https://www.disabledmotoring.org/motoring/road-tax-50-reduction
"An official letter or statement from the DWP confirming that you are in receipt of an award, the dates of the award, name and address"

I take it the letter or statement is the so called 'certificate' they are after?
What makes this worse is it looks like you will have to send payment again when you send these documents back.
DVLA are a joke at the best of times.

Thanks for that Mike,pity they dont tell you these things with the award . They definitely wont be getting any more money,they didnt send cheque back so they owe in the region of £400. Ive a strange feeling theyll try to duck out of that .