Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms DVLA Delays

Years ago I sold a Metro and all the paperwork went through quickly. Almost a year later I got a letter from a council in Norfolk telling me that if I didn't remove my abandoned Metro I would be charged for it's removal.
I made a call to the Council in question (don't now remember which one), and was told that the database used by councils at that time can take months to update. This was probably the late 90's. What was particularly odd about this was that the Metro in question was a low mileage Turbo, so maybe it had been crashed and abandoned. It was too far away to bother going to see.

I had the same experience, applied for my geriatric licence on line and the new one arrived 10 days later.

Had the same experience when we moved house last year when we had to change the address on my licence, new one arrived in just over a week.

Mine’s due later this year. I have already set a reminder in plenty of time to go the online route.
I remember the change to photocard licence years ago. Tried the online option. Getting an acceptable photo was an issue. All my diy ones rejected. A main Post Office had a photo booth for doing this so I ended up using them. Went on a Saturday morning. No good. The only person who knew how to do it was not in GRRR. Went back on Monday and done easily. Many years ago I “lost” my motorbike category when replacing a lost licence. I didn’t notice at the time. No idea why it happened. I didn’t bother querying it as no intention to go two wheeled again. Some people who have were put through hoops to get it back having to give hard to find proof. Ah well! Life’s too short to chase unicorns.
The routine online systems for tax etc have been very good. Simple and fast.

My son's situation is a bit "Catch 22". He has never received the V5C. To request a new one you have to supply the VIN number, which he doesn't have because the car was written off and scrapped. He can't notify the DVLA online that it's scrapped because you need the 15 digit number from the V5, which he can't get.

We have written a letter to the DVLA explaining all this and hopefully they will sort it out. I checked the registration online yesterday and found that the car was given a new MOT last week! My son had spun off the road last December in heavy rain, ploughing across a verge and hitting a tree. Amusingly the MOT has one advisory: "underside covered in mud".

Renewing your licence at 70 is OK unless you are a second class citizen without a passport. Then it all gets a bit blurry.

The basic requirements are an original birth certificate, plus a signed declaration from someone who can vouch its you, with a photo licence of their own, on the back of your mugshot, plus evidence of entitlement to state pension. This worked for MrsW a year ago.
This year, for me they sent everything back, along with a letter which listed evidence required, which is not evident on the forms. So they wanted P45, P60, and Bank statement showing receipt of state pension. They also got a snotty letter.

It's all a bit stupid, and clearly the jobsworths are generating work from pedantry.

Just a quick update. The Lexus my son wrote off last year has now been taxed and insured but the DVLA site still says the last V5C was issued in 2016.

The site also reports that VW Golf he bought in February was issued with a new V5C on 8th April, so hopefully we'll get that one soon.

The fact that the DVLA were apparently issuing V5Cs on the Saturday of the Easter Bank Holiday weekend makes me wonder if they are working through a logbook backlog.

My son had a speeding ticket for a car he sold two years ago (2021). The DVLA shows it was taxed at the beginning of March this year and MOT'd last October, but that the last V5C was issued in 2019 - the year he bought it. Can the DVLA be that far behind? It also begs the question as to how it can be taxed (the DVLA must have sent the reminders to someone - not my son) yet the registered keeper is wrong.
He is still trying to get an answer from the DVLA. He has challenged the ticket with the West Midlands Police who issued it, but not heard from them either.

Dies he have a copy of the details of the new owner / dealer he sold the car to Alan? I always scan/photocopy those details when selling a vehicle.

Thanks Graham. He does, and is following it up with them.

Just to resurrect this thread - bought my car on Saturday 6th May, change notified online that morning, new V5 arrived in the post Friday 12th May. Incredibly fast considering it was also Bank Holiday Monday. I'm assuming the online system is fully automated .