Surge in car clamping after tax disc change

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/nov/20/car-clamping-paper-tax-disc-dvla

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Nearly 100,000 cars have been clamped or towed away by the DVLA following the removal of paper tax discs last October, with some drivers facing fines of more than £800.

The DVLA said 99,307 vehicles had been immobilised or towed away in the past 12 months, a 58% rise compared with the previous year. It added that the changes to tax discs had been widely publicised and that it posts almost three million reminders each month.

But the number of clampings surged from around 5,000 a month to 8,000 a month shortly after the change in DVLA rules. In July, 10,554 vehicles were clamped, up by 87% compared with the same month in 2014.

Release fees start at £100, but double within 24 hours, and errant motorists may also have to pay storage fees running into hundreds of pounds. Drivers must also pay a £160 surety, which is returned once they have correctly taxed their vehicle.

What is catching out many motorists is that vehicle excise duty is automatically cancelled if a car changes ownership – even if the car had a valid disc on the windscreen.

Previously, anyone selling a used car could post adverts saying “Taxed and MOTd” until a certain date. But now when a car is sold the tax, even if it has many months to run, automatically expires and the new owner has to tax it again.

Many motorists have found their vehicles clamped or towed away after they were given a taxed car by a relative, or swapped cars within a family. Those who are caught out have no right of appeal to an independent body and complain that the DVLA is acting unfairly.

The Guardian first revealed the sudden escalation in DVLA clamping in April. The latest figures have prompted motoring groups to criticise the agency for failing to give drivers enough warning before authorising clampers to immobilising vehicles.

It is unknown precisely how much extra revenue the DVLA has earned from the rise in clamping, but the figure has been estimated at around £15m.

Tony Ackroyd, DVLA’s director of operations and customer services said: “DVLA does not make a profit from clamping. We operate 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.”

Philip Gomm, a spokesman for the RAC Foundation, said the V11 – the reminder – should be just the start of the process and clamping the last resort.

“In between those two steps there should have been other warning letters, at least a last-chance warning letter,” he said.

“Surely the aim of government is to make these things as painless as possible both for members of the public and for themselves. Nobody should consider it a badge of honour that the number of cars being clamped has risen.”

The RAC is warning motorists to make sure the DVLA has their latest ontact details so that when the reminder is sent out itto the correct address.

Over the past year, the Guardian’s Consumer Champions have been contacted by many innocent motorists who have had to pay hundreds of pounds in towing and impounding fees, with all saying they knew nothing of the rule change.

One driver from London found that the car he had been given by a relative who was emigrating was clamped and he had to pay £650 in fines and charges to the DVLA. He was staggered at the bill because he said there was a valid disc on the windscreen.

Meanwhile, the average cost of car insurance is set to rise by 8% next year, equating to about £30 on the typical policy, according to accountant EY. It blamed rising claims costs and widespread unprofitability among insurance companies.