I am afraid I am not finding much time to be on Ciao these days but with a new puppy in the house I ...
I am afraid I am not finding much time to be on Ciao these days but with a new puppy in the house I have some doggy related products to review from time to time.
Member since:11.10.2006
Reviews:283
Members who trust:136
Yes, I know, it is a bind having to pay your Road Tax every year and I hate it as much as the next person but now that you can do it online much of the pain is taken out of the exercise. If you doubt that I really can promise you it is by far the easiest way I have ever renewed my car tax and I can't see me ever going back to queuing again at the Post Office!
If you own a car the next time your renewal notice drops through your letterbox you will see in large letters on the right hand side that you can now relicense online (or tell the DVLA that your vehicle is off the road). Not only do they make it clear that you can use this service they also give you, in very bold print, the reference number you need to use in order to do that. They list the web address for you and a telephone number to use if you want to do it by phone.
You can use the service from the 15th day of the month in which your current licence expires and can pay by credit or debit card although they do make a charge of £2.50 if you want to use your credit card!
The big advantage from my point of view is that I don't have to make my way to the Post Office and queue up with everyone else waiting to renew their tax disc at the end of February. To be honest it is probably the only time I go into a Post Office and it just isn't convenient as I live in a rural are and we lost our Post Office years ago.
So how easy is it to do?
I must congratulate the DVLC on this one - it really is a very simple process. All you need to renew is the 'notice to renew' (you should have received that from the DVLC) or your log book and your payment card. Go to the web site, select the option to renew your license and it will take you to a page which asks you to type in the reference number. As I said before this is very clearly printed on the renewal, type that in and press enter and the next page will give you the opportunity to check that the information they hold is the car that you own. If everything is correct you then go to the payments page and choose the period you want for the renewal (6 or 12 months) and pay over the money.
You don't need to find your insurance documents as they will have already checked your details against their database. Similarly if you need an MOT certificate they will check the details against the database for that as well.
I really couldn't believe how effortless and quick the whole procedure was. No trouble at all really except that my bank balance is now a little lighter! They promise to send the tax disc to you within 5 working days so if you are thinking of renewing your license this way remember to ALLOW ENOUGH TIME. You can, of course, ask for an email receipt of your transaction so should be able to prove you have renewed online if the disc takes longer to come through. I wouldn't rely on this though as there are two offences you could commit - one if you fail to renew your licence and one if you fail to DISPLAY your licence. You would just have to hope for a helpful copper I guess?
The only drawback I can see is the little note that says "if you have recently renewed, updated or changed your insurance policy or test certificate the electronic check may not be successful" If that happens you just have to join the queue at the Post Office - but don't worry it should be shorter than usual - I won't be there this year!
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Although I do agree that this is a much simpler and easy service - it can ONLY be used if you have received a new computerised MOT certificate which registers your details with the DVLA. Standard MOT forms (those handwritten and generally on the smaller MOT forms) are not accepted with this service, and are still in use by a lot of smaller and more localised MOT service centres. Kels
Essexgirl2006 21.02.2007 10:54
I did this last year - it is a much more efficient way than spending my lunch hour in the Post Office
Feb 17th, 2007
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