The Resolver Guide to Dealing with the DVLA

Over the years problems with contacting the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) have received a lot of publicity. We regularly hear from people complaining about a range of problems that they’ve been unable to resolve. Here’s our guide to what you can do to sort a DVLA problem out.

What is the DVLA responsible for?

The DVLA is the sole organisation responsible for the registration and licensing of drivers in Great Britain. They are responsible for the collection and enforcement of Vehicle Exercise Duty (VED) – or road tax, to you and me.

The DVLAs main duties include:

Issuing driving licences – new, renewed or replacements
Recording driver endorsements (points on your licence), disqualifications and medical conditions that can have an impact on driving
Issuing vehicle registration certificates
Pursuing vehicle tax dodgers
Registering and issuing tachograph cards – devices for goods or passenger drivers that make sure they stick to the rules and maximum driving times
Selling DVLA personalised number plates

Most of us will encounter the DVLA when applying for a licence, renewing or replacing our license, buying or selling a vehicle, paying tax on a vehicle, updating our medical records, disputing records and obtaining any documentation relating to a vehicle.

What does the DVLA advise if people need to use their services?

The DVLA are currently encouraging people to apply online for most of their services. They say that this method is the “quickest, easiest, and often cheapest way to deal with us.”

You can always check the service they provide and any updates via their .gov.uk page: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/dvla-services-update#processing-dates-for-paper-applications

They are also advising that, if you apply online, you should receive your driving licence or vehicle registration certificate (V5C) within 5 days.

If there is a delay, there is a service that enables you to share your existing driving records with another organisation if you need to do this while waiting on your paperwork to come through: https://www.gov.uk/view-driving-licence

They do also currently have a contract with The Post Office to offer counter services at some branches which allow you to tax a vehicle or renew a 10-year photocard driving licence in person.

What are common complaints about the DVLA?

Because the DVLA processes a lot of paper-based applications and documents, various factors can have massively disruptive effects. For example, in the previous decade the COVID-19 pandemic, workers strikes and huge cuts to staffing levels have had a considerable impact on the organisation.

We regularly hear from people complaining about delays to their applications, waits on the phone of up to two hours or more or an inability to get in touch at all.

While most services can be sorted online, there are lots of things you can’t do online and sometimes original documents are required like identification documents for non-British nationals, doctors assessments for people who have had medical conditions and other official documentation relating to your capacity to drive may be requested.

Our users have reported long delays after submitting these documents, difficulties contacting the helpline and subsequent problems after being assured their application was being processed.

We are recommending that people use Resolver to register their complaints so we can report the data to the Government and DVLA itself. But you can also use Resolver to formulate your complaint then cut and paste it (you’ll need to get an email or link from the helpline or webchat) or post it.

What if I need to contact the DVLA?

While we still hear from people reporting serious issues getting through on the phone to the DVLA helpdesk, overall waiting times seem to getting shorter, coming down from the peak during 2020. However, be prepared to be on hold for quite some time.

DVLA Driving Licence Enquiries:

Telephone: 0300 790 6801
Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm
Saturdays, 8am to 4pm

There is also a ‘webchat’ function, though again, our users report that it is often unavailable:

https://contact.dvla.gov.uk/driving-licence

If you want to tax your vehicle you can also do this over the phone by calling 0300 123 4321.