Electronic Road Tax Disc.

[ADV_93]

I (as a lot of others) are aware that on October 1st, tax will go all electronic, and we will no longer need tax discs. I'm a bit confused as to what happens however when this is all happens. My tax expires in Feburary, so do i have to register my car on 1st october, or can i wait until the expiration of my current tax before?

Also, any other advice or information is welcome on this thread, just to help anyone else out in the mean time.

[1616six]

Let it run out as normal, you don't have to have the disk in the window as of the 1st Oct though, so you can remove it then if you wish..

[Dum-Dum]

The DVLA computer already knows how many months tax you have left and will post you a reminder at the appropriate time.

They have had a computer that knows which cars are taxed and which aren't for many years and dished out fines in the post.

It also does away with the ridiculous situation where you could have a car that was taxed but the disc had fallen out the window but you could be done for failing to display the disc.

[mr_fish]

reminds me to tax mine tonight. booo to the XUD tax band

[nominous]

and adds the ridiculous situation where you cant sell a car with tax so:

1) The govt gets two months tax for the month the car is sold in

2) WTF do you do as a buyer?

Means you have to buy tax before you drive it away else committing an offence.
Assume there is no grace period. Is there ?

How do you purchase a tax online if the computer says no insurance ?
As I guess if the seller cannot sell the tax with the car, tax is now tied to the name on the V5 AND the insurance....

So you need to be on MID on the day you buy the car to tax online.
You wouldn't change over insurance till you've seen teh car - it might be a lemon.

Is the PO going to change over to a PC based system or will paper insurance still work for them?
Then you might use day insurance - NB, day insurance I've found isn't on MID which is why they tell you to print out and carry it in case of stoppage.
Still, must buy car near to PO and buggered for a Sunday.


Lots of outstanding issues that haven't been well explained.

[Dum-Dum]

reminds me to tax mine tonight. booo to the XUD tax band

I wouldnt bother tonight, you'll only get one day out of the month. Wait till first thing wednesday, thats what I'm doing

[powerandtorque]

Unless you're renewing an already taxed car that expires at the end of the month, in which case it'll start from Wednesday anyway.

[Dum-Dum]

Unless you're renewing an already taxed car that expires at the end of the month, in which case it'll start from Wednesday anyway.

Oh yeah, I was thinking it was SORN for some reason.

[Toms306]

and adds the ridiculous situation where you cant sell a car with tax so:

1) The govt gets two months tax for the month the car is sold in

2) WTF do you do as a buyer?

Means you have to buy tax before you drive it away else committing an offence.
Assume there is no grace period. Is there ?

How do you purchase a tax online if the computer says no insurance ?
As I guess if the seller cannot sell the tax with the car, tax is now tied to the name on the V5 AND the insurance....

So you need to be on MID on the day you buy the car to tax online.
You wouldn't change over insurance till you've seen teh car - it might be a lemon.

Is the PO going to change over to a PC based system or will paper insurance still work for them?
Then you might use day insurance - NB, day insurance I've found isn't on MID which is why they tell you to print out and carry it in case of stoppage.
Still, must buy car near to PO and buggered for a Sunday.


Lots of outstanding issues that haven't been well explained.

There is no grace period from what I've read. You can phone as well as online 24/7. But that'll suck if you don't have internet on your phone, and are buying a car in a poor signal area... (As I've done more than once lol, very little signal round here for such a flat county!)

When you buy the car, the V5 then has your name and address on it and the transfer date, so when its processed, they'll know whether you bought tax immediately or not. I've been 'warned' for this on a previous car after not realising SORNs run out at change of ownership.

The PO already use a PC based system to check insurance and MOT...however it wasn't overly reliable (but this was 2 years ago lol) so they didn't make a big thing about it and preferred people to take paper copies. Now I believe its more reliable and you no longer have to but you can take a paper copy if necessary - for day insurance as you've said.

It is causing a huge amount of hassle for buying cars tbh....partly why I won't be buying anymore for a while at least!

[bashbarnard]

I use trade plates to pick cars up so not an issue for me

[Toms306]

Trade plates or recovery/trailer is gonna be the best way of collecting cars now I reckon.

[1616six]

You can tax it on the phone and online 24/7 when the new system kicks in, I've read somewhere online.

[Toms306]

Yep, I did say that above, but only if you have signal...

[vincent1]

how long does the change of car on the insurance data base take if thats what the post office use? if i buy a car ring insurance then ring or pop into post office and its not on the insurance data base yet what can i do about taxing a car as i might need it to get to work etc.

