Chat host: Mark Ryes (MR)
Chat guest: Anjula Mutanda (AM)
Sue White (SW)

MR: Hello there. Welcome to today’s show, I’m Mark Ryes. Now, do you live a busy life where you haven’t really got time to do anything? Whether it’s picking up the kids from school, organising your life, working, home, cleaning? It gets so complicated sometimes which is why the internet has been a godsend to an awful lot of people. In fact, in a recent survey, 66% of people said they would like to pay for their car tax online and do their whole car tax online and the internet, with internet banking has actually made our lives a whole lot easier. Maybe it’s something that you already do, but there are still questions about the security and the ease and we’re here to answer some of those questions this afternoon. I’m joined by lifestyle expert and of course This Morning psychologist Anjula Mutanda and also Sue White from the DVLA. Hi Sue.

Anjula, first of all, the internet has revolutionised our lives and its because we’ve got kind of, a lot of people have got broadband now, its becoming a lot quicker now as well.

AM: It is. It’s a lot quicker. We’re living more pressurised lives, we’re multitasking, we’re the 24/7 society and the internet has completely revolutionised how we can shop, who we can met online and how we can pay our bills. So it’s been absolutely fantastic for an awful lot of people.

MR: It certainly has. Sue, the whole reason we are here is the DVLA is now allowing you to get your car tax online, now the last time I went to get my car tax I had to go to the post office, I had to produce my V5 document and loads of other bits of paper. What do I have to do now?

SW: Basically you can, if you have a vehicle less than three years old or you have computerised MOT.

MR: What does that mean, what is a computerised MOT?

SW: All MOT that are issued now in the UK mainland are issued through a computer, so it is all stored through centralised systems

MR: So basically if you’ve had an MOT in the last year or so?

SW: If you have had an MOT since March then there is a guarantee that it will be computerised.

MR: But some will be beyond that as well?

SW: Yes.

MR: Presumably in the next year everyone will?

SW: By 2007 everyone in the UK will have computerised MOTS.

MR: Excellent stuff. So as long as you have one of those what do we do?

SW: You can go along to our website and if you’ve had an invitation you’ll have a reference number on that invitation. If you haven’t had an invitation then you can use the reference number off your logbook.

MR: I love the idea of having an invitation. Is it by email?

SW: Every year when you, when your cars got to be relicensed, you’ll get a renewal form from the DVLA. If you are eligible to use the system, then you will have a reference number, which gives you the choice to be able to go online.

MR: Is that actually on that reminder?

SW: Yes it is.

MR: Ah well I got one through the other day so I’ve got to look for a specific number on there have I?

SW: If your vehicle had an MOT at the time at which it was sent out then yes, there would be a reference number on there.

MR: Right.

SW: If you haven’t, you can still use the service by using the eleven-digit reference number of your V5C, which is the document book.

MR: That’s the one, which is A4

SW: That’s the one yes.

MR: So, you do still need to look at your documentation if you’re going to do this? It’s not a question of just having it all necessarily on there with you?

SW: You won’t need to have it with you. All you will need is either the reference number from the renewal reminder or the reference number from the logbook. You put that into the computer, it brings up details, obviously verify that it is your vehicle, and we will then do a check against the motor insurance database and for the MOT if relevant to insure that that’s all covered. If that’s all fine, basically we select 6 digits from your tax disc, put your credit details in and within 3 to 5 days your tax disc will be with you.

MR: That’s fantastic. I’ve just discovered why this is happening now because obviously car insurance records have been on computer for a long time on a central database it’s about getting the MOT to the central database now isn’t it?

SW: Yes

MR: How long do you reckon in total then it would take to do the transaction?

SW: I’ve actually registered 2 vehicles online and it takes about 2 to 3 minutes.

MR: Hardly anytime at all is it. Well that’s great. Well worth it. Do you know the website address?

SW: Yes its www.direct.gov.uk/taxdisc and if you know of someone who wants to use the service but doesn’t have access you can also do it over the telephone on 0870 8504444.

MR: Right we will come back to those numbers and that website address later in the programme so it may be worthwhile grabbing a pen and a bit of paper. We’ve had a lot of questions coming in about the DVLA tax disc service and of course how you can make your life easier by just using the technology around. First one is, what tips from your own experience can you offer for technology making your household run smoother?

AM: I think the biggest problem when people come to paying bills if they see it as a chore.

MR: It is a chore.

AM: It is a chore but what people do is they avoid the chore and then they blame each other if they are in a couple, I thought you were gonna pay it and I thought you were going to do it and there are loads of assumptions made over who was responsible.

