if my tax disc runs out today am istill legal till the post office opens?

Answer 1

Technically, no. But there is a grace period, and you are very likely to not get caught.
I get my tax disk at least a week late every 6 months. Not been caught yet.

Answer 2

Assuming that (a) you have a valid MOT and (b) valid insurance then the "unwritten rule" mentioned above will apply - you do get a certain amount of grace. If it is only a tax disc you require then the police may decide to believe you, and allow you to buy one as soon as possible on Jan 2nd.

If you are driving without a valid MOT or insurance as well (and they do usually all run out at the same time) then the situation will be a bit different - they would be within their rights to impound your car and charge you, even if you produced a letter from a mechanic at your local garage saying that it was booked in on January 2nd. At this point, it would be up to the individual policeman whether to believe your story or not and write you a ticket. It is the Christmas and New Year holiday, so they might be charitable. Either way, I suggest you present yourself at a Post Office at 9am sharp tomorrow morning. In the meantime as long as all you are lacking is a tax disc then it is safe enough to drive for the next week or so. If not, then get a bus!

P.S. - You can apply online, you know, like right this minute - as long as you have a debit/credit card to hand. Then you WILL be covered!

Answer 3

NO, once the tax disc has run out you are illegal, there is no such defense as 'in the post' or Post Office not open 1st Jan. You can get a new tax disc in the last 14 days of the preceeding month, so you should NEVER let it run out.

Answer 4

No it's not Legal to use the vehicle with an out of date tax disc, there is no such thing as a grace period, and as you are sat at a computer why didn't you renew online?

Oh and by the way, you insurance is likely to be invalid as well

Answer 5

There never was a "grace period", it was just that DVLA didn't bother too much before 14 days were up. Nor did anyone else. You might get away with it if you can, if needed, show the policeman the ready-prepared application etc all ready to go tomorrow. It'd be pedantic to a fault to "do" you over one day when the PO is closed, tho' there's nothing stopping you renewing it online right now!

Answer 6

No, you would be driving a vehicle that was not legally taxed. It is even an offence to leave it on a public road. When I get my reminder in I just renew my licence on line. It takes a couple of days for the disc to come through, but at least it is taxed.

Answer 7

the car must be taxed if you are usin g it on the road the 14 day grace myth was brought about as that used to be the length of time after the 1st the post office used to keep the discs. after that date you would have needed to go to the dvla office. they do keep them longer than that nowadays though

Answer 8

No, it is illegal to drive an untaxed car on the roads and there is no period of grace - the renewal date has been sitting on your windscreen for 12 months now! Don't believe any crap about "unwritten law" - it doesn't exist. The MOT cleared this up a couple of years ago. There is NO grace period.

Having said that, it would be very harsh to do you for that when the Post Offices are closed until tomorrow.

Answer 9

Hi,

I had this problem in the spring of last year, so i called the DVLA & a very nice chap told me that i had 14 days to get it sorted & if you get stopped all they do is report it to the DVLA, but if you get your tax straight away, within the 2 weeks then they say nothing. Hope this helps.

Answer 10

legally no. Because you would have recieved a tax renew reminder letter at the start of december to give you time to get it before the old one runs out.

Answer 11

<> Just because something it legal doesn't mean it's right. <> There's a reason you can't spell 'assume' without '***'. People who assume too much end up making asses of themselves. < murder, how come?>> Doesn't make sense, does it - and yet, there you are advocating people merely ASSUME the government is right! <> WRONG! <> Ad hominem attacks hurt your credibility. Perhaps Marc, like me, doesn't see too much in the way of credibility when reading your question. < is NOT murder.>> The term "fetus" literally means "the young in the womb". The fetus IS a living human being. Life begins at conception, not birth nor some arbitrary point in between. Therefore, every abortion constitutes the murder of an unborn human being. <> But the fetus IS human. Therefore, abortion IS murder. < and stupid imagination.>> What's so narrow minded about acknowledging the unborn for the living human beings they are? Since you're unable to do that, wouldn't that suggest your mind is in fact more narrow than mine? < person NOT two.>> That just goes to show how schizophrenic human institutions can be - and you want to ASSUME such an institution (the government) is right.