Advice dealing with DVLA

spannerman

New member
Points
11
Location
retford
Car
crx vxi
Sorry in advance , as this will take some explaining.
I bought a car off ebay, the seller neglected to tell me the car was registered as disabled. This is obviously an issue with taxing the motor. Wasn't best pleased at the point of receiving the v5 when I discovered this , but in addition the cars details were also incorrect. They stated the engine size was 1550cc which means you pay the higher rate of tax instead of below 1549cc at the lower rate (car is infact 1493cc). At this point I contacted Swansea to find out what to do .
The bloke I spoke to said I had to return the V5 with a letter and explain the errors and what required altering. This was over a month ago, in which time of course I have not been able to use the car!.
Anyway today I contacted DVLA again to ascertain where I stood with the V5. The girl I spoke to said there was no record of the V5 ever being received, and went on to say I would have to apply for a new V5 and pay £25 for the privilege . She also said it was my responsibility to get proof from Honda that the taxation class was incorrect on the V5, at which point they would then make alterations when I return the V5 to them.
To say I was a bit peeved with the situation, and that I had had no input into the mistakes on the V5 in the first place (incidentally last owner has owned the 11yrs)
but was being told to pay for a replacement V5 at my cost was unbelievable to me.
Can anybody tell me if I have to comply with this rubbish or are they responsible to make amendments to the document and send me a corrected copy.
Look forward to responses.
 
Doesnt surprise me - the dvla are setting new standards in their admin - In the last 18 months they have....

Misread a number plate and registered it with the wrong reg. (they missed the 1 in 161)
* given a 1998 car a J registration
* registered a nissan as a toyota for absolutely no reason
all of these make it impossible to insure and therefore drive the car
*refunded me the wrong amount because even though they received the correct docs on 25th may by recorded delivery they didnt get round to processing it for two weeks so didnt refund junes tax.

but by far the "best" and this really did happen
The DVLA sent me two road tax refunds for the same car when I sold it .One for £72 (correct) and one inexplicably for around £210. Despite the temptation I just paid in the correct one They then sent me a letter pretty much insisting I sent back the other cheque at my expense. I declined .
They sent two more letters - the final one said they were taking me to court for the £240 even though I had not cashed the cheque.
This letter is now framed with the uncashed cheque
 
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It seems that the bureaucracy hires otherwise unemployable muppets .
Brian I take it they never followed up on their threat to pursue you for their money that was never missing since the cheque was never cashed ??
 
On the contrary I received a couple of letters, this was the final onedvla letter.png

They did not even check if the cheque had been cashed before sending this
 
IMO a lot of public servants would not survive in private industry where accountability is more likely to be rigidly enforced.
 
IMO a lot of public servants would not survive in private industry where accountability is more likely to be rigidly enforced.

My experience tells me that they would be fine. In fact, over here at least, public servants face far higher levels of scrutiny than their private counterparts and have to deal with a lot more grief from the public. They are also chronically understaffed at the coal face. Many years ago a friend of mine, who was pretty high up in Barclays, told me that if you knew how banks handled your money you would keep it under the bed. The recent banking scandals have proved he was right.
 
My experience was with various trades when I was working for a contractor where public service trades were involved as they had a different mindset something like "don't worry if it doesn't get done today then we will have something to do tomorrow" attitude whereas if we had to finish it today we got it done.

IMO a person on a wage rarely is driven as a person on a fixed price contract.
 
My experience was with various trades when I was working for a contractor where public service trades were involved as they had a different mindset something like "don't worry if it doesn't get done today then we will have something to do tomorrow" attitude whereas if we had to finish it today we got it done.

IMO a person on a wage rarely is driven as a person on a fixed price contract.

Fixed price contracts encourage companies and people to cut costs wherever possible, including using poor quality materials and unskilled labour, rushing work to improve profit margin and actually leaving items out.

Isn't it weird how threads can wander off topic :)
 
Agree re wandering :lol:

BUT feel that your views need a response as in my experience as a licensed builder entering into fixed price contracts involved specifications and plans that had to be adhered to as well as time limits with the homes I built being inspected at various stages to check that all the contract conditions,plans and specifications were being followed and approved before any payments were approved so one had to get on with it otherwise I would have been losing money if it took longer than the contract time limit.
Employing "unskilled labour" would have been foolhardy and disastrous to my business and bottom line.
 
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I was on the other side of the fence, organising highway maintenance contracts, either fixed price or remeasure. With fixed price is was a constant battle to prevent material that was not in tolerance (either temperature or quality) from being used. Even the correct material would be laid 10mm or so thinner than specified if not watched like a hawk. 10mm over 10,000m2 is a lot of profit.

With remeasure contracts, you still have to keep an eye on them or they will try to get you to measure in the few areas where they have laid to the correct thickness.

When we had our own labour, this wasn't an issue. You paid for slower progress but the correct material spec and thickness were used and the roads had less issues in later life. This was mainly due to contractors not compacting the materials properly and this is the single most important part of road laying.
 
When I built contract homes for a government department on occasion the inspector would want something removed and replaced despite it being within spec as per documentation and me being able to demonstrate this ( I carried the timber grading rules in my truck) but there was an overriding clause that said "to the inspecting officers satisfaction" which allowed him to overrule the tender documentation that specified "standard grade timber" and virtually demand the much more expensive "select grade" framing timber. this was when the framing timber was all green sawn hardwood and not the light pine used today.

This particular chap had a reputation of wanting a structurally sound within grade rafter replaced after the roof framing was complete and roof on and had seen /inspected progress twice a week previously.

I can see your point of view given the responsible position you had so conclude that our views on any subject are coloured to some extent by personal experiences.

Time to wander back on track :)
 
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But aren't ALL our views coloured by our experiences? :)

We have arsehole inspectors like that here as well.
 
isn't that usually where aholes are located.....down under?.... sorry.
Lost all hope of getting any useful advice with the initial thread but enjoyed the general conversation..
 
isn't that usually where aholes are located.....down under?.... sorry.
Lost all hope of getting any useful advice with the initial thread but enjoyed the general conversation..

No you only sent the reject A H's down under and kept the best for yourself.:lol:
 
Well the DVLA has supassed itself again.
Im registering a new car from Japan (pics later) and taking the number plate from my stagea.
To do this I have to send both forms in at once with all the correct docs and fees , This includes the V5 from the car with the number being transferred.
So the documents first go to the department that takes the number off the donor car. This has been done (which means they had received the old V5 )
Unfortunately the registration department cant register the vehicle because they have not got the V5. Yes the DVLA lost it between the two departments (in the same building) and despite having a record of receiving it they won't register the imported car with the number wthout the lost V5.
Luckily I photocopy anything that I send to the DVL so I am emailing a copy to them because looking for the lost V5 is apparently beyond them.

so crazy you couldnt make it up.
 
This is what happens when you constantly seek cost cuts and 'efficiencies'. There comes a point where things start to fall apart but it isn't noticed until too late. It's like drinking. You don't realise that you shouldn't have had the third pint when half way through the forth!
 

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