MR: And interestingly a survey shown that what people are 85% more likely to pay their bills on time if they can do it online.

AM: If they can use technology as Sue said it takes 2 to 3 minutes to at the click of a button to do that so you can make space of an evening whenever your stress free, the kids are in bed or whatever. You know that it is going to take no more than half an hour max and you actually organise yourself much more clearly and I think that is the biggest key, organisation, prioritising and actually if after all of that you think you need to reward your self, you have got it all out of the way then fantastic then I think then this is a great way to do it.

MR: Certainly is, and so do you use online banking and pay your bills online?

AM: I do absolutely; I think it is a great idea. My husband and I have been using that for a long time and I think this particular service with the DVLA is a great boom

MR: And you patently do as you were just saying that you use online to pay bills, when we were talking before you say you use the internet for a whole bunch of transactions.

SW: I do, I do all my banking online. I pay my gas bills, electricity bills, water rates, and local council tax.

MR: Wow, I did not realise you could do all those things online. I do occasional shopping; I do my big shop maybe once a month and get it delivered to my home because that is incredibly easy. Does that make me a bad person?

AM: No

MR: Eddie from South London says “Why pay on line? I have used my post office for years, I am absolutely happy with it. Why you making me pay on line?”

AM: I think it is important to know that this service is about customer choice. We did research and there was an indication from customers that they required an online facility. Some people do lead busy and may not be able to get to the post office during normal hours. But if customers do want to carry on going to the post office they can continue to do so.

MR: Note that, this is just an extra service that you are running.

SW: It is yes

MR: That is brilliant, well worthwhile pointing out. So we both, well all three of us shop on line and we pay bills online and I have been doing internet banking for a while so I don’t have any issues about the security side of it. It terms of the DVLA side, presumable you are running with the standard security are you?

SW: We have got, obviously we have got the hundred and twenty-eight bits inscription. We have the secure socket. I think it is important to remember when they are doing the online taxing, we are not actually taking any customer details off them all we do is take the credit card details in exactly the same way as they would if they were shopping at Tesco or Sainsbury’s if they were doing that online in the same manner. All the vehicle details, all we are doing is validating that for the customer. So we not actually taking anything other than the payment details from them.

MR: Well that answers Jenny’s question, because she says, “What safeguards are in place to ensure my details are safe if I want to pay my car tax on line?” I think this is the number one issue for people. Security. Security. Security.

AM: Absolutely, because we hear lots of horror stories about people being fleeced. I think those stories are actually in the minority. You have got to look at the facts of what was behind that particular case and actually then look at the security that organisations such as the DVLA actually do put in place and I think the fast majority of cases things are ok. So this is imagined fear that things are going to go wrong and therefore it leads people to avoid using something that could actually be quite helpful for them.

MR: Absolutely and as we have said save a lot of time to give you more time to do the fun things in life.

AM: Absolutely yeah.

MR: Let’s face it

SW: Absolutely.

MR: Tanya asks, “How much do you use the internet to run your household, would you say and has it taken over from the way you used to do some chores?”

AM: That is an interesting question; I think we certainly do pay a lot of bills using the internet. I still do like to go to the supermarket. It is a bit of a leisure thing for me.

MR: It must just be me then, I am a bloke though!

AM: Yeah but my husband does more and I think there is a bit of a difference between men and women to some extent about how we use technology. And perhaps some women have shied away from that. But he has shown me that it is really easy, so I am probably going to do a lot more. But I think the one thing I have discovered in a relationship is to have a joint account, where you both put money in for bills.

MR: So you would advise that?

AM: I would advise that as well as having independent accounts. So that whoever is managing the money budget for the family can just dip in to that joint account as both have contributed to it.

MR: So, a bills account?

AM: Yes, a bills account, so that the money is easily accessible to pay bills whether it is via the internet or just doing direct debit.

MR: So who juggles the finance in your house, who has control?

AM: Hmm

MR: I wonder she says, as if I had to ask? Is it you, do you keep a close eye on it all?

AM: We both do actually and I think that was because we both had independent accounts before we got together so we were both used to managing money and actually when we both started living together more than 12 years ago, it was quite difficult because we were both going “no I’ll do it, I’ll do it!” And actually my husband is a lot more efficient than I am at certain bills like MOT and the car tax and I’m better at other sorts of bills like food shopping and things like that but the credit cards….

MR: You raised a very interesting point there, and Sue do you find that in the research the DVLA has done, that it is more men, who have expressed an interest in paying for car tax online?

