General Chat

hee hee, don't tell old bill,

but I used to run my motor bike on paraffin,,,,,
a small bottle of petrol to get the thing started and when it was warm ,switch on the paraffin.......only snag was standing at traffic lights, was the delicate aroma of,

a blowlamp.........LOL

Oh yes Bob I have my petrol rationing book too!

OFITG......I worked for govt depts for over 27 years!

strange, things we collect, innit?

somewhere I have the book of ration tickets for petrol rationing, back in the 50,'s and again in the 70's?

thanks ann my oh has a whole wad of tax discs he kept

sally w <3

most people don't have a tax disk round here anyways
well not a real one lol ;-) ;-) ;-)

surely we are not obliged to remove a tax disc just because the need to display is now defunct.........it can be left in the windscreen until it expires.....


AND what about the old conviction of displaying an out of date one
is that also now defunct???

apparently some old tax discs are quite valuable

I am considering printing a round disc with the International disability symbol stating that my vehicle is tax exempt and putting that where the tax disc would usually be sited.

My local council says that a scheme using a QR code affixed to the windscreen is being looked at. Whether anything happens who knows. Parking authorities tend not to understand the difference between blue badge and tax exempt. Blue badge goes with the person and does not often give any free parking. Some councils do for residents and issue a special windscreen sticker. This is NOT available for tax exempt cars! The blue badge holder MUST be present. Tax exempt goes with the car. The disabled person need not be present. The vehicle must be used on behalf of the disabled person eg pharmacist, shopping. If the driver is not a blue badge holder then displaying a blue badge with bbb holder not present is an offence. Thus the new system really has its knickers in a twist.

It may be worth adding that in the case of both tax exempt and blue badge the disabled person is not required to hold a driving licence.

Sooner or later a fine is going to be issued re tax exempt car, will be ignored and end up with the Northampton courts system and a huge fine.

Agree with Rollo, my vehicle is tax exempt and some car parks do state that I can park free of charge with this class of license. (Not many I hasten to add).

This is a snippet from one authority's site:

Note: If a vehicle is not displaying a Nil and Disabled tax disc or has not been applied for exemptions as above, then the Enforcement Officers will not be aware of its status and will issue Penalty Charge Notices. The vehicle must also display a valid blue badge to receive the exemption.

This approach will continue until the Council has determined its long term policy in the New Year 2015, upon which further guidance will be issued.

I foresee a nightmare with challenges to fines.

Disabled people have been able to claim text exempt status for their transport. A normal disk has been issued at zero fee. This exemption continues. However the disk has been the only visible proof of entitlement. Much of the time parking for tax exempt vehicles is free. There are also yellow line exemptions. The DVLA now apparently expect parking wardens to check online with DVLA when there is a parking infraction. My wife gets regular tickets even with the old system which have to be appealed. That is because the warden does not bother to read the disk. I can only suppose that there is going to be a sharp increase in tickets issued re tax exempt vehicles as I cannot see wardens hanging around to quiz DVLA via a smart phone or call to office.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has advised drivers to "keep trying" after its website buckled under the strain of "unprecedented demand" for the electronic version of the disc.

Many people have been unable to get on to the site today, prompting the DVLA to issue an apology but a spokesperson denied that the site had actually crashed. The DVLA said:-

"More than 270,000 people successfully used our online car tax service yesterday - that's 30,000 more than on the same day last year. We are currently experiencing unprecedented demand which means that some customers may be experiencing slow response times or having difficulty accessing the service."

They added "We are of course very sorry for any inconvenience and we are urgently investigating to improve service quality for the minority of our customers that are experiencing issues. The system has not crashed - it's just slow at the moment. We are advising people to keep trying."

I still drive on a green licence. It works.

Haven't paid road tax for five years now. Didn't always pay it before but now it is legal!

When I bought my '79 Spitfire last year, it had all of its old tax discs stuck neatly into a folder. Current tax expired yesterday, so that will be the last one.

Andy

Impossible to get on there site tonight must be all the panic,
So now what ,have to try again tomorrow or phone
Progress. It's a joke ,,,,init

Perish the thought!!!

I have been renewing mine online for several years now, except when I bought a special number plate
sad to see the local offices go though, they were a big help to me with the forms and things for my plastic licence....

talking of memento's, I I still have my red book licence and the provisional I needed to go from motor bike to car and my green paper licence valid from '75 til 2007 when I turned 70..

Annx - surely your not saying you don't have faith in, government or their agencies, IT systems ;-)

I shall keep my old disc as a momento! :-)

I still don't like the idea of not having one as it was so easy to just look at to check when your tax ran out.......maybe I don't totally trust getting a reminder!!

Got my road tax in the week.... All the post mistress wanted to see was the renewal notice....mot and insurance was all on the computer

Just a reminder that from 1st October 2014 vehicle owners will no longer need to display a paper tax disc after a 93-year old system comes to an end. The current system has been in place since 1921 and provides visual proof that drivers have paid Vehicle Excise Duty - also known as car or road tax.

However, from the beginning of October the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) will use an online system designed to cut costs and make it more convenient for motorists to pay their tax - under the new system:-

Vehicle owners will still be required to tax their vehicles as before but paper discs will no longer be issued.

The DVLA and the police will use an electronic register and automatic number plate recognition to monitor tax payments.

Motorists will be able check whether their vehicle is taxed using the DVLA's online enquiry service.

Road users will be able to automatically renew their tax payments using a new direct debit (D/D) payment system.

Tax reminders will still be issued.

Anyone selling a vehicle will get an automatic refund on unused tax which will mean the new owner of the vehicle will have to pay tax before driving the vehicle.

Full details can be found here:-

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/vehicle-tax-changes