Sussex wrote:
But surely applying for a vehicle license renewal is something that should be done on the day. Therefore having an old plate still shouldn't happen.
So if the application is lodged Friday 4pm on the 31st of the month, how can all the checks and processes be completed? We can lodge it in the Cupar admin office (which doesn't actually directly administer licensing stuff these days) so it'll be a few days into the month before the licensing department in Glenrothes has even received the application, and it's only then they can set the Disclosure Scotland (our DBS) stuff etc in motion, and I'm not sure how long that takes.
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Unless the plate making machine isn't working.
There are certainly logistical issues which don't help. In the early days when we got the new Mogo plates, as I recall it they would make the transfer sheets up in head office, and then send them by internal mail to the testing depots. I also recall at one time you had to go to an admin office to collect the transfer, then take it up to the depot, who would then apply the transfer to the plastic plate. I think they've streamlined it slightly now, but to be honest I've kind of given up thinking about it now. In the early days I generally had the one-year licenses, so it always seemed a big hassle, but now I get the three-year ones, so it's just something I tend to forget about, since you only need a new plate every three years, and I tend to keep my cars longer than the average
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Or do some in Scotland apply before having their vehicle checked, and if so why do council license them?
Unless it's a new licence grant or vehicle substitution, our vehicle tests are all conducted at the same time (March/April) but the plate is dated in accordance with the licence expiry, which is independent of the inspection process.
So it's a bit like needing valid insurance and MoT to get a car taxed for a year - the insurance or MoT might have almost a year to run, or could be about to expire, but if it's valid at the time then they'll issue the car tax for a year.
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I get the extension for drivers if something comes up on a medical which needs a more professional viewpoint, and if the DBS (or whatever they call it in Scotland) is slow to come back. But other than that I'm struggling to see why a license should be showing out of date.
Simply because it's administratively/logistically impossible to issue a new badge or plate on time unless the renewal is lodged a few weeks before expiry. I suppose they could issue a new badge or plate when the renewal application is submitted, but don't think that would actually accord with the law - the existing licence continues in effect until the new one is granted - so the existing plate continues in effect even though the expiry date has passed.
Not sure at all how long the Disclosure Scotland stuff takes - it all goes on 'behind the scenes', and isn't even mentioned as part of the application process, but must take a minimum of a week or two at least.
So you lodge the application at the last minute, it takes a day or two to even reach head office, they then set the Disclosure Scotland stuff in motion, then it comes back, they then send a letter out with paper licences and new badge, or send the plate stuff up to the depot - could easily take several weeks after expiry for all that to happen.
A few years ago the council started sending reminder letters stating that renewal applications had to be submitted a month before expiry, presumably to give them enough time to issue the new badges and plates before the expiry date.
But they stopped doing that - not sure why, but suspect someone pointed out that legally an application for renewal could be lodged right up to the expiry date.
I also suspect that another factor is that because the council knows that the badges and plates are inevitably going to show the wrong date for a spell then they're in no particular hurry to get them out.