[Toms306]

'MID can be updated 24/7. So, depending on the insurance provider and the organisation loading your data to the MID, it can be updated within a few hours. For some insurers the process is a little longer and may take a few days.'

As for what can you do about it? Not much lol...

[vincent1]

cheers tom ive just been looking myself after i posted that so i rang my insurance there words it can take up to 7 days but there willing to send a email tempory cover note that can be printed off at no extra charge ( i needed to ring anyway as my nad needs too much welding this year so time for a change i guess).

[Toms306]

Problem with that is, if you're (for example) 100 miles away buying a car. You phone the insurance and sort that. You phone the tax but they say the insurance isn't on the system....are you gonna go 100 miles home to print your cover note?

[vincent1]

true but its a option i guess if we are near home or a libary/internet cafe etc.

[Toms306]

Didn't even know libraries and internet cafe's still existed...

It is an option yeah, and obviously better than nothing. Still not ideal or failsafe though, and causing extra hassle that wasn't there before when you could've just had the end of the previous owners tax.

[Adam-m-h]

Technically you could drive home on their tax as the v5 is still in their name till they post it off

[vincent1]

mines co op insurance i bet some wont send you a email tempory cover note for free bet some will charge for the privilage and yes loads of libary internet cafe around still lol and yes agree no need to cause the extra hassle at all.

[RetroPug]

Even if you haven't been updated on the system yet that just means you might get pulled over, the police will contact your insurers and they will then confirm that you are insured just not yet in the MID.

[Toms306]

No, it isn't. Once you've signed the V5 it's yours...

It wont be on the system until it's been posted and processed, but if you crash on the way home the car is technically in your name, as is the insurance.

That would work if you could drive home without getting stopped, as you wouldn't get picked up on ANPR. BUT when it gets processed, they'll see that you didn't tax it on the same date as the transfer date and fine you anyway...

---

mines co op insurance i bet some wont send you a email tempory cover note for free bet some will charge for the privilage and yes loads of libary internet cafe around still lol and yes agree no need to cause the extra hassle at all.

Admiral group send them free as well.

Lol, with the invention of WiFi and smartphones I'm surprised a café dedicated to internet would still work!

Even if you haven't been updated on the system yet that just means you might get pulled over, the police will contact your insurers and they will then confirm that you are insured just not yet in the MID.

But the point is you wont be able to buy tax until you're shown as insured...

[nominous]

Only thing I can think of is the driving to the mot station without tax allowance.
likely to get abused.

This is only gonna work with 7 days grace. Else its truely buggered. If someone has to go to court to point that out its a bit shame.
Where is the AA etc ? They should be lobbying on this but the neas is all quiet about the issues

[Piggy]

You buy the car.
You insure the car.
You buy the road tax.

Its not rocket science.

It should help monitor and police cars which are uninsured and not taxed...which often leads to other offences...which is good for all of us.

I maybe the only one, but I think its a great move in the right direction and should have happened a long time ago.
(I think it should actually be added to fuel duty...but thats a different argument)

[1616six]

I might be wrong here but when I went & taxed the Kangoo a few weeks back it wasn't insured & had been on a garage forecourt, wasn't on the MID & I went to the post office, shew the new keeper slip & taxed it fine. I asked afterwards & the lady behind the counter said you no longer have to prove insurance to buy tax. The MOT is checked on a database when the v5 or reminder is scanned.

This could well be right as would take a lot of hassle out of the new system, leaving it the owners responsibility to insure it.

I might well be wrong, but the Kangoo certainly had no insurance showing on it & I taxed it fine.

[Seb_Ryan]

When I bought my alfa ~3 months ago I had insurance on it for about half hour before I taxxed it (drove home on trade plates) as with JJ only showed new keeper slip and they sent log book off for me for free aswell

[nominous]

I maybe the only one, but I think its a great move in the right direction and should have happened a long time ago.

There is a difference between the letter of the law and the spirt of the law.
This is supposed to be for catching people who don't wish to pay road tax on going.

It shouldn't be penalising people that stick to the rules, try hard to be legal, but the system doesn't allow them to be legal without being substantially out of pocket.

A grace period of a few days would make little difference to those that don't wish to pay at all, but give massive assistance to those wishing to pay the money but need time to get the paperwork sorted.


I tax and insurance will full declaration of mods on all my cars.
I pay through the nose for it.
This system suggests I'll come a cropper at some point because I wish to buy older cars privately. Despite the thousands I pay every year to be legal.
That is just plainly unfair.

[Matt]

I taxed mine last week and I didn't have to prove my insurance. Just asked for log book and mot certificate

[Piggy]

They dont meed MOT cert anymore either. Bit random they asked for that