Up until October 2014, every time you got in your car you were given a stark and colourful reminder about your road tax renewal, also known more formally as Vehicle Excise Duty (VED). Sitting there in the windscreen you would find that all-important tax disc, its dates blaring out at your in vivid technicolour, impossible to miss.

After October 2014, however, the DVLA started to move all of its systems online, and the humble tax disc was consigned to both the literal and figurative dustbin of history. Interestingly, however, the discs have since been fished out of the dustbins by a savvy new breed of collector who now sees that the finished tax disc is something of a valuable relic. But that’s a story for a different blog.

Without the disc on your windscreen, how is it then that people will now be reminded of when their tax is due. In theory, online solutions will help solve this problem, but with reminders sent by email and email an increasingly ignored medium of communication by many ordinary people, the risk of people overlooking their tax renewal date has surely grown.

Now there is a new solution in the form of the Pedal® OBD-II sensor and an accompanying online dashboard. Among the 20 unique features of Pedal® is a handy tool that will remind you when your tax renewal date is approaching. Once synced with your smartphone, it will be able to send you a notification; something that you are far more likely to see and remember than a dusty old email.

Once again, Pedal® and its features are helping drivers across Britain keep their important appointments and avoid the pitfalls that come with falling foul of the DVLA rules.

Pedal® Tax Reminders Feature

How Does “Tax Reminders” Work?

Once you’ve installed your Pedal® OBD-II sensor by plugging it into the right port and then set up your online dashboard with your car’s details, the profile and sensor connect and information sharing begins. One of the most prominent parts of your online dashboard is the “Notifications” bar. On there you will receive important reminders of all kinds, including MOT, service and repairs, and even when there are special offers available at your “Technical Partner” garage.

Another notification in the bar is a reminder of when your road tax is due. The notification very neatly tells you how many days you have left until tax expires, and it will begin from 14 days in advance, giving you two weeks to take action and ensure that your tax is paid and up to date. There’s even a handy link marked “Renew” you can click to sort out your tax payment directly. It will take you exactly where you need to go, which saves you additional time on searching for the right DVLA page to do that.

Why is “Tax Reminders” a Useful Feature?

Failure to pay VED is a pretty serious problem. It can result in punitive fines that needlessly drain your bank account. The DVLA may even stop you from using your vehicle by force if you fail to comply with their pay orders.

Fines

If the police catch you on the road without having paid your road tax, then you could face a fine of up to £1,000. The good news is that you won’t receive the £1,000 fine straight away. At first, they will send you an automated letter detailing a fine of £80 to be paid within 28 days. If you comply with this order, you can usually get a 50-percent discount on that fine, thereby reducing it to just £40.

It sounds rather lenient, right? The fine sounds cheaper than your VED would be every year, so why not simply chance it and then pay the fines. Repeatedly being discovered will result in more serious charges being levelled against you, and a prosecution that could result in the maximum fee being levied.

Clamping

The DVLA has an additional power to clamp your vehicle to stop you from using it if they have reason to believe that you might continue driving on the road without first paying your fines and getting up to date with your road tax. That makes things even harder and more expensive to deal with.

The one silver lining is that driving without paying VED is not punished with points on your driving licence. The DVLA also give you ample opportunity to minimize financial loss by paying a much lower fine and then having time to pay VED and get back up to date.

Pedal® helps you to stay on the right side of the law, getting your road tax up to date in plenty of time before it expires. In this way, you will never have to worry about being pulled over and then discovering that you have not paid your road tax.

DVLA Scam Emails

One more way that the Pedal® Tax Reminders feature is so useful is that it will help you avoid being scammed by fake DVLA emails. Nowadays, email scams have become much more sophisticated, with fake emails emerging from government, corporate and other official-looking accounts. To the untrained eye, the emails now look exactly like the real deal.

DVLA scam emails may have an official-sounding subject line, the proper header and logos, and even read perfectly in terms of language --- all the things that used to show up fake emails before --- but now they frequently tell you of some problem with your details. The email will contain a link, after which you will be asked to submit your personal information, including bank details and home address.

Pedal® can help you skip this problem by simply allowing users to receive only correct reminders about when to pay. After that, they only need ignore any other fake notifications that request information. The online space is made safer, and the DVLA appreciates fewer people getting scammed and needlessly losing money.

How do Police Know You Haven’t Paid VED?

Some might wonder that if there is no longer a tax disc, the colour of which used to help the police recognise people with out-of-date road tax, then how do police catch people who haven’t paid tax? Surely with no disc, you can just drive around incognito and tax free. In fact, no.

The police employ a special technology known as ANPR. This stands for Automatic Number Plate Recognition. Cameras used by the police can scan your number plate and check them against the most current DVLA information. This quickly confirms to the police whether or not your car is properly taxed as it should be.

Stay on the Right Side of the Law with Pedal®

With a Pedal® sensor on your side, you will always be able to know in plenty of time when tax is due. Not only that, but Pedal® reminds you of all kinds of important things, such as maintenance, your MOT and more. You’ll never miss an important date or milestone again when you use Pedal®.

All you need to is to purchase the Pedal® OBD-II sensor, plug it in and then sign up for a free online account where your dashboard will be. The cost of the sensor covers your first 12 months of use. You’ll be amazed at how much you can learn about your cand your own driving when you start using Pedal®. Sign up today.