Vehicle clampings soar for expired road tax after the end of tax discs

Data obtained by the RAC Foundation showed that the rise in DVLA clampings was far higher for some months. In July 2015 a total of 10,554 vehicles were clamped, up by 87 per cent compared with the same month in 2014.

End of paper tax discs in October 2014. More

How do you get a clamped vehicle released - see the information provided by DVLA. More

Newspaper reports
Times
Guardian
Daily Mail






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A report in the Times today says "the number of cars that have been clamped since tax discs were abolished has soared by more than 50 per cent amid claims that thousands of motorists are failing to receive official reminders through the post that their tax is due for renewal. Figures from the DVLA show that 99,307 vehicles were immobilised or towed away in the past 12 months, a 58 per cent rise compared with the previous year".

The figures were obtained by the You and Yours programme on BBC Radio 4 and appear to show that thousands of drivers have failed to get to grips with the electronic tax renewal system, which replaced the tax disc in October last year. Last night motoring groups criticised the agency for failing to give drivers enough warning before sending clampers to disable vehicles. The DVLA said that it posted almost three million reminders each month but admitted that it was under no legal obligation to send the warnings. Philip Gomm, a spokesman for the RAC Foundation, said that the V11 form — the official reminder — should not be the only warning that motorists received before their tax ran out. Their view is "the V11 should be just the start of the process; the clamping should be last resort. In between those two steps there should have been
other warning letters, at least a last-chance warning letter. Surely the aim of government is to make these things as painless as possible, both for members of the public and for themselves.”

The customer friendly response from DVLA's director of operations and customer services is reported as “DVLA operates a comprehensive package of measures to make vehicle tax easy to pay but hard to avoid. In the past year this has included writing to every registered vehicle keeper in the UK at least once to remind them that the vehicle tax rules have changed.”

But the simple fact is without the visible reminder on the road tax expiry date on the windscreen it is so easy to forget when your road tax will be due for renewal. What's the answer for those who found the tax disc a useful reminder - get one of our bespoke green Tax Paid Discs. Just send the basic renewal details and a green Tax Paid disc will be yours for your daily car and another for your MGV8! Guide note & Order form