SW: I think it is and obviously it’s a higher ratio of men who have got vehicles as well but in some instances the ladies in the household are the ones, which are responsible for the nipping out and actually paying for it.

MR: And I think as more and more people get to know that it’s possible, then more and more people will do it online anyway. Zoe wants to know, and its worth reiterating this point, how safe is paying for your car tax online in terms of the whole transaction from putting your details in to paying for it to actually getting the tax disc at the end of the day because when you’re at the post office they actually give it to you obviously?

SW: We’ve carried out 2 and a half million transactions to date. We get a very small number of tax discs that may actually go straight in the case where a letter may actually go astray but those situations are very few and far between and the customers have got very clear instructions that if there is an issue within the 5 days they know what to do, they know to contact us and we will get a new tax disc issued overnight.

MR: So there is a real service in place if something goes wrong?

SW: There is a safeguard in place for it.

MR: But when you’re buying online, when you’re doing anything online that’s the most important thing, and one of the big government adverts as well about buying online has been about safety and making sure there’s an actual written address, a telephone number which you can get in contact with, presumably that’s all there as part of the details.

SW: We have a centre for agents so if a customer has got difficulties there is an email communication; there is a telephone number that they can call.

AM: I think people really need to think about safety, it is a key issue. You’re talking about giving all kinds of details away for certain things and people don’t want to do that because feel they can be caught out and I think that is a very important point. So how you shop on line the security needs to be more than 100% secure, so people can feel “yes, you know what this is going to help me and I am going to stay safe”

MR: And further on from that as well in terms of children, there is an awful lot of children who use the internet and they need to be encouraged not to give their details out on line.

AM: Exactly, exactly, and we have seen this in lots of different kinds of cases with children. You know, giving their details away and then going off to meet people. There are so many security issues that really need to be thought about and parents need to be made aware of what their children are doing as well.

MR: Which is why if parents are aware of what they are doing online, then the parents are going online them selves. As long as you go on secure sights then you should be absolutely fine. It is a question of just thinking about it really isn’t it?

AM: Yes, you should

MR: It is a question of just thinking about it really isn’t it?

AM: Yes it is

MR: There is an interesting one about wireless access, and I don’t know if you anything particular about wireless access. I got a wireless internet router and I didn’t secure it. I didn’t know I had to. And a friend of mine came to help me set it up and told me you really need to get the encryption set up, other wise any body can use your connection” and I guess that is something that a lot of people who are technophobes like me, just don’t think about.

AM: Yes, and that’s true, I think I am a technophobe as well and I think that if you can do things at a click of a button then you are not necessarily thinking about security and safe guards before. I think organisations need to put these things right on the top of the priority and say you know this is what people are worried about and this is how we can help them and the two things must go hand in hand.

MR: Well it was interesting because my friend was really worried about me using the unencrypted one; because I was doing my online banking at the time which apparently was a very bad thing to do unless it is encrypted so there we go.
Let’s talk about technology as well, because it is not just the internet, it is not just computers that have revolutionised our lives, let’s have a look at mobile phones.

AM: There are good and bad sides to anything. With mobile phones, we have talked about this, they can really helpful in an emergency, I am going to be late or I am stuck over hear please come and get me. You know, but also I think we have the other stories and sides of people stealing mobile phones, stealing identities and all kinds of things like that. So with every technology there is going to be a good side and a bad side.

MR: I was thinking even more basic than that. For instance, when you send a text message to someone and maybe you haven’t read it back before you send it or it’s done the predictive text, you can send entirely the wrong message

AM: You know that is so true, miscommunication is a big problem and particularly with texting and because you can do it at a click of a little button and away it goes, you don’t read the new answers of what you have just said.

MR: You know the way you have just said it in your own head

AM: Yes, you can hear, you saying “I am inviting you out for dinner” and the person rings you up and says “How dare you say that to me, you have really upset me” so you need to really think about that before you do it.

MR: I had just that case the other week, it was quite funny really.

AM: Oh, do tell.

MR: I sent a message to a friend of mine, who took it completely the wrong way and just ended up ranting at me on the phone. I was going hang on that is not what I meant at all. And it turned out the predictive text and got one of the words wrong and I had pressed send and the whole meaning of the sentence had changed. Quite interestingly words like need and idea are the same on predictive text also home and gone are the same. So little things like that really are not good. Talking about mobile phones, do you think this service could roll out to other platforms later perhaps, is it something the DVLA has thought about?

SW: It is certainly an area we are looking at. Obviously as systems are sort of moving on, exploring the visibility of where digital TV is going with I-mode, which is one of the new technologies. So although it is an area we are looking at, there are no immediate plans at the moment.

