Just over six months ago I bought an Astra from a dealer and taxed it using the V5/2. At the time I was under the impression that the registration document would follow in due course. It never did, and I never noticed that it never did. Also, the little reminder slip never arrived.
One day in early December my partner asked why someone had put stickers all over my car, closer inspection revealed that it had been clamped as well. The tax ran out at the end of last October. Within hours it was on the back of a truck and off to a compound somewhere. It cost me £80 fine, plus £120 surety fee that would be refunded if the tax disc were produced within 14 days. Not to mention taxi fares all over the place.

I thought I should be able to get a tax disc within 14 days. So I sent off all the relevant documentation, V62, etc. that same day. After 11 days of waiting I phoned Swansea to see what had happened to my registration document. I couldnt believe they now take 4 to 6 weeks to produce a registration document.

I wrote a nice letter to the wheel-clamping unit to see if I could get my £120 back once I eventually obtained the tax disc. No chance. I was reminded that without a valid tax disc the vehicle should not be on the road.

I cant take the car off the road, I, like most other people, need it for work, also I dont have off street parking.

Yesterday, Saturday 6th Jan, I was pleased to see a brown envelope with DVLC on it. My new registration document I thought, now I can tax the car. No chance ? it was a fine for £56 for my car being parked on the road on the 2nd of December.

This is a nightmare, I am a law-abiding citizen being made to feel like a criminal. How many more of these fines are on there way to my letterbox, how much more is this simple oversight going to cost me???

And shouldnt I have got a new registration document and reminder from DVLC upon taxing the car. Surely my details would be fed into the computer in Swansea. Or am I being naïve.
John.
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