car tax and insurance

[Evil Sid]

Well actually bike tax but I will assume that car tax will be the same.

 

Today, armed with my MOT, Insurance certificate and the form I headed into town to the main post office to sort out the tax disc. After waiting the statutary forty or so minutes whilst the four people manning the eleven positions served whatever number came up on the bingo screen, my number came up. I handed over all the paperwork only to be told that I did not need my insurance certificate as it was on a database these days.

 

I do not know if she checked or whether when she scanned the bar code it came up on screen that I was insured.

 

So you do not need to take your insurance certificate as long as you are insured.

 

Now come september/november they are doing away with issuing tax discs. I asked if that meant that i could pay my car/bike tax at any post office as opposed to a main post office. the reply was that they thought that would be the case or even paypoint. in that case if I go to my local shop and pay for my car tax, how do they know that I am insured or not or if I have current MOT or not and if I am not will the machine refuse payment.

 

Somebody in the gov must know the answers to these questions. The people at the post office didn't.

[Dizzy]

I've not done my car tax in the post office for years now Evils as I always do it online.  Within a matter of seconds of typing in my renewal number and confirming the reg and vehicle it has always checked to see that I have insurance and a valid MOT and said 'ok'.

When our son got his first car a few months back we did have to do it in the post office though... all we had was the part of the registration document that we had just been handed by the garage we bought it from and that's all they needed then too.  Bit surprised they didn't need to see a valid insurance certificate in my sons name though but glad in a way because we hadn't insured it as we'd only had it 20 mins.

Not sure I agree with them not issuing tax discs after september to stick in our cars though, it's the only way I remember when mine is due    I guess I could make my own as a reminder though and stick it on the inside of my windscreen

[observer]

Think the easiest method is to do it by phone.

[Dizzy]

Is it all automated by phone or do you have to hang on in a queue to speak to a real person ?

[Evil Sid]

Alway try to avoid doing any tranactions online as I do not trust the security. Not at their end but at mine. Even though I have a firwall active and two different anti virus checkers as well as several programs that will check for malware and the like there is always the chance that soemthing has slipped through the net.

 

Besides which if I go to the post ofice it keeps the person behind the counter in a job. OK so they think that it is a bit of a pain having to write in those little boxes on the tax disk but having to wait for somebody to reply to the number called can't be much fun either especially when they have decided that there is too big a queue.

 

They are on about going down the direct debit route as well so that you pay for your VED (vehicle excise duty/ road tax) in monthly installments or two half yearly installmants or in one installment. maybe I am over cynical but they charge a certain amount extra for half a year. Will they keep it at that level or will they add a little bit extra on for every month. If they add say £18.00 for paying for six months, will that amount to an extra £3.00 for monthly payments or will that creep up to say £4.00 per month netting them an extra £48.00 per year. maybe we will find out in due course, possibly on the dvla website, will check later on.

 

 

I don't mind doing tranactions over the phone but do object to having to call an 0845 number to pay a bill and then spend ten minutes keying in endless numbers just to pay a bill.

 

Is it me or are people today less tolerant about waiting in a queue.

[observer]

Think folk don't like standing in queues Sid;  Diz, it's automated, you just press your phone keys as required.

[Davy51]

Don't know how easy it is to tax a car by phone but the last time i had to phone Swansea over another matter i just kept going round in circles.

[AdrianR]

Motor Insurers Database is connected directly to all these systems hence why it checks in seconds. Only concern is can sometimes take a few days post taking insurance out for the MID to update.

[sadako]

I have always done mine online and have never had a problem....but then I always have insurance and a valid MOT. I find the online method very easy and fast. The only thing you need is your V5 form for the vech code I think.