Can you please ask the DVLA why I am finding it impossible to tax my camper van? I have owned it for four years and have never had a problem.
I received my V11 as usual and attempted repeatedly to pay my tax online, but kept receiving error messages. I then tried using the phone service but with the same result.
I then took my paperwork to the post office, but they were also unable to complete the process.
I finally managed to speak to an adviser at the DVLA and was told that my only recourse was to send in a postal application. However, they also said there was a six-week delay in processing applications. I have been told not to drive the vehicle during the intervening period.
This effectively means I have been banned from driving the camper van for much of the summer, even though I have made every attempt to pay my tax.
RD, Lowestoft
The DVLA has not had a good reputation recently, with readers with licence and tax problems complaining of long delays. There have also been claims that it has been almost impossible to talk to anyone at the Swansea-based operation.
The Covid outbreak and subsequent strikes by staff have not helped, though I recently had to renew my licence and it came back in record time.
Your case was rather baffling in that you had always managed to tax the vehicle online previously and nothing had changed. I asked the press office to intervene, and within 24 hours someone called you and the camper was taxed.
Getting an explanation, however, has not been so easy. DVLA has declined, rather mysteriously, to say why you had the problems.
You are just happy to be back on the road.
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