DVLA Advice and Guidance

The BVRLA works closely with DVLA to assist members in reducing the administration burden when dealing with DVLA.

Unfortunately, DVLA is fairly antiquated in their approach and many of their procedures require members to fill in forms and post documentation.

To access the legislative and policy changes which we are lobbying DVLA on please see the quick links box.

The BVRLA established a forum which provides members with the opportunity to:   

• Share best practice
• Agree problem areas 
• Propose solutions to DVLA  
• Assist with providing data to help lobby on system and procedure changes for DVLA 
• Assist with development of the motor industry services project

Red tape challenge

The Road Transport Red Tape Challenge was open between 20 May and 17 June 2011. The department received over 2000 comments. Within the Road Transport Red Tape Challenge theme, DfT placed over 400 regulations online for comment. After removing those that have already lapsed, 376 remain of which 142 will be scrapped or improved following a vigorous process of challenge.

Outcome of review

The Department for Transport published a summary of the results on 15 December 2011 of which the key areas relating to the DVLA are listed below:

1. On-demand vehicle registration (V5) documents for the fleet sector - By allowing vehicle owners to request V5 documents on demand rather than issuing them automatically from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), the government is removing the administrative cost of storing and distributing massive batches of documents.

2. Abolishing the paper counterpart to the driving licence - The government has pledged to abolish the paper counterpart to the driving licence by 2015. This will benefit all motorists, but it will also require the DVLA to introduce real-time electronic access to driver records for rental companies who currently rely on the information on the counterpart.

A consultation has also been announced by Department for Transport (DfT) on a programme of work which will transform the way that the DVLA delivers its services to customers. The consultation document can be viewed here.  

New vehicle registration certificate

The DVLA is to issue a restyled vehicle registration certificate (V5C). It will be sent to all newly registered vehicles from 15 August and all relicensed vehicles, or those subject to a statutory off-road notification (SORN), after July 2011. The DVLA says the move will help protect motorists from being sold vehicles with false documentation. The new V5Cs have a predominantly red cover, replacing the current blue, and carry a statement confirming that a V5C is not proof of ownership. The old and new V5Cs can be compared on the Directgov website.

The BVRLA will be working with the DVLA to find a solution to reduce the administration burden members will face when the new style V5C starts being issued to members when they relicense and SORN vehicles. Suggestions so far include supressing issuance of the V5C to members with a DVLA fleet code until the registered keeper changes or bulk replace the V5C's in a controlled manner. If member's have any other suggestions of how the impact of this change can be minimised contact legal and policy executive Amanda Brandon.

Contact:
Amanda Brandon, amanda@bvrla.co.uk  
01494 545701

Vehicle keeper changes

In a bid to protect the integrity of the vehicle keeper register, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has said that it must be notified of any errors in a vehicle keeper’s name within six weeks of registration. Any subsequent alterations will be treated as a change of keeper, thereby increasing the number of former keepers.

The limit will not apply to any other changes on the vehicle registration certificate (V5C), including such as adding or change a fleet code or amending the address.

First year VED 

In April 2010 a new first year rate of VED was introduced for all new cars purchased. Rental members who dispose of vehicles within twelve months will only be paying this first year rate and will end up paying nothing to tax their cleanest vehicles (lower than 130g/km CO2) but more to tax their higher polluting cars.

Six month tax discs will not be available for vehicles over 165 g/km CO2 and refunds on the unexpired portion of discs for these vehicles will only be paid as a proportion of the applicable standard rate. Our fact sheet available in the quick links section provides full details on all the changes.

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