Hey all,

It seems ive bought a car in March 09 off eBay that has disability tax. I crashed my van The previous owner didnt bother to tell me this and I didnt check the actual tax disc in the car until recently to discover the problem. I had only checked online and I recall it said it was taxed until summer. I have no experience of these things.

Now my problem is how to change the sodding tax back to normal! I went to the post office who said I hd to contact the DVLA. Ive looked around google and it seems going to a DVLA office is the only way to change it. I would have done this already but ive pretty sure they will have me wipped into a court for fraud and fined before I finished my sentence. I dont have any trust in out legal system and im speaking from experience. Do you think the DVLA will be undertanding and ask me to just pay for the tax from the date ive had the vehicle?

If I SORN the vehicle for a few weeks and leave it on my drive and then reapply will this get me back onto normal tax? or should I just sell the vehicle and hope there is no come-back?

It seems to automatically renew each month. For example I try to do it online and I get:
Tax Class: PLG
Vehicle Licence/SORN Status: Licence Not Due Licence
Start Date: 01 05 2009

Im not disabled so therefore the disability tax is invalid for me. I just want to make my car legal without being screwed by the system for something I didn;t know anything about. Basically what the f**k can I do to sort it?

EDIT: Hmm Im not even sure it is disabled now ... i just checked and there is no reference to disability car tax on the DVLA site! It just says:
Date of Liability    01 07 2009
Vehicle Status:    Licence Not Due
Vehicle Type Approval:    null

Id think if it was disabled tax it would say so on the tax disk ?

Id wait to renew it and see how much it costs...

was it a disability car ? because remember, how the previous owner told you it was propper tax ?

Edit: Called someone in the family, it seems the last owner should have removed the tax and posted it back to DVLA, and then you should of re-taxed it.

I dont have a tax disc at all and it seems to update itself online each month for +1 months of tax. I dont want to just leave it as id more than likely get caught out eventually.

Quote from: ERUI dont have a tax disc at all and it seems to update itself online each month for +1 months of tax. I dont want to just leave it as id more than likely get caught out eventually.

Did it not have a tax disc on it when you bought it? Were you driving it around with no tax disc? To be honest i would have personally queried all this before handing over any money.

I think your only option is to plead stupidity, the last owner should have cancelled the tax and taken any disc as it was specifically for him as a disabled driver.

But i think you should have looked into this sooner, the first thing they will say to you is, it is now May and you bought the car in March.

dvla office soon as you can.

they will want to sort it for you, if they grassed up everyone who came in with a lack of tax disc problem that they didnt know how to fix, theyd fill australia tbh.

Matt

Quote from: BaconI think your only option is to plead stupidity, the last owner should have cancelled the tax and taken any disc as it was specifically for him as a disabled driver.

But i think you should have looked into this sooner, the first thing they will say to you is, it is now May and you bought the car in March.

Tbh Id have thought many people would be in the same boat. I mean, people buy cars with xx months tax still on them, there is no reason really to expect this would be any different, unless you know how the disabled tax works, and how many know that?!?

I think worst case scenario is they will ask you to backdate to when you bought the car and pay those months tax, best case scenario they go "ah ok, thanks for telling us" and you get 2 months free tax.

Quote from: zpyder

Quote from: BaconI think your only option is to plead stupidity, the last owner should have cancelled the tax and taken any disc as it was specifically for him as a disabled driver.

But i think you should have looked into this sooner, the first thing they will say to you is, it is now May and you bought the car in March.

Tbh Id have thought many people would be in the same boat. I mean, people buy cars with xx months tax still on them, there is no reason really to expect this would be any different, unless you know how the disabled tax works, and how many know that?!?

I think worst case scenario is they will ask you to backdate to when you bought the car and pay those months tax, best case scenario they go "ah ok, thanks for telling us" and you get 2 months free tax.

Uh the person selling? Disabled driver/seller applies for it originally and is well versed on how it should be handled. Im not saying its ERUs fault, im just saying he should have questioned it, from the start.

Yes, but its not the buyers fault if he/she isnt told by the seller about the tax. Id have thought if the disabled person is well versed on how to handle the tax, they are given full responsibility over cancelling/transferring it at the end. And if not them, their carer. Its not reasonable to expect a buyer to have to cancel the sellers tax, and quite possibly not possible, Id have thought the DVLA would have to contact the seller once the buyer makes contact about the issue to confirm the situation. Otherwise its like someone phoning up a company and trying to change someone elses account...

Though buyer beware may also apply I guess.

EDIT:
Gah you edited your post whilst I was typing a reply ><

Still kinda applies though. Many people wont have heard of disabled tax etc. If they arent told about it, they wont expect to have to ask. They may be buying the vehicle on the impression it isnt taxed, with the intention of keeping it off the road for a while whilst working on it. If there is no tax disc, it would be fair to assume there is no tax on the vehicle?

I dont know what your banging on about. Its quite obvious a Tax Disc *Must be displayed (they broadcast it enough in the media).

And please read my previous post i.e.

Quotethe last owner should have cancelled the tax and taken any disc as it was specifically for him as a disabled driver.

Please stupidity. Ive had to do that in the past when Ive been late renewing tax etc.. all theyve ever asked me to do is back date it at the PO.

Quote from: BaconI dont know what your banging on about. Its quite obvious a Tax Disc *Must be displayed (they broadcast it enough in the media).

And please read my previous post i.e.

Quotethe last owner should have cancelled the tax and taken any disc as it was specifically for him as a disabled driver.

Im banging on about the buyer not knowing the tax disc is disabled and having possibly a different system in place in terms of cancellation. And do you have to display the disc if you have declared it as SORN/off road?

Just visit the DVLA or phone them, explain the issue and they should sort it for you.

If the previous owner removed the disk and put it in the post back to them it might be lost in transit. Either way you might have learned something from this.