Advertisement

DVLA failed to reply after my partner passed away

<span>Photograph: Stockex/Alamy</span>
Photograph: Stockex/Alamy

I have just read your letter about the DVLA during lockdown. My partner passed away on 23 March. In April – after failing to make contact – I sent the logbook, a death certificate, my partner’s driving licence and a covering letter to register the car in my name. I have still have not had a reply.

In the meantime, I have part-exchanged the car for a new one but this cannot be sold due to lack of documents.

The DVLA had no bereavement line during this time when all other companies I dealt with did, even if there were delays in responding.

SG, Little Haywood, Staffordshire

We have reported here how frustrated car owners have been waiting months for vital documents and left unclear about whether they can legally drive their vehicles because of a backlog of applications.

In the past few months, licence renewals and changes to vehicle registration (V5C) documents have been backing up at the DVLA’s Swansea offices, leaving thousands of people waiting months to get them back.

The DVLA told us it did not have a specific bereavement line. It said the “tell us once” service – which lets you report a death to most government organisations in one go – would not apply here because of the complexity of your request.

A spokesman said: “There have been delays processing paper applications due to the 2 metre social distancing rules in Wales.”

As Guardian Money was about to go to press, you finally received your logbook.

• This article was amended from the print version in which we said “the DVLA told us it did have a specific bereavement line even prior to Covid-19”. In fact the DVLA told us it did not have such a bereavement line.

We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@theguardian.com. Please include a daytime phone number. Submission and publication of all letters is subject to our terms and conditions: http://gu.com/letters-terms