There’s no denying that the DVLA’s various online enquiry services are invaluable when vehicle information is needed and the MoT history facility for example is one many of us have used when checking out a potential purchase.
With modern cars it generally works flawlessly but for enquiries involving slightly more obscure old classics and special builds, users had noticed some of the less common marques weren’t recognised by the system behind the Vehicle Enquiry System (VES).
Since the current uses a drop-down menu for ‘make’ it’s not possible to enter the marque manually, which meant information couldn’t be accessed in cases where the system didn’t recognise the make.
This was brought to the attention of the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs (FBHVC) which relayed its concerns to the DVLA; the system has now been improved and updated we are told.
Crucially, the need to select the vehicle make has now been removed from the initial access page, with partial vehicle details then being displayed in an additional confirmation stage. In a nutshell, instead of having to specify the make of the car before you start, you can now simply enter the registration number and the system asks you to confirm that it’s found the correct vehicle before proceeding.
Other changes involve moving the search for taxation rates away from the opening page to the vehicle details page – based, according to DVLA, on feedback from users suggesting that most prefer just one item per page. The Agency promises further upgrades and improvements in the next few months and we’ll keep you posted as we receive details.
Since the traditional paper tax disc was abolished, DVLA reports receiving an average of 55 million requests every month from drivers checking the road tax status of their vehicles.
