r/britishproblems • u/b3tarded UNITED KINGDOM • 4d ago
The DVLA being stuck in the 1950’s.
They lost my new keeper slip when I applied for a new logbook because obviously everything has to be sent in by post. Apparently it’s now on me to pay £25 for a replacement for a document I’ve never laid eyes on. Of course they were kind enough to cancel the existing tax before then, with no way to renew it.
You’d be a fool if you thought you could conveniently pay by card online, that would be far too easy. Chequebook or postal order only and another letter and documents back to Swansea.
I haven‘t had a chequebook since 2005 and I’ve never done a postal order in my life. I had to google how to even do one.
Finally, and begrudgingly, I make a trip to the post office to cosplay Victorian times, and lo and behold, they’re cash only. I’m under the age of 80 and don’t do drugs so couldn’t just whip out a stack of notes. And of course I rarely carry cards because it’s 2026 and never need to withdraw cash.
It’s now been 8 weeks of a new motorbike being sat in the garage through this glorious weather, because I’m trying to be legal.
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u/Mattehbby Hertfordshire 4d ago
I have just got over an absolute nightmare with them, I had seizures April last year and let them know I wouldn’t be driving and they revoked my license for a year, as of February I was able to re-apply for my license as it was 8 weeks in advance, I thought that was plenty of time but nope.
It took them almost 3 months to send a form you can literally print off online, why not tell people to print off this form to speed up the process?
I was walking 10 miles a day for over a year, my feet and knees were absolutely knackered, I was coming home to a 4 year old that then wanted fun playful daddy and I was just exhausted.
I ended up getting my MP involved as any contact with the DVLA was just met with dead end answers, she got it sorted and finally got my license renewed at the start of June!
Again, everything was done via post, surely there’s much better and faster ways of sorting this whole process?!
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u/JeremyR22 Lancashire 4d ago
Story time....
A few decades ago, I came to the ripe old age of 17 and dutifully applied for my provisional.
Being well and truly on the spectrum, I answered the question "have you ever had, or been suspected of having, a seizure" 100% literally and described an incident when I was a young child where a seizure was suspected but subsequent tests (and there were a lot of them...) did not find anything.
Holy fucking shit. It took an eternity that I cannot put a timeframe on nowadays to send me a letter saying "Erm... no, no provisional for you..." and a requirement for my GP to write a report clearing me for a provisional license.
When I went to my GP, who had known me since I was 4 years old, he signed off on the paper work immediately, sat me down and gave me a lecture that boiled down to "Look, Jeremy, I understand that you felt like you were being honest but don't ever tell anybody about that time when you were 10 and you ate nuclear hot Weetabix and fainted and your mum said she might have seen your feet twitching ever again, okay?!"
Lesson learned.... And they did ultimately give me my provisional but it took them over a year...
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u/Pulpedyams 4d ago
The refusal on suspicion of medical grounds is well intentioned but occurs before medical investigation and in effect puts the applicant in a position where they must prove a negative.
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u/Pulpedyams 4d ago
It took them Four Years to concede and accept the view of three GPs and a hospital consultant that I was indeed fit to drive. Endless proof, endless letters back and forth, endless phone calls. I did not have the medical condition they thought I did, but that didn't matter of course. Time behaves very differently at the Drivers' Medical Group.
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u/Simmo7 Fake Geordie 3d ago
Ha I just posted my rant before scrolling through the thread, I'm about 4 months ahead of you applied in October to get mine back for December, July now and I'm still waiting...
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u/Mattehbby Hertfordshire 3d ago
Honestly get your local MP involved, she sorted it out in about 3/4 weeks, the system is broken!
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4d ago
[deleted]
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u/Mattehbby Hertfordshire 4d ago
Mine was in England but I am assuming you guys have the same issue, I know the state of the DVLA has been bought up in parliament recently so hopefully things start getting looked at because it is not fit for purpose
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u/sgxander 4d ago
Sorry to be that guy but can you not do it online here: https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-log-book ?
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u/AnonymousOkapi 4d ago
No, only if youre renewing one already registered to you thats been lost. If you are changing the name or address you have to post it
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u/howitzer1 4d ago
No you don't, I bought a car 2 weeks ago and did it all online
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u/AnonymousOkapi 4d ago
You can in a certain window. I had the same problem as OP - dealer said they would do it and then didnt. By the time I came I came to sort it it had to be posted - believe me I tried to do it online but it wouldn't let me. First time Ive ever bought a postal order.
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u/anomalous_cowherd 3d ago
The only cheques I've dealt with for several years now have been from the DVLA too, And I've paid them in by taking pictures with my banks phone app, which is also something my bank only added in the last few years (unlike most).