MR: Excellent stuff. We are half way through our chat at the moment so please do keep your questions coming in. Let’s look back 30 years. No mobile phones, no microwaves, no dishwashers the simple basics that we look at in our houses, no internet, no computers, no computer games, jumpers for goal posts, as it is the world cup. Life has almost changed out of all thought has it got easier or more difficult because of that Anjula.

AM: I think it has got both, easier and more difficult

MR: You don’t answer a straight question ever do you?

AM: That’s my job. But we have got more pressurised lives; we live in a global village you know we can talk to any one all over the world at any time. It is a 24/7 culture, so in some ways people feel a little bit more got at because if we are waiting for a phone call and there is no mobile or no internet then the call does not come so therefore fine. But now its, “I better check my email, I better check my text”, you know it’s all the time but at the same time because we have speeded it up. The speed and efficiency of technology has also helped us to have more leisure time if we organise ourselves better and I think we have issues with that.

AM: But you know, more people have got an emotional relationship with their mobile phones, it has become their friend and if it doesn’t ring they get really anxious.

MR: You are kidding me!

AM: No, because we have become more and more reliant on them so we have built up this connection we them that this is my link to my friends, my job or my what ever and if it is not ringing then what is happening, what is happening and they do carry it around a little bit like a safety thing.

MR: I was a bit worried, with that Dr Who, episode where the cyber man all had the little earphones plugged in their ears. I was a touch concerned about that one. I hope we are not going down that path. But those kind of sci-fi issues shows where technology could go if we don’t treat the safe guards correctly

AM: Exactly, we need to use it just as your friend says to our advantage, rather than feeling like we are at other people’s beck and call

MR: Exactly, because that has been a big change over 30 years. The globalisation of the world through the internet means that from your front room you can talk to anybody around the world, whereas if you went to the pub, you would normally only meet maybe 15 people that lived within a mile radius of your house.

AM: Absolutely, you know what is so interesting about internet dating people feel that they can be their selves on line, they can be more honest, they can be more open and they are not being judged by how they look

MR: The reason we are here by the way is to talk about technology changing your life. The DVLA has just launched a new digital service where you can get your tax disc online which is really clever, now I have got to go and do this in the next 6 weeks. I have got a moped and a car and they’re both up for their tax disc one at the end of this month and one at the end of next month. So talk me through what I have got to do.

SW: Ok, providing you would, when you receive your renewal reminder, if there is a 16 digit reference number on it, you would go along to the site, where there’d be information about the service and what you have got to do. It does a manual check on where a customer can actually say yes I have got a computerised number or I haven’t and it has got a little picture of both of them.

MR: What if you haven’t?

SW: If you haven’t, unfortunately at this moment of time you would not be able to use the service.

MR: But over the next year everybody will be able to do so though.

SW: Yes,

MR: Fine so it is still in the rolling out period, so you may be in a position where you can or maybe in a position in where you can’t.

SW: Obviously, if you have a car under 3 years old, you don’t need an MOT any way and then that is fine so you can use the service. So assuming you have got that, you tick the little box that says yes and it comes on to a screen that you either enter the reference number form or if you have not got one, you will need the reference number off the V5C, the log book. Put that in with the registration mark it will bring the details up saying right ok is this your car, tax disc about to expire, click, when you click the next button you will hit the motor insurance data base and the MOT database check to see if both of those are in place and then come back and say if you want a 6 or 12 month tax disc put your debit or credit card details in and you can put your email address as well if you want to get a confirmation

MR: Excellent, so you can get an email confirmation. You have already said that it takes 3-5 days for your tax disc to actually arrive

SW: Yes.

MR: At your house, which is brilliant in terms of timing. I guess that it is what 3 minutes to do.

SW: It took me about 2 ½ - 3 minutes each time I did it.

MR: Just cutting the 30 seconds off there.

SW: I mean the first time I did it, I did it earlier hours on the Wednesday morning and my tax disc arrived on Friday

MR: Excellent

SW: The second time I did it on the Tuesday night and I think that arrived on Friday as well.

MR: One question we have had in from Dave is, you know when your tax disc runs out at the end of the month and you have got 15 days either side grace is it? Can you elaborate on what the regulations are, because that is what I have in my mind and I obviously am not quite right.

SW: There is in the regulations that if the vehicle is not being used on the road through the DVLA you have 14 days grace, but obviously if you are using the vehicle on the road then your car should be licensed so if you re-license online the DVLA will not prosecute you providing you have continuous licence

MR: Right

SW: There is a separate offence of non-display of tax disc, so you should not use the vehicle on the road if you have not got a valid tax disc

MR: Now we know, it is worthwhile pointing out, absolutely. Here we go, Richard says, “If your bike or car has not been on the road for years can you still just get an MOT or do you have to go through SAWN?”

