ok, so what a frustrating morning I have had…
my tax disc is due at the end of this month and I am methodical enough to make sure that my MOT and car insurance renewal are all at different times of the year so that there is never a problem getting my new tax disc.
I received my renewal reminder in the week and I have put together in one place all the papers I need to buy my new tax disc, namely car registration document, insurance policy, current MOT and a cheque made out to the Post Office for £165.00 – sorted!
I walk to the Post Office to find it closed. some kind of refurbishment works – damn!
go home, get in the car and drive a couple of miles to the next Post Office, park the car half a mile away – oh, OK what do I expect on a Saturday morning? I walk to the Post Office and join a queue which is about a mile long and snails pace slow.
by this time, I am beginning to receive those witchlike sense of doom jangles in my head – you know “You ain’t ever gonna get this disc you know!” “something is almost bound to be wrong with the papers” (last time this happened, my insurance company had written the wrong registration number on my policy).
anyway, I get to the desk and the chap says – “we cannot issue this disc until next Monday!” well, this is the point where I lost the plot and my temper.
the window between receiving your reminder and the date your disc expires is too small anyway.
now in this day and age, I really don’t understand why we cannot renew the tax disc online. my insurance details are with the insurance company (and a lot of people buy insurance online anyway) and they can either have some link to the DVLA or issue me with a specific reference number. the same goes for the MOT, my details should be with the garage that issued it and this can be verified by them electronically. the DVLA already has the details of my car and my ownership so what’s the problem?
and while I am at it, why cannot traffic wardens help carry one’s shopping?-- po, Nov 13 2004 (?) History of the tax disc http://www.virtualg...uk/taxdiscspage.htmI've become your go-to guy on the topic. [waugsqueke, Nov 14 2004] (?) I found out yesterday that this is possible for cars under 3 years old. http://www.guardian...270,1128052,00.htmlto quote the bottom line //To ordinary citizens, a programme that can't e-enable a routine chore such as car tax is about as credible as a beer bottle label in the windscreen.// [po, Dec 26 2004] now completely baked. http://www.silicon....403,39155502,00.htm [po, Jan 10 2006] ten years later https://movingon.bl...ur-tax-disc-online/Sue them Po. Retribution for parking tickets. [notripe, May 10 2019] Post Office? Oh yes, I remember them...-- thud, Nov 13 2004 So many government agencies (here at least) are starting to enable on-line payments, isn't this really just a me-too?
(Sorry, po, you know I love you really.)-- DrCurry, Nov 13 2004 its bordering on a rant oh, hot one! and when they bake it for real, I will let it expire...-- po, Nov 13 2004 Dumb question. What is a tax disc?-- waugsqueke, Nov 13 2004 It's like a brake disc but smaller, made of paper, stuck on the inside of your windscreen, and designed to stop you driving if you haven't paid money to the government.-- thud, Nov 13 2004 [waugs]: Not dumb at all. A tax disc in a piece of paper 3" diameter which shows that the annual motor vehicle excise duty has been paid. It must be displayed inside the windscreen (near-side, at the bottom), and shows the expiration date, the vehicle make and registration number (license number), and the issuing authority. It costs £165 for 12 months (less for tiny cars).-- angel, Nov 13 2004 Great idea! I hate post offices. My tax disc is due for renewal at the end of <whispered> *last* month </w> as I'm skint. However this will all resolve itself next week when I become solvent again, but I will then have to make time during a busy week to spend half an hour queuing at a busy post office. Worse still, as I'm late, it'll have to be ASAP, not on Friday when I have the time. Online everything please.-- wagster, Nov 13 2004 don't the Post Office ask awkward questions about the <whisper> lost month?-- po, Nov 13 2004 No, you just pay from the beginning of the current month instead of the next. I've done it before and no one loses the bap too much so long as you do pay.-- wagster, Nov 13 2004 I'm not sure of the exchange rate, but that strikes me as a fair whack.-- wagster, Nov 13 2004 no, UB. its illegal to drive an unlicensed car!-- po, Nov 13 2004 shhhhhhh!-- wagster, Nov 13 2004 //No, you just pay from the beginning of the current month instead of the next. I've done it before and no one loses the bap too much so long as you do pay.//Not True! - the rules are a changing and now if you have not renewed your tax disc and have not sent a SORN (Statutory Off Road Notification) form off to the DVLA they will send the Boys round. On another confusing note, [Po] sent me a text message today with all the gory details of her mornings work (in text speak that I am not very good at). I had just gotten off the golf course at Alto in Portugal and was being dropped off at Faro for my return flight - given that I didn't have her number in my temporary phone it confused the hell outa me - thought it was my brother!.Hi Po!-- gnomethang, Nov 14 2004 You forgot to file a 27B/6!-- waugsqueke, Nov 14 2004 gnome, you have a brother called po? what a coincidence.-- po, Nov 14 2004 random, halfbakery