"Ian Jackson" wrote in message
news:PYsB12JaLR6HFwHu@g3ohx.demon.co.uk...
> In message <47e8fec2$1_1@glkas0286.greenlnk.net>, M.I.5¾
> writes
>>
>>"Ian Jackson" wrote in message
>>news:UWQn21ErAM6HFw1z@g3ohx.demon.co.uk...
>>> In message <47e8b556$1_1@glkas0286.greenlnk.net>, M.I.5¾
>>> writes
>>>>
>>>>"IanAl" wrote in message
>>>>news:eo53u3hqoel4kijjdup1dpm5k4aoginf7p@4ax.com...
>>>>> On Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:31:07 GMT, "Alang"
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>19/03/2008 Alex Renshaw wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Can anyone please provide me with advice as to when a new car tax
>>>>>>> disc is valid from? I've read through the DVLA website and can
>>>>>>> find nothing regarding this.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> My current car tax runs out on 31 March. I have a new tax disc
>>>>>>> which says it is valid from 1 April. If I display it on my car now,
>>>>>>> is it legal and valid?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>I've never had a renewal tax disc with a *valid from* date on it. You
>>>>>>are allowed to renew a tax disc up to two weeks before the finish of
>>>>>>the old one. It has the renewal date stamped on it. Once you have
>>>>>>the renewal one you can stick it straight on.
>>>>>
>>>>> But is it valid at that time? Can you take the old one down
>>>>> straightaway?
>>>>
>>>>Has the situation changed since the early 1970's? At that time if you
>>>>renewed your tax disc at the post office you had to surrender the old
>>>>disc.
>>>>That means that if you renewed the tax disc in the 14 days before expiry
>>>>that you were permitted, you had no choice but to display the new one or
>>>>nothing at all.
>>>>
>>> You have never had to 'surrender' the expiring disc. You simply had to
>>> produce it.
>>>
>>
>>Not correct. The post office retained it as proof of their authority to
>>issue the replacement. The post office were prohibited from issuing a tax
>>disc if the original was not surrendered.
>
> Sorry, this is absolutely incorrect, I'm afraid. You had to PRODUCE the
> following:
> * Expiring Tax Disc (due to expire within the next 14 days, or having
> expired within the past 14 days),
> * Certificate of Insurance (or Cover Note) valid for the period for which
> the tax started (even if insurance expired the next day),
> * The MOT Certificate (I don't think that this had - or even has - to be
> valid as per the insurance)
> and, of course,
> * The Payment.
> All were returned to you (apart from the payment, of course). I managed to
> amass quite a collection a lot of old tax discs.
>
Your memory is either faulty or you are talking later times.
In the 1960's and the *early* 1970's you had to surrender the old licence
(and probably before this but I wasn't driving then). The licence was the
only evidence that the post office had that the vehicle was currently taxed
and they had to provide this to the licence authority (who at that time was
your local council - who used the cash to pay for the upkeep of the roads).
There were no computerised records back then. If you renewed direct with
the council, who often ran post office like renewal offices, no previous tax
disc was required.
During the 1970's the reminder was introduced (along with the DVLA), but you
still had to produce the old tax disc which you now retained. At this time,
without a reminder you couldn't renew at the post office. It was at this
time that your list above was correct apart from your omission of the
reminder itself (not returned). Both the insurance certificate and the MOT
had to be valid at the time of renewal (but not necessarily the next day,
even if you were renewing in advance - a recognised anomoly and still the
case today). The requirement to produce the old disc was soon dropped as it
was considered that the reminder did the same job (a reminder wasn't sent
out if there was no expiring disc).
In these more enlightened times, you no longer require the reminder as you
can now use a form provided by the post office, and the vehicle no longer
has to have a current tax disc, though you can't take a disc in advance if
it hasn't.
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