J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

I renewed my tax disk online three weeks ago, no disk arrived so I rang today and they are sending a duplicate, I have used the car in the meantime as in my mind it is taxed, the money has gone from my account and the helpful bloke at the DVLA said this was the case, I am wondering what I could be letting myself in for if I continue to use it, obviously ANPR cameras read the number plate and check the database to see if it is taxed, obviously it will show up as no problem but the DVLA man said that the Police could do me for failure to display ?

To be honest, I dont use it much, can use another car and dont really care, would fight that tooth and nail if I did get pulled for it, I dont think motorists can be expected to not use a car for weeks due to the DVLA f*cking up or the post office loosing a piece of paper. I cant imagine the Police are that bothered and can check if it is actually taxed so is the "Failure to Display" a throwback or would they actually do you for not displaying the disk ?

I need a Delboy Style "Tax in Post" disk.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

A traffic warden or plod will happily do you for failure to display, tax in post is no excuse unfortunately.

Even if the car has a valid disk, it is an offence to not display it.

Just keep the car parked off the road on private ground and don't do anything to catch plods attention when driving it and you "may" get away with it (although sods law is you'll get pulled for a routine check or something ).

jpor

iTrader: (1)

I read somewhere that the law has relaxed a bit on the displaying of a new tax disk? I beleive you are now allowed 5 days after your old tax disc to have expired to put in the replacement on show in the car. Although that may not help your situation. Your best bet in future is to go down to the Postoffic, a bit of a faff I know to take insurance and M.O.T etc.. but at least you get the disc there and then.

fatherpierre

Did you get a printout of the receipt when you renewed it online?

HankScorpio

Offence is "failure to display", even if it's in the glovebox, get a jobsworth and you haven't a leg to stand on.

r32

I had a friend who got done as his disc holder had fallen out of his windscreen onto the car floor......

Leslie

In the good old days when the authorities used to leave a bit of leeway and apply common sense as well, you were allowed 14 days to get you car taxed and naturally to display the new tax disk. Even coppers were reasonable about such things!

I think that as long as you display the old tax disk then you may not get done because it is out of date, the offence I think is not to display any tax disk. The ANPR picture would find that you are in fact taxed even though they had screwed up by not getting a disk to you J4CKO. If uncertain you could always ask a policeman, but not when using the car

Les

fatherpierre

Failure to dislpay a valid tax disk is an offence.

If you have to drive it and are stopped, the receipt should be enough to have discretion used. It would for me.... But you can't count on everyone using their allowed discretion!

ronjeramy

iTrader: (1)

Maximum penalty for failure to display £200. That is what is printed on the front of the disc, that you tear off.
A lot to be said about taxing your car at your Post Office

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Its so annoying, good job I don't need the car much, to be fair he did say I could go and get one printed in a DVLA office today, nearest is in Manchester which is a 30 min drive but of course I am not allowed to use the car !


Its like a combination of ancient and modern, modern ANPR to catch you when you dotn have any and a plod or warden clockign if you haave a bit of paper in the windscreen, it would be very petty to do someone who has paid up on the dot, I cannot see any real point in having the disk any more.

hodgy0_2

i would be surprised if you were done for not displaying a tax disc.

I had mine nicked twice from my Caterham kit car and it cost me £10.00 each time to get a duplicate (and alot of fvcking hassle at the local DVLA centre)

the police turned up with my tax disc each time -- having caught the offenders, but would not give it back to me -- evidence

If it happened again I would seriously think twice about displaying it - the law on this seems a little behind the times

m1cks

Even the DVLA website says when you buy it that you should not use your car until you have it in your hand. Even though it's thier mistake, you are still liable should you get a tug. I thought the fine was up to £2000 not £200, but more likely to get a £60 FPN.

Sonic'

Ive never understood why they have left the offence as failing to display, surely by now the offence should be just not having tax

Incidently maybe FP can answer this, if you don't have a vehicle taxed and you are caught by APNR what offence is commited ? is it still the same failure to display offence, or is it something different

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Its funny that the DVLA are interested in the money and the Police whether you have the disk, having worked for the Police for ten years with a lot of coppers, most wouldn't be interested if you could prove you had paid for it and didn't give them attitude, as far as I can tell most will make a judgement and realise you are on their side in driving sensibly, in a roadworthy vehicle that is insured, Mot'd and taxed even if you aren't displaying a disk. Coppers have enough to deal with without this kind of thing, that said, am on my bike all week anyway.

fatherpierre

If it's not taxed and you're caught by ANPR but not stopped it's the DVLA that will be in touch and they will issue you the fine option as an out-of-court settlement.

