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When you take your car in for servicing or repair is it dealt with by a fitter or a mechanic. Personally, until recently, I didn’t know the difference and frankly it isn’t something that keeps me awake at night.

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But in new guidelines issued by the Government, as part of its plans to licence garages, it apparently fails to identify the clear distinction between the two which has upset a few mechanics. So to clarify, a fitter is someone who simply changes components as recommended by the manufacturer/computer.

Whereas a mechanic is someone who needs a much greater understanding as to how things work. So there you have it, recognition at last for the mechanics who have been confused with those far less qualified fitters! By Graham Hill

Did you know that as of 1^st October 2014 tax discs exist no more? It would seem that half the drivers in the UK are unaware of this fact so let me explain what is happening. But before you get excited it doesn’t mean that you don’t have to tax your car it simply means that you don’t have to display a disc which is expected to save the DVLA £10 million each year in this move to go paperless.

Thinking of a change but unsure as to the best way to finance your car? Then you need a copy of my car finance book, Car Finance – A Simple Guide by Graham Hill. Click on the link below to buy the best car finance book on the market, available as a Kindle Book and Paper Back.

It also means that as of the 1^st October, if you already have a disc, you can take it out of your windscreen, all part of the announcement made by the Government in the Autumn statement. In addition to no longer being required to display a tax disc there is another move over which car traders and dealers may not be so happy.

Cars used to be sold or part exchanged with a bit of tax left on it either giving the buyer some refund to trouser or giving the seller something to negotiate with when selling her pride and joy. In future, as soon as the DVLA are notified that a car has been sold a refund for the balance of unused tax will be sent to the previous owner. As before refunds will only be issued for complete months that are unused whilst the new owner must apply immediately for the tax using the relevant portion of the V5C.

Another, somewhat strange change, given the way that road tax has been coming down as CO2 emissions continue to reduce, is the ability to pay monthly. Paying monthly will increase the annual cost of the licence by 5% but drivers will be able to pay by direct debit to avoid forgetting and receiving a fine. In what I thought was a funny twist, paper tax discs are still being sent out till the end of September but the DVLA ran out of perforated paper so drivers are having to cut them out themselves.

I can just imagine the dog’s dinner that some have ended up with after attacking the disc with a pair of nail scissors or garden shears! So to sum up: You can still pay for your disc at a Post Office, online or monthly and you’ll still get a reminder. You can no longer transfer the tax, it is automatically refunded when the car is sold or scrapped and the DVLA advised. You will be able to check the tax status of any car by going online and typing https://www.gov.uk/check-vehicle-tax then typing in the car registration and make.

In future you won’t see traffic wardens peering through car windows unless they are being nosey or are perverts. In future tax checks will be carried out by police with plate recognition cameras, wardens will have access to the DVLA database and static plate ID cameras will crop up and will enable the authorities to raise instant fines to those drivers whose cars are captured without tax or insurance.

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

And don’t forget that you need to do nothing other than remove your tax disc on the 1^st October and maybe keep hold of to hand down to your grandchildren for posterity. By Graham Hill

Related articles

• DVLA about to ‘run out’ of tax disc paper (telegraph.co.uk)

Image via Wikipedia

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