TAX Expired. 7days grace??

[Timster]

Hi.

My wife just called me. I'm at work in the car. She informed me that our tax expired at the end of June. We haven't yet renewed it. DO I still have 7 days grace?

Am I breaking the law if I drive the car home?

Cheers!

 

[npuk]

Just renew the tax disc online now. It does say on the below link you can drive for 5 days while awaiting a new tax disc if you applied before the current one expired. Maybe give them a ring but you should be okay just keep a print out of the confirmation that you have ordered a new tax disc in the car.

Page Has Expired

 

[Timster]

I need the reference no. from the logbook, and there's no one at home to get it until I get home around 10pm.

 

[whitenemesis]

The offence is failing to display as well as not having a current RFL.

You could be spotted on ANPR cameras.

 

[renault12ts]

Stop worrying, it's only the 1st.

 

[trapperjohn]

ANPR, perhaps not in the wilds of Scotland?

 

[Timster]

Aye - no anps here.

Only problem is if (touch wood) I'm involved in accident etc on way home does it invalidate insurance?

Update: New disc has been bought online now thanks to friendly neighbour txting me ref no!!

 

[whitenemesis]

Just stating the 'official' line.. I'm sure you'll be ok

 

[st13phil]

Only problem is if (touch wood) I'm involved in accident etc on way home does it invalidate insurance?

Absolutely not. You commit an offence by failing to display, but it has no bearing whatsoever on the status of your motor insurance.

I would suggest caution about where you park until you're displaying a valid RFL disc though. Council wardens love to report expired RFL discs...

 

[LTD]

Go home, have a large dram and relax.

Tomorrow is a day when you can prove you bought your disc yesterday and the records should be updated.

It may be an inconvenience if jobsworth gets antsy but you have paid your money.

 

[neilrr]

1 day over!

You guys are worrying about things that don't need to be worried about.

 

[Smiley]

I need the reference no. from the logbook, and there's no one at home to get it until I get home around 10pm.

Did you make it home or are you banged up in the slammer now awaiting trial?

 

[trainer]

Have been guilty of the above on a couple of occassions when I forget. Thankfully have never been pulled over as a result

 

[Sp!ke]

I recently sold my W124 and the tax was about to run out. A few days after the tax ran out I got a letter from the DVLA reminding me that my tax had expired and that I had 7 days to buy it or I could face a fine.

(This was last month)

 

[whitenemesis]

I recently sold my W124 and the tax was about to run out. A few days after the tax ran out I got a letter from the DVLA reminding me that my tax had expired and that I had 7 days to buy it or I could face a fine.

(This was last month)

That's for not having a current RFL but isn't there also a separate offense for not displaying a valid RFL?

 

[Alfie]

That's for not having a current RFL but isn't there also a separate offense for not displaying a valid RFL?

There is indeed.

 

[corned]

Interesting thread.

The law is at odds with itself in this situation (now there's a surprise). Yes, you have to display a valid tax disc at all times on the road.

However.

The offence is, as has been previously stated, ""Failure to display". This is unrelated totally to the purchase of said item. I was always told (by Plod, the Post Office, etc) that this applied even if you had a perfectly valid disc but it was in the glovebox, or had fallen off the windscreen onto the floor.

So this does not sit with the fact that you are told that you have 5 days grace when buying online. You are still failing to display.

You would hope that the ANPR cameras are linked up to the DVLA and operate in real-time, but you are never going to find any reassurance that this is the case, are you?

Plus, if a roadside Plod pulls you over, then what are you going to say? "It's in the post, Guv"? That excuse hasn't worked in over 50 years! And is Roadside Plod connected to the up-to-date real-time DVLA system?

Does it matter whether they are or not? Do they even have to check? The offence is still "failure to display", which at that moment would be correct!

 

[Sp!ke]

That's for not having a current RFL but isn't there also a separate offense for not displaying a valid RFL?

As a motorcyclist, I never display my tax disk because if I do, almost immediately some scrote will steal it. I keep my tax disk in my bike jacket pocket and have done so for years without problem. Just make sure you've actually purchased a tax disk. I've never heard of failure to display being enforced.

Plod can check if it is taxed by the roadside to as once or twice I'd got caught out without the right jacket on (and without the tax disk in my pocket). Plod did a quick check, confirmed it was taxed and were happy to accept my reasons for not displaying the disk and sent me on my way.

 

[whitenemesis]

It's an old thread but still valid. The officer has discretion but usually results in a FPN and a £30 - £60 fine.

Displaying Tax Disc - PoliceSpecials.com Forum

When this came up before in a thread there was a post about some one caught failing to display and in their defense stated that it had fallen into the footwell... Thereby admitting to the offence!!

The offence is not ambiguous and there really isn't any defense. If the Police officer issues the FPN you done.

 

[Scott_F]

It's an old thread but still valid. The officer has discretion but usually results in a FPN and a £30 - £60 fine.

Displaying Tax Disc - PoliceSpecials.com Forum

When this came up before in a thread there was a post about some one caught failing to display and in their defense stated that it had fallen into the footwell... Thereby admitting to the offence!!

The offence is not ambiguous and there really isn't any defense. If the Police officer issues the FPN you done.

I'd have been happy with a £30 - £60 fine.

I was pulled over on the M6 in Cheshire on a Saturday afternoon in a car I'd purchased some 90 minutes earlier. I'd arranged insurance on the web the night before but without the policy details you can't buy a tax disc either on-line or at the post office and they take a few days to arrive.

I explained this to Dibble who checked out my personal and licence details, the car's MOT and rang the insurers there and then to confirm that I was in fact insured.

We then ended up waiting for a total of 45 minutes on the hard shoulder in heavy rain and traffic for a truck to "recover" the car to the services 2 miles down the road where I paid a £100 "release fee" plus £160 surety to be refunded once I had purchased a tax disc. Trying to reclaim the surety proved to be a major effort due to DVLA incompetence but that's another story.

When I asked Dibble why we were sitting on the hard shoulder of a busy motorway in appalling weather when we could both just drive to the nearby services he looked sheepish and replied that it was now the policy of Cheshire Police to seize all untaxed and uninsured vehicles and that this was the procedure that we had to follow. I think I was unlucky but you could be too.