DVLA road tax not through the Post Office

[Polarsilver]

BBC TV south news shown tonight ..( The BBC ) tells me the DVLA is stopping its contract with the Post Office .. Therefore sometime into the future we can no longer get Road Tax or have any DVLA dealings at the local Post Office .. to deal with the DVLA this will be only online
News to me & Its not 1st April .. so it seems the DVLA has Lost The Plot yet again .

[mab01uk]

"The Driving and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) will end its contract with the Post Office Ltd in March 2024. From the end of March 2024, people wanting to access any DVLA services will be forced to go online. Post Offices currently provide a "limited range" of services for the DVLA and the current contract was agreed to 31 March 2024, a spokesperson for the agency said."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-h ... r-66133191

[Old English White]

A great pity. One or two of our local Post Offices have provided a great service when I've had problems with the DVLA.
I bought a classic car early this year complete with a V5 document but still registered private light goods having not been taxed for many years. After several months of telephoning and posting etc and DVLA doing nothing and not allowing me to tax it as "exempt", I took all the paperwork to a local Post Office who taxed it for me there and then free of charge before sending the paperwork back to the DVLA. Within 10days I received a new, corrected V5 with the correct taxation class!

[Peter Laidler]

Yep, Post Offices worked for me. I'd rather pay the PO and see the local small Post Offices receive their commission to keep them going

[Exminiman]

Our local post office has helped me out also, acting like the human face of the DVLA after they shut all their offices.

Will be a big loss, looks like the DVLA will be yet another faceless government department, actively avoiding serving its citizens……they forget they f**cking work for and owe us all a certain standard of service which is accessible to all

Sorry bit of a rant …..

[Polarsilver]

What a "state" GB has now become.. "Glad i am on the way out & not on the way in "

[mab01uk]

If you have any Minis that qualify for the 'Historic' tax class but whose V5c/log book has not yet been updated from PLG tax class, it is probably worth taking the documents to the nearest PO that deals with car tax before the the end of March 2024 (assuming the DVLA/PO contract is not renewed). For cars over 40 years old you don't need an MOT or insurance document (except in Northern Ireland) so even vehicles not currently on the road or undergoing restoration can apply for the change to 'Historic.'
https://www.gov.uk/historic-vehicles/ap ... -exemption

Basically the PO counter person scans the barcode on your V5 (signed, dated and 'Historic' entered in changes section), checks your MOT exemption V112 form, gives you a printed receipt with reg number and taxed £0.00 and sends off the V5 to the DVLA for you. A few days later the Car Tax website should show your vehicle as now taxed. A few weeks later you should get a new V5c in the post with Historic as tax class. A few weeks later you may get another letter saying your vehicle is showing as taxed but not insured on the Insurance Database at which point you must either insure the vehicle or declare SORN.
There have been reports that changing any other details on the V5 at the same time, especially keepers address can complicate things and even result in a vehicle inspection being required.....so as always with the DVLA keep it simple and do one change at a time!

[mab01uk]

What a "state" GB has now become.. "Glad i am on the way out & not on the way in "

I agree, no one at the top has a clue anymore....but at least closing all railway ticket offices now seems to have been abandoned after the public response (especially from us oldies!)

[Exminiman]

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulation ... ion-ageing

According to National Statistics Office percentage population over 65 is almost 20% quite surprising, certainly not a minority group. Without being patronising, people in this group are less likely to be fully plugged into the internet. The government departments have a duty to serve all their population, by what ever means is required.

My elderly mother is very much with it, but we have to deal with all the Internet based stuff for her, what if we were not available to deal with these things ? There will be elderly people who increasing will be completely excluded unless they can use the internet….the government really is not serving them properly…

Sorry second rant of the day and its not even lunch time …….back in my box

[mab01uk]

Not to mention car parks that no longer accept cash or cards and expect everyone to have a smart phone and download yet another app....

[Pete]

Won’t make much difference round my way as they’ve closed all the local post offices one at a time in the last couple of years.

