DVLA have lost my V5, help!

PaleRider1975

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So I've a bit of an issue with the DVLA, I moved home in May and my V5 was sent to DVLA for the change of address along with my fiancée's in the same envelope.

She received her V5 2 weeks later, I'm still waiting for mine 3 months later.

I've since traded the old car in for a new car, the car dealership have taken £250 deposit against the V5 which they will refund me when I provide it to them.

To further complicate things I had a private licence plate which I can't apply to retain from the DVLA until they provide me with a V5, which will further delay the issue of the V5 for the car dealership.

I'm unable to speed things up and apply for a lost V5 online as I have changed address, the DVLA website says that due to this I would need to apply via a manual form but this requires the VIN for a car I no longer have.

I'm loathe to apply for a lost V5 and pay £25 for something that is not my fault, especially as I know that they received the V5 for my change of address in May.

DVLA have been pretty useless when I contacted them and said to wait due to the backlog they're experiencing.

Has anyone had the same kind of issue and managed to resolve it?
 
Years ago i had an issue with the uk passport office and i ended up contacting my local MP (Nick Gibb at the time) who was brilliant and got the issue resolved not just for us but a change in the training for the staff to prevent the issue arising for someone else again.

Basically try your local MP they will be able to forward your case to the "Parliamentary & Health Ombudsman" if necessary.

Before that you can email the chief executive for the DVLA this is Julie Lennard [email protected]

I would send her a mail factually telling her what has happened and asking her to see if she can assist in resolving the issue and then every 2 days send her a follow up mail asking if shes managed to get anywhere yet? each time cc in your local MP always be polite and stick to the facts leaving out any emotional statements.
 
I hear the OP is loathed to pay for a replacement V5 but to me that seems to be the “easy” route to get this resolved, and complete the sale on the trade in and just move on.

It’s one of those situations that creates an edge/impossible case and would hit several security verification steps. Very unfortunately and annoying.

But once you get the V5 again, then removing the plate will be instant, a new V5 will be issued within days fully automatically and then you can provide that to the garage and get your V5 deposit back.

One step at a time, trying to do it all at once and providing all that information at once just complicates it for the recipients and then they’ll have to remove whatever irrelevant information.
 
Had a similar problem a couple of years ago, just paid the £25 and got on with my life.
 
Or..
Keep photocopies of ANY important documents any authority requests from you.
I hope you took photocopies of the V5 pefore you sent it off.
It's very important that you don't trust government organisations with original documents, assume they will lose and deny ever having had them.
They might request that you present the vehicle for inspection at a VOSA station (kind of super-MOT centre) which is another £80 ish 'down the drain'.

A letter from a representative of an official Mini owners club might also help.
You would have the VIN and other vehicle information.

I think this is where the problem started:
So I've a bit of an issue with the DVLA, I moved home in May and my V5 was sent to DVLA for the change of address along with my fiancée's in the same envelope.

She received her V5 2 weeks later, I'm still waiting for mine 3 months later.
They can only deal with one issue per envelope.
 
It will more likely be a royal mail issue than a DVLA issue. Probably sat in a sorting office somewhere. 3 months ago was the height of covid and royal mail were battered.
 
It will more likely be a royal mail issue than a DVLA issue. Probably sat in a sorting office somewhere. 3 months ago was the height of covid and royal mail were battered.
That would be unlikely I’d say considering it was in the same envelop as his fiancés 🤔 Hers arrived, and the replacement was returned to the new address. His would have arrived together and the new one taken the same route back.

Either way, in my opinion the cause isn’t the issue, sure £25 extra for isn’t your fault isn’t great. But if it helps to move on and get your own car sold it’s a small price to pay.
 
If I remember correct there is a receipt section on v5 documents. The should be kept in case of such issue. The op could have done all this online and saved some pain. Once he has the v5. He further need to update his private number plate documents and driving licence.
 
That would be unlikely I’d say considering it was in the same envelop as his fiancés 🤔 Hers arrived, and the replacement was returned to the new address. His would have arrived together and the new one taken the same route back.

