Vehicle Tax and MOT

[PanBiker]

I received a reminder for my car tax today which expires at the end of this month. We bought the car at the end of this month last year so the MOT is due by the 29th of May. Under the current Covid19 regulations my MOT will be automatically extended by 6 months to the 29th November. The rules say I cannot renew my tax until the MOT extension has been applied for vehicles due in May so I will have to wait until later in the month. The onus is on the registered keeper to keep the vehicle roadworthy during the extension period and you have to obtain a new MOT before the extension date runs out. DVLA do not extend the MOT's until about three days before their original due date so I will have to check nearer the end of the month and then renew the tax, I always do it online so its no great shakes. There is an email address to contact DVLA if they don't apply the extension in a timely manner.

[plaques]

My vehicle tax was at the end of April but the MOT to the old rules runs out at the end of May (this month). Two weeks before the tax end date I went online (internet) but the system kept rejecting my Santander cards. Not wanting to go up to the Santander branch I rang through to DVLA. Totally automated, press button 1,2,3 etc. Card number etc. Your vehicle it taxed. Why the internet rejected the card but their system accepted it I don't know. From my experience I would think you could tax your car at any time but have to wait for conformation about the MOT extension. I'll be going to take mine in tomorrow for a service and talk about the pro's and con's of delaying the MOT. I don't like the idea of having to prove the vehicle was roadworthy if an accident should happen especially if there was a big personal claim against me. I'm gradually moving towards having a second MOT later in the year just to shift the date and blow the expense.

[PanBiker]

My vehicle duty expires at the end of this month, the MOT on the 28th. I got reminder from the DVLA that the MOT date would be extended and that I could not tax the vehicle until the extension has been applied. I checked today and that is indeed the case so I renewed the duty online this afternoon, quite painless, (apart from the payment). My MOT due date has been extended to 28th November but I will get it done before that. Glad of the slight tweak as it needs some new tyres, they are borderline. I'll get the tyres done next month so we can spread the monthly expense a bit before I book an MOT.

[Stanley]

So glad none of this applies to me. There are advantages in getting old!

[Big Kev]

Not impressed with the Road tax for the Hyundai ix35, it's £165 a year. The Yeti was only £30

[Stanley]

Commiserations Kev. There are advantages to not being in the driver's club.....

[PanBiker]

Well, renewing the vehicle tax online used to be painless. Not so today, tax runs out at the end of this month. I have the V11 renewal form so I went online to renew as usual. Shoved in the 16 digit reference number which retrieved the vehicle details, elected to pay by credit card, put all the details in which apart from the CVV were all remembered by Firefox as that's how I normally do it. Put my email address and mobile phone number in as requested and hit the pay button. Pratted about a bit and then came back with an error saying I needed a Verified by Visa password, no problem there as I know mine but it didn't take me to the verification page just told me that my credit card was invalid!

It sent me back to the beginning so I repeated the whole lot but tried to pay with a perfectly valid debit card which was also rejected saying that the card numbers entered didn't match the account!

I hasten to add that we have a stupid amount of credit available on the VISA card and enough in our cheque account to cover if paid on the Debit card.

I decided to ring them up and take the opportunity to tell them that their website wasn't working properly! I managed to get the car taxed but the process was untouched by human hand or voice. All required numbers entered followed by hash and multiple button presses. I used the credit card as before and they took my brass ending with, "your car is taxed". No opportunity to get a receipt for payment which is what normally happens via email if you do it via the website. The phone option doesn't do alpha, only numerical.


A bit later..... just noticed that Ken had this problem in 2020 with a different card.

[Stanley]

Ah, the joys of not being a car owner.
(Swinton Insurance haven't taken the hint yet they keep recommending I insure with them....)