[Polarsilver]

OK so the National Statistics Office clearly is one quango that does its job .. why not get them to run the DVLA
Next Winge .. parked at Mudeford Quay in the summer & paid up for parking & displayed a Blue Badge .. got a Parking Ticket ( Why ) me asked the ass-ole what the parking ticket was for ?... he answered number 81 .. me asking what is a number 81 .. answer parked out of the bay .. me saying but i am within the parking bay white lines .. answer no your not ..the back end is overhanging the bay ..( its a Camper Van ) so i appeal to council my appeal refused .. so now into challenging the parking fine through the national appeal process .. they respond that the Council is challenging my appeal.. we await the Lawyers final answer to my appeal.. has cost me more in Registered Mail that the original Parking Fine . . But its a matter of Principle "he said as he goes to Jail".

[mab01uk]

On the subject of parking, coming to a car park near you soon?....Ultra Low Emission Parking (ULEP)...UK councils are introducing apps to charge drivers of older vehicles more to park!

The new system adopted by Bath and other councils charges motorists on a sliding scale based on their exhaust emissions.

[Polarsilver]

Bath .. they are an absolute Shower ( to quote Terry Thomas ).

[Costafortune]

Cars don't emit any emissions when parked.

[mini_surfari]

Was in Bath this morning, 0930 and most car parks were already full… always nose to tail there!

[mab01uk]

Post Office signs new contract with DVLA - message from Deputy CEO to Postmasters

Message from Owen Woodley, Deputy CEO at Post Office, to Postmasters announcing that Post Office has signed a new contract with DVLA:
"I am pleased to announce that following intensive negotiations with DVLA, Post Office has now agreed and signed a new contract that allows Vehicle Tax and Ten-Year Renewal products to be sold in Post Offices until 31 March 2025.
Although the contract is for an initial term of 1 year from 31 March 2024 until 31 March 2025, we will meet with DVLA each year to discuss extending the contract which can run for a maximum of 3 years, until 31 March 2027.
We made a commitment to keep you, our Postmasters, updated in a timely and transparent way. As Post Office is bound by confidentiality restrictions in our contracts with Government, despite a prolonged period of negotiations, we have been unable to share this fantastic news with you before now.
The negotiations haven’t been easy. Our aim throughout has been to ensure that Postmasters receive fair remuneration for DVLA transactions and that Post Office’s associated costs for providing the services are covered. I’m pleased to let you know that we have been able to achieve this.
We had already extended our contract with DVLA earlier this year which resulted in improved remuneration for our Postmasters. This deal means that we will maintain this level of remuneration for Vehicle Tax and Ten Year Renewal transactions.
To ensure you are kept informed with the ongoing contract with DVLA, we commit to letting you know, in October each year, if extension periods are agreed. This will give you at least 6 months’ notice of any extensions, or indeed if there is any risk of this contract exiting.
We recognise that this has been an extremely unsettling time and we want to thank you for everything you and the NFSP have done to highlight how important our Government Services products are to our customers, and the fantastic job you do in serving them.
The vital role that Post Office plays in providing in-person DVLA services in our branches has been a key element of these negotiations and we look forward to continue providing these services which are so important to you and our customers."
https://corporate.postoffice.co.uk/en/b ... ostmasters

DVLA and PO sign contract extension:-
https://nfsp.org.uk/news/view?name=dvla ... -extension

[Polarsilver]

That is sensible & good news.

[Exminiman]

That is sensible & good news.

It is isn’t it, bit of a shock really, before you know it we will have paper tax discs again

Need to be careful though, that Post office Horizon computer has a tendancy to miscalculate things.

[mab01uk]

That is sensible & good news.

It is isn’t it, bit of a shock really, before you know it we will have paper tax discs again

Need to be careful though, that Post office Horizon computer has a tendancy to miscalculate things.

The petition of 100,000 signatures delivered to Downing Street in November by the Subpostmasters probably helped:-
https://nfsp.org.uk/news/view?name=nfsp ... a-petition