DVLA storing up problems

The number of people who have moved recently has dropped but there is always delay at DVLA in recording changes of address. Anyone who had moved in, say, February should have sent their registration document by post to the DVLA within a reasonable period, say 4 weeks, and then expected it back 2 or 3 weeks later.

There is no option to amend your address by any other method, probably as a security feature. Covid-19 has brought almost all services at DVLA, except those which are on line, to a grinding halt.

Now what may happen is that if you commit a moving traffic contravention today in, say, Barnet. The council ask DVLA for the registered address of the keeper of the vehicle and given that they have put a stop on amending addresses a number of those are going to be out of date and the PCN will therefore go to the old address. It seems that somewhere between 4% and 5% of people move home each year. In London 2,147,900 PCNs were issued for moving traffic contraventions in the year to March 19. Let us suppose that there are 4 weeks' worth of address changes which have not been updated.

Thus, the number of PCNs which could go to an out of date address is in the order of 4/52 * 2,147,900 * 4.5% = 7,435

That is 7,435 people who will not have been properly served but the PCN enforcement process will rumble on.

Many people don't bother with paying for mail forwarding nowadays as they don't usually receive any mail, doing almost everything on line. The first they may get to hear of the PCN is when the bailiff clamps their car having traced a new address. That is clearly unfair.

The law, the London Local Authorities and Transport for London Act 2003, requires that the PCN is served on the person appearing to the enforcement authority to be the owner of the vehicle. Mr Mustard doesn't see how, given that it is the case that the DVLA register isn't being updated, they can hold that legitimate belief.

Yours frugally

Mr Mustard