Cherished Number Plates News

76% OF DVLA Queries Are Answered Wrongly

23 December 2008

A recent survey found that over 76% of all enquires to the DVLA are not answered to the quality that we would expect. The recent study involved one hundred enquires being made to the DVLA on the issue of car tax and its costs. The enquires were made by both phone and e-mail showing the lack of competence and training within the DVLA. The problem was highlighted when a report was made about a wrongly quoted vehicle.

The biggest problem the people in the DVLA call centre is the lack of knowledge about car emissions and the tax charges related to each vehicle. Every car is placed into a ‘band’ regarding how much co2 it omits into the atmosphere and charged accordingly, the DVLA staff see to be unaware quoting tax charges to is customers.

After 2010 cars which omit a higher amount of co2 will be moved up in the rankings and will therefore have to pay more taxes. The call centre staff don’t seem to know which band each car will be placed into when the new restrictions come into place. Each wrongly quoted vehicle is costing an extra £104 to the paying customers. There have been allegations made against the DVLA that this is being done on purpose to rake in more revenue for the authority who are already on a tight budget. A DVLA spokesperson said : “The agency apologises for the confusion caused in our responses regarding the VED rates in 2009. DVLA has taken steps to ensure that we are now giving out correct and consistent information.”

Whether or not these misquotes will continue is unknown. The DVLA staff will be properly educated regarding the quotes and new bands. The DVLA has assured the public that they are not being misguided and can rely on them to provided reliable information from professional people.