If pulled and there's no DVLA official to deal, the details are passed to them. It's just the simple use on a public rd without tax. If the official is present I believe they have powers now to seize the vehicle unless you can't pay on the spot.

NotoriousREV

I wouldn't worry about it. I know someone that's been displaying the tax disc from another vehicle, that's also expired, since last May and the police have done nothing about it, despite me reporting it via the DVLA web site

fatherpierre

DVLA care only about money - end of story!

If pulled by police and no disk but the car's insured and driver is all fine then there's a chance they'll give you the benefit of the doubt. Loads of people forget to tax on time and have just made a little error.

Most untaxed cars tend to be unisured, unregistered and driven by people that care as much for the legality of the car as they do about their own status.

fatherpierre

It's a DVLA tax offence. That's why police haven't done anything.

The car's probably unregistered or reg to a ghost address. The DVLA will come and remove the car if it's parked on a public road with out of date disk.

NotoriousREV

Yeah, should have put Police/DVLA. Car is registered to the right person and insured (no idea why no tax) and I reported the location it's parked every day on public road. Ironically, it's about 100yds from a police station.

fatherpierre

For the police to have any power they have to catch the person using the vehicle on a public road, and then follow up the disk and its history. If caught using a disk from another vehicle the driver would be arrestable for suspicion of fraud/theft/handling.

DVLA are usually hot on cars parked on public roads with no tax and come out on the day it's reported. Or you could do a double whammy and report the car as abandoned if it's untaxed...... Councils are even hotter (usually) on those!

Leslie

The OP's original post said that he paid the tax three weeks beforehand, they took the money from his account, and screwed up themselves on sending him a valid tax disk! He did not forget to pay it in time!

Are you saying that DVLA have a moral right to summons him in this case? How can they fine him when he has aready paid the money? There has been no attempt to avoid paying the tax. Isn't the rule about displaying a valid tax disk concerned with people trying to cheat the DVLA of road fund tax?

Are you saying that there is no room anymore for a bit of common sense and that he deserves to be fined "by numbers" nevertheless? Why should he not be entitled to use his car when he has already paid the tax and it is their fault that he does not have a disk? Is that too simple for the authorities?

Having re-read my rant, I want to make it clear I am attacking the DVLA, not you FP!

Les

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

I think the disk check used to be about avoiding paying it and the Police were subcontracted by the revenue to pursue non payers, now the Police dont have much to do with the tax disk and VOSA set up the ANPR cameras to deal with non payers using the car on the road without a disk, however I think the Police use it nowadays as another clue to the provenance, roadworthiness and legality of a vehicle and its driver, in reality if I got pulled I expect any decent officer would just tell me to go home and put the disk in based ont he fact my car is otherwise 100% legal and the duty has been paid, compared to some of the scumbags Police deal with day in day out a polite and apologetic bloke in a Saab wont really rate very high on the "Youre Nicked" scale, the 2 kilos of Heroin in the spare tyre notwithstanding....

SunnySideUp

You can get Tamper-Proof Tax Disc Holders .... they destroy the disc as the thieves try to remove it.

speedking

So you still have to buy a replacement

To turn the argument around, what can anyone benefit by not displaying a valid tax disc that makes it worth fining them for?

SunnySideUp

You miss the point .... written around the holder is the words TAMPER PROOF TAX DISC in BIG letters - now, the thieves may not be able to read - but these holders are very hard to remove from the glass (hence disc is destroyed if you rush it).

Thieves hate time, this is what a Tamper Proof Holder buys you .... they give up after 10 seconds - result, and the disc is still intact (but also still in your car!)

fatherpierre

AFAIK theh DVLA would still try to do the person who has bought the disk but wasn't displaying it; even if it was their error in the 1st place.

The DVLA is a government agency, just like the CSA - and we all know what they were/are like. They run on a strict set of rules, and don't seem to allow any element of humanity to waiver the way they work.

I have had my own personal dealings with the DVLA over their poor systems re car registration and got down the line of an 8 month battle with the next step court before they backed down and waived their 'fine' once an actual person looked into my fight with them.

They usually lose in court and are like a debt collection agency that rely on threats to pull in their fines.

Leslie

Yes I'm not surprised by what you say FP, I have had similar head to heads with them and their predecessors and as you say it is all mindless action by numbers with no sign of sense but all threats instead.

Glad you won in the end.

Les