car tax

[bunn]

I failed to pay my car tax on time this year. This is 90% my fault, but, I would argue, 10% the fault of DVLA for sending out the renewal notices well before you are actually allowed to go and buy the tax, thus ensuring that the renewal has to be put in a Safe Place, and therefore, in my case, assuring disaster.

Anyway, I'd only missed one month so I rang the DVLA and after fighting my way through the biggest set of options in Christendom, managed to speak to a human (Welsh). She told me I should tax the car at the post office and send a cheque to a secret address in Exeter. This information isn't on the DVLA website. It is a Secret.

So I did that. Today the cheque came back, with big stamp on it, and a hand written note saying they needed the car registration number. I had foolishly assumed that given that I had given my name, address and the reference number on the renewal reminder, they could look up any other details. But no, apparently not. I know I gave the renewal number, because I also wrote it on the back of the cheque...

I wonder why the renewal had a reference number if the number cannot be used to check other details also shown on the same form? Is it purely decorative...?

Comments

[bunn.livejournal.com]

I'm sending it to the DVLA. There is no other info going with it, just a small cheque and a letter saying 'here's the spare tax for reg no X' : this seems to be the only way to pay if you have missed a month's tax. I'm surprised it's so hard to find out how to do this, because I can't imagine I'm the only person ever to forget.

It would make far more sense to me to just pay the spare month in the post office or online, but I checked with 2 different post offices, and that isn't something they are allowed to do.