SW: If your vehicle is off the road it should be declared SAWN anyway and you can actually use the online service for that.

MR: OK so that’s another way of using the site.

SW: It is and that is open to everybody. So as long as you have a new style, the new style V5C or your reminder, you go along to the site, you can declare SAWN on the site and you should be able to re-license online.

MR: Brilliant. That’s great news. Rhiana wants to know "I do all my bill payments online, what reasons could people possibly have for not doing it online?"

AM: It’s a good point! I think its lack of knowledge and knowing the availability is there. I think we’ve talked about people shying away from it because they are afraid and that’s a very valid point that they need to have more information about that. And the more information you have about that, and the more knowledge you have that it’s actually very quick, the more likely you are to do it.

MR: It may be possible that slighter older people may not have grasped the concept of it. My mum looks at the internet, she knows what she's doing but she's frightened of doing it. She does know what she's doing - she went on a course and learnt about it but she's still unsure about actually doing it so that may be one reason which is why it is worthwhile pointing out you can still do it at the post office - its just another choice there.

SW: My dad is 71, he used the service just before I joined DVLA and he says its brilliant. He said "best thing since sliced bread!"

MR: Going to have to get my mum to go and have a look at it then! Another question in now. “Are initiatives like this expensive for the tax payer or does this new way of paying save money?

SW: There is obviously reduced costing of duty collection over a period of time and in terms of developing the system, if you remember that there is 36 million vehicles on the road, then the cost of the actual development is equivalent to a very small mail shot even to a proportion of that database.

MR: And I guess you have to send a lot of bits of paper out to people normally?

SW: We do

MR: So anything to cut down on that makes a greener kind of environmentally friendly environment anyway doesn’t it? Jojo wants to know "Will I be able to do my license online eventually?"

SW: You can actually apply for provisional licenses online now. And we are currently working on a whole range of services based around the driving licence that should probably be coming online sometime in the next 12 months.

MR: That’s brilliant news. So this is a real development programme that’s rolling out at the moment.

SW: Yes

MR: Just remind us, if I want to do my tax disc online what’s the website to go to?

SW: Its www.direct.gov.uk/taxdisc

MR: Excellent and I get it that if you put tax disc into a search engine like Google it'd probably come up as well.

SW: It should do yes.

MR: Excellent. You might want to give it a try. Frankie wants to know "Why has the DVLA launched the electronic car tax? Why have they done it at this point in time?

SW: We did, I mean obviously the service has been under development for quite a long time. We did some research which found around 60% of customers were actually interested in paying for their car tax online and this is going back 3 or 4 years. There was then obviously the development of the system but although its very simple to use there is obviously a lot going on in the background in terms of hitting the database and I know we've got links, if you got links with the department who works in pensions, veterans agencies all these links have to be in place as well to allow a very wide audience to be able to use the service so we have been testing it with the new vehicles and then obviously waiting for the MOT rollout and now that’s complete, obviously it is expanding across

MR: So it’s a question of everything falling into place at the right time and that’s brilliant, and think we are seeing this a lot over all industries in fact, that, that 5 years ago as we were saying Anjula, you know you couldn’t really buy anything online, and on line retailing has just become so important

AM: But what’s interesting is what Sue said it’s just responding to what customers are saying they want and they need and I think that’s a good response

MR: We are just in the final couple of minutes of the programme Nirang has sent us a question, ‘Will it be possible to pay road tax by direct debit?’

SW: It’s an area that we are looking at.

MR: Inga wants to know we mentioned other online services that the DVLA do, she says could you go through what they are what some of them are

SW: At the moment it is the car tax, declaring your vehicle off road and provisional driving licence.

MR: Excellent, so the 3 main areas at the moment.

SW: 3 main areas at the moment but as I said, there are other areas that we are looking at so I think it is a case of ‘watch this space’ really.

MR: Excellent stuff and we found out from that earlier on that actually it is worth while the DVLA is saving money in the long run with this and I think that shows that both this initiative from the DVLA and lots of other industries will make life a little bit easier for us, because that is what we are demanding.

AM: That is what we want and that is what we need when we are under pressure.

MR: Thank you so much to Sue from the DVLA for joining us and there is a link to the DVLA website at the bottom of our page, go along and do your tax disc online. I know I will be the next 6 weeks. I will see you very soon, cheers. Bye.