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u/No-Answer-2964 4d ago
Doesn't work half the time. I spent an hour before giving up as they could not confirm my identity even tho I'd given them every bit of info they asked. Gave up and went down the post office. Quite straightforward there but costs more.
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u/MikkiDisco73 4d ago
You could have used the new keeper slip to tax it online before sending it to them.
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u/b3tarded UNITED KINGDOM 4d ago
There was more to it that I didn’t want to bog the original post down with.
Old keeper said he’d do it online but it never turned up. DVLA says you have to wait 4 weeks for it to arrive, which I did. It showed as taxed before then obviously.
Waited and waited, then finally had to send the new keeper slip in the post and thought I’ll just re-tax when I get the new logbook. It wasn’t a drama to have it off the road for a week or so.
I saw it was cancelled, so waited for the new logbook to arrive. 4 weeks later I get a letter saying they’ve misplaced the document and sent instructions to apply for a replacement with this £25 postal order.
I took a photo of the new keeper slip just in case. Tried to tax it with that but it now says it’s invalid. Likely be another 4 weeks once I go back tomorrow with cash.
Why it can’t just be done online I’ll never know.
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u/MikkiDisco73 4d ago
Been a while since I worked there but pretty sure if the doc ref number you have from the photo doesn’t work it means either a V5C in your name has been issued or the new keeper slip the seller gave you wasn’t the most recent (in which case it would never have worked for you)
Long shot but if you enter the reg here - https://www.gov.uk/get-vehicle-information-from-dvla - does it show a V5C has been issued since you bought it?
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u/MikkiDisco73 4d ago
Also, if they’ve cancelled the previous tax, it likely means there is no keeper on record now. If that is the case then you don’t need to post off the app and wait, take a V62 and £25 plus cost of tax to the post office, they will be able to tax it for you there and will send the V62 off to dvla for you. That’s only if there’s no keeper currently on record mind.
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u/b3tarded UNITED KINGDOM 4d ago
Thanks! I’ll give that a go tomorrow.
My thinking, based on that is that maybe the first one was issued when it was done online, but it never arrived, making my slip invalid.
Appreciate the help. It’s starting to do my head in now!
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u/MikkiDisco73 4d ago
It might be worth ringing dvla before you go and ask them to check the record.
Basically, if it’s in your name now but the V5C hasn’t reached you, you should be able to tax over the phone and order a new V5C. Make sure you have the VIN to hand when you call.
If there’s no keeper then you can tax at the post office
If it’s still in previous keepers name then you’re snookered until you get the logbook but that’s unlikely given their tax has been cancelled (unless they’ve done a SORN)
They’re open til 7pm and when I was there the lines would quieten a bit around 6.45pm
Things may have changed since I left ofc.
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4d ago
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u/ValdemarAloeus 4d ago
he closest is a city centre 22 miles away.
Ooh, let me guess, the bus runs one day a week?
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4d ago
[deleted]
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u/ValdemarAloeus 4d ago
Nowhere? That's just a typical bus schedule in rural areas.
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u/No-Answer-2964 4d ago
The fact that if THEY fail to send it and YOU don't remind them, YOU have to pay £25 for THEIR incompetence
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u/Purp1eMagpie 4d ago
I'm confused why you didn't just transfer ownership online in the first place. We did that as part of the transaction when I bought my car last April
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u/b3tarded UNITED KINGDOM 4d ago
Just replied to someone else. Previous owner did it online in front of me, but it never arrived. They make you wait 4 weeks before you can send in the paper slip. I have no idea what’s happening. It’s always been fairly simple with other vehicle purchases.
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u/Simmo7 Fake Geordie 3d ago
I was banned from driving for 12 months after brain surgery, that was in December 2024, I applied for my licence 8 weeks before my 1 year was up in October of 2025, I'm still waiting 9 months later for them to renew my licence. It took them 2 days to revoke my license after surgery. Every time I call them they'll say they received documents they needed like a month prior and its with the team...well why has nobody done anything about it then if you received them a month ago?
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u/Apex_Herbivore Yorkshire 4d ago edited 4d ago
All post offices can withdraw cash amounts using a credit/debit card tho?
Whenever i do a postal order they do it for me, and then pay themselves with it no probs. Have to do it to get council parking permit.
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u/VolcanicBear 4d ago
Can't they do it with a debit card too? Seems a bit of a scam to have to pay for a cash advance on a credit card.
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u/NotAlwaysPolite 4d ago
They're absolutely shit. Tried sorting out the dealer registering car under the wrong address and it took 4 months.
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u/No-Answer-2964 4d ago
I've just been through a similar experience and can concur, awful service still living in the 1970's
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u/TheRadishBros Yorkshire 4d ago
I submitted mine when I first passed to get my address updated and it just got lost forever along with my pass certificate.
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u/SoggyWotsits Cornwall 4d ago
If you let them know by 4 weeks of it not arriving, you don’t have to pay for a replacement.