Either way, in my opinion the cause isn’t the issue, sure £25 extra for isn’t your fault isn’t great. But if it helps to move on and get your own car sold it’s a small price to pay.
Missed that. Probably been covered but they only deal with one V5 per envelope I believe.
 
Missed that. Probably been covered but they only deal with one V5 per envelope I believe.
But the OP saved, the cost of one envelope + one stamp ;)
 
Missed that. Probably been covered but they only deal with one V5 per envelope I believe.
You can post more than one v5 per envelope, but they will be returned separately. Most likely a post problem, but as previous advice if £25 sorts it, pay the money.
 
I'd a similar issue when my renewal licence never arrived.....if you waited three months(a lot longer than I did) then you'll just have to pay it like I done.
They say you need to contact them within so many weeks(fair enough)I can't recall now but three months later,it's obviously lost.

Be thankful its only £25,pay it and don't leave it so long next time before contacting them.
 
Government departments often do a great job but can be totally infuriating.

My example, is the passport office. Last summer, while on holiday, my wife had her bag stolen which included our passports. We reported them lost quickly and annoyingly a few hours later the bag was found, money and sunglasses stolen but everything else intact including passports. But it was too late as we had already declared them lost.

So we had to go to the embassy, hand in our old passports that got scanned in, stamped as cancelled, corners clipped and returned to us.

Back home we applied for replacement passports including photos of our old passports, showing the official cancellation stamps and the corners clips.

We sent the two passports to the passport office in the same tracked envelope. My wife’s was replaced in three days, mine was not. I had to wait the requisite months before I could chase and got fed all sorts of fob offs. Eventually I kicked up a fuss because I had missed a business trip and a manager got back to me. Talk about condescending and full of BS.

Apparently it was my fault because I had not cancelled it. Responses like “by your own process it is impossible to get an emergency passport without cancelling the old one”, “and what about the photos of the emergency passport” and “what about the photos of the old passport with the official cancellation stamp and clipped corner” fell on deaf ears. She wouldn’t listen to anything, and continued to claim that I hadn’t cancelled the passport despite all the compelling evidence that I had. Total shit of a woman, absolutely no sense of responsibility - I’m sure that many are great but it is people like her that give civil servants a shitty reputation.

Cheers,

Nigel
 
...if you waited three months
...
don't leave it so long next time before contacting them.
OP didn't specify how long it was before he contacted them; their response was 'be patient'.
As above I'd pay the £25 even though it's not your fault.
You are definitely not alone
If it's affected so many people, maybe DVLA will recognise fault and refund everyone's £25...
 
OP didn't specify how long it was before he contacted them; their response was 'be patient'.

They said it was posted in the same envelope and his fiancee received hers weeks later.....they are asking on here three months later.
The DVLA will blame Royal Mail and so on....while it's not nice having to pay for it,it is £25 so hardly the end of the world.
 
They said it was posted in the same envelope and his fiancee received hers weeks later.....they are asking on here three months later.
Asking on here three months later, yes.
In post #1, ie. not as a result of subsequent advice, said had already contacted them but didn't say when.
...She received her V5 2 weeks later, I'm still waiting for mine 3 months later.
...
DVLA have been pretty useless when I contacted them and said to wait due to the backlog they're experiencing.
The DVLA will blame Royal Mail and so on....while it's not nice having to pay for it,it is £25 so hardly the end of the world.
Surely the DVLA keep records? They must know, if the change of address has been applied, and whether replacement documents were actually despatched?
 
Last edited:
Asking on here three months later, yes.
In post #1, ie. not as a result of subsequent advice, said had already contacted them but didn't say when.

Surely the DVLA keep records? They must know, if the change of address has been applied, and whether replacement documents were actually despatched?

I posted as that was my previous experience.Just because they say be patient(especially in the current climate) isn't enough to simply wait on it although I appreciate with the way things were(are) its easy to take their word and simply wait.

My licence never showed up and they said it was posted so to take it up with Royal Mail.
As I said,in the end it was easier to simply pay £25 and be done with it.

Drawn out process involving the DVLA and Royal Mail over 25 quid....nah,not worth it imo.
 

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