Tax discs: thousands of motorists denied discount by DVLA

The consumer website money.co.uk estimated that 759,303 people were due to renew their car tax in October and paid for six months, therefore missing out on the direct debit option.

It calculated that denying drivers the option cost consumers up to £3.3 million.

It came as thousands of motorists have been left without their road tax after the DVLA website crashed following its switch to a new system yesterday.

People trying to access the system to purchase their tax discs were left waiting hours for the system to come back online.

Hannah Maundrell, Editor in Chief of money.co.uk said: "People who had to renew their vehicle tax for the month of October will unfortunately miss out on the option to pay by direct debit. Given the new tax system came into play today, it's a real shame drivers couldn't start saving money from the very start of the scheme and not one month later on the 1st November. Much as we appreciate there has to be a start date is seems a little disjointed to say the least."

DVLA said the legislation surrounding the abolition of tax discs and allowing payment by direct debit meant it had to be brought in together and it was unable to offer the direct debit option sooner.

From yesterday tax discs are no longer being issued to drivers, ending a 93-year-old tradition.

Responding to the chaos yesterday, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) said: “We are currently experiencing high volumes of traffic to our online vehicle tax service; please keep trying. Sorry for the inconvenience.”

Anyone caught avoiding road tax can be forced to pay a £1,000 fine. The DVLA said 6,000 applications a minute were made online last night, forcing the registration agency to shut at midnight.

Edmund King, president of the AA, said: “We’ve had a number of our members coming on to us say that the DVLA car-tax site has crashed. It’s a bit ironic in this digital age that the site goes down on the first day of the electronic system coming into being.

“I think that not only a lot of people have tried to get on to the site to renew their car tax but also a number have tried to access the site to find out how the changes to the car tax system affect them

Drivers took to social media site Twitter to vent their frustration.

Manindra Shrestha ‏posted: “Dvla site has crashed.... It is suppose to be new beginning.”

Motorist Alan Gibbs ‏wrote: “Useless!! #DVLA website crashed, phoneline down. Been trying all evening to pay #CarTax What a shambles, what a disgrace.”

The DVLA said more than 270,000 people successfully used its online service yesterday - 30,000 more than on the same day last year.

Vehicle owners will no longer have to display the vehicle excise duty (VED) disc on their screens, with the system becoming “electronic” in that VED will be renewed either online or at Post Office branches.

The Government has said the abolition will eventually save the DVLA around £7 million a year.

But motoring groups the AA and the RAC have both expressed reservations about doing away with the paper disc, while an Auto Trader survey showed a lack of awareness of the disc’s abolition.

One key change from yesterday is that those buying a vehicle will not be able to take advantage of the remaining months and days of the car’s existing VED and will need to renew the tax.

The AA said some of its members had complained that in certain cases the Government will get “double money” from drivers as someone selling a car during the month will not be able to get a refund for the rest of that month but the buyer must tax the vehicle and pay for the entire month if they want to drive it.

The RAC has expressed fears that, with the end of the paper disc, the number of motorists failing to pay VED could become as high as the number who drive without insurance.

The motoring organisation said this could result in a £167 million a year loss to the Exchequer.

But the DVLA has said there is “no basis” to the RAC figures, adding it is “nonsense” to suggest getting rid of the tax disc would lead to an increase in vehicle tax evasion.

Those selling a vehicle will be able to claim a refund from the DVLA for unused months of road tax.

Those who have not paid their tax will be spotted on automatic number plate recognition cameras or by police checking VED data information.

Website Auto Trader said a survey of drivers revealed up to half were unsure about the actual process behind the switch to electronic discs.

The poll also showed 39 per cent were unaware it would no longer be possible to transfer road tax between the ex-owner and the new buyer of a vehicle, while 17 per cent were unsure of where to now pay the road tax. Also 26 per cent of drivers did not think the change is a good thing for consumers.

Tim Marriott, a spokesman for the Auto Trader website, said: “There has been a lack of guidance and advice.”

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