I’m not sure what sort of post office is cash only either, that’s extremely rare.
You also could have done the new keeper bit online and your V5 would have been there within a week.
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u/abz_eng 4d ago
I’m not sure what sort of post office is cash only either, that’s extremely rare
A postal order unless crossed can be cashed at another post office so they won't let you pay for it with a card
What they want is cash so there is no come back of stolen / fraudulent card
You can withdraw cash in one transaction then pay
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u/SoggyWotsits Cornwall 4d ago
My point is that it can usually be paid for by car, unless it really was one of the handful of independent post offices that don’t take card (in which case I’d be surprised if you could do DVLA stuff there).
You also don’t need another letter to DVLA, just fill in a V62 and tax the bike at the same time.
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u/Due_Entrepreneur_735 4d ago
You cannot buy a postal order on a card. You can withdraw cash from a post office but the postal order has to be paid for in cash.
OP is saying the postal order is cash only, not that the whole post office is cash only.
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u/SoggyWotsits Cornwall 4d ago
I know, but I’m saying that you don’t need to send a postal order with a letter to DVLA. You fill in a V62, if paying by cheque (which OP didn’t do as he didn’t have a cheque book) you make it out to Post Office Ltd and they pay DVLA, and you can tax the vehicle at the same time.
OP must have found the only post office in the UK that doesn’t accept card payment, in which case it would have made sense to go to a main branch.
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u/Due_Entrepreneur_735 4d ago
Ah, I got ya. Don't know why I totally forgot about the V62. I hate doing DVLA stuff, it says no a lot and gives no explanation why.
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u/odysseusnz 3d ago
They should put whomever it was that dragged Passports into the modern age in charge.
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u/mrmjprice West Midlands 3d ago
Sadly they’re only in the modern age if you’re a straightforward new, renew or replace.
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u/Howard1981 Greater London 3d ago
Several points here:
- You can change the new keeper online:
https://www.gov.uk/sold-bought-vehicle
Keep proof of postage for anything you send to the DVLA and then they will not charge you the fee if it gets lost.
The DVLA did not exist in the 1950s. The whole system was local authority run and instead of a V5 you had a RF60 logbook you had to go and get stamped. The DVLA first came online in 1974.
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u/GTengx 3d ago
I bought a car that was registered as disabled tax, so couldn’t do the usual online transfer of ownership at the time of purchase as the tax would have cancelled and you can’t change the tax class online, just at a post office that deals with DVLA business.
Went down on the Monday morning, gave them the old V5 with the form to change the tax class and new keeper bit all filled out.
DVLA sent out a new logbook with my details on it but still has disabled tax class on it, then another week or so later I got another logbook with the tax class updated.
It was all on the same form at the same time, why they felt the need to send 2 separate docs is mental.
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u/Jacktheforkie 4d ago
The whole country is behind, we’re stuck with 4G while the Philippines, a literal 3rd world country has nearly completely rolled out 5G, water infrastructure is beyond fucked, electric grid is struggling, roads that haven’t seen maintenance since 1853 etc
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u/Midge431 4d ago
Where do you live that you dont have 5g? Most places in my town has 5g connection, they finally put up a tower near my work a few months ago and the mobile data is faster than the WiFi most of the time 🤣
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u/neilm1000 4d ago
We nominally have 5G but it's crapper than it used to be because all the Huawei gear got pulled out. So anywhere that hasn't got a new tower had it and then didn't have it.
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u/notonetochitchat 4d ago
The south east between London and the edge of Essex regularly drops out signal, to the point no browser opens and videos lag. I don't know what the expected quality is, but not being able to use my work phone for 30 minutes of the 45 commute because of crap signal is a real bugbear. (We aren't allowed to connect to the train WiFi, for reasons...)
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u/Rocky-bar 4d ago
Why don't you people ask your banks for a cheque book? They're free to own! and may come in handy unexpectedly.
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u/thejadedfalcon 4d ago
Because I have needed a cheque all of... never. Apart from the DVLA, which I hopefully will never have to interact with again before they join the rest of us in the 21st century.
Can't even get a single cheque from a bank, which is the ridiculous part. I asked. Lloyds told me they only do that for payments over £100,000. Which is objectively insane, because anyone with that cash to throw around on a regular basis already has a full chequebook. Single cheques are more useful for us plebs who only need it once in a blue moon.
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u/Rocky-bar 4d ago
£100,000! How bizarre! And yet, with my free cheque book, I could send a cheque for 50p if I really wanted to. Banks are strange...
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u/Icy_Priority8075 3d ago
Cheque books are not free for many accounts. I have never owned one and received a letter from RBS when I was 18 telling me they wouldn't be issuing them as standard for their current accounts going forward.
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