"Ian Jackson" wrote in message
news:HaqjVjMBWi6HFwWJ@g3ohx.demon.co.uk...
> In message <47ea1288$1_1@glkas0286.greenlnk.net>, M.I.5¾
> writes
>>
>>"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.
>>
>
> Well, you do seem very positive about the surrendering of the expiring tax
> disc. However, although I've been driving since 1960, and owned my own
> cars since 1964, I have absolutely no recollection whatsoever of the PO
> keeping any of the old discs. As I said, I had quite a collection of old
> discs, and some of these went back to the late 50s.
>
As someone who found himself defending an untaxed vehicle charge while
renewing the tax in a post office (successfully I might add), I have a great
deal of recollection on the subject. I was of course unable to produce the
old disc, but did have the dated new one (post office stamp).
> Also, as I mentioned in similar postings a few months ago, the were one or
> cases reported (in the letters columns of magazines like Practical
> Motorist) where motorists were 'done' (or at least warned - we lived in
> more-sensible days then) that a premature display did not conform with the
> requirement to display a current tax disc. Although 'the law is a ass', I
> don't think it was that stupid as to make it impossible for you to do so.
>
I have not heard about such absurdities until relatively recent times.
> On the subject of 'premature display', although the V10 form says
> otherwise, I can't think of any reason why the new disc cannot normally be
> considered as being valid from the date of issue. It would be easy to add
> 'Valid from / / ' to the tax disc (to be filled in by the
> issuing office). This would cater both for renewals, and for the rare
> occasions where the tax does not come into force until a later date.
> Problem solved!
>
There really is no problem other that the ones invented by the plod. You
cannot get a tax disc in advance unless there is a curent disc in force.
Ergo, if you are displaying the new disc in the two weeks that you can
obtain it before the old one expires, it doesn't take the greatest detective
to figure out that the road tax is fully paid up (which is the object of the
exercise).
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