I am updating my address details for my driving licence and form V5C. According to the DVLA website, You need to 'Update your Direct Debit ... If you pay for your vehicle tax by Direct Debit, you need to tell DVLA when you change address'. Is this bollox? If I change my address, why would the bank dishonour existing direct debits? I don't think the address even appears on a direct debit mandate.
The most obvious relevant part is:
"...you need to tell DVLA when you change address...".
And that is true without reference to direct debits. It's required so that the police (or other authorised public bodies) know where to send fixed penalty notices, summonses, etc. and know where to contact you if a police officer needs to speak to you.
I understand that it is an offence not to advise the DVLA of a change of address (and it used to be the same when county-level local authorities issued driving licences prior to 1975).
I fully understand this, and the reasoning, but this was not my question. The DVLA website presents this as a five step process: (1) Update your driving licence (2) Update your vehicle's log book (V5C) (3) Update your Direct Debit (4) [...] (5) [...]
My point is that having completed steps 1 and 2, why is step 3 necessary? See:
Depending how far you moved, you may have changed your bank branch and the sort code will then also change.
So 'need' is bollox (as I suspected).
Whether the organisation asks you to do this online, over the phone, or by post, the information you’ll need to provide is the same:
Your name and address The name and address of your bank or building society Your bank or building society account number The branch sort code of your bank or building society (see your debit card or banking app) The name(s) on the account.
The organisation will send the Instruction onto your bank or building society, and start to collect payments on the date you agreed with them. Most organisations offer a choice of dates so, if one doesn’t suit you, ask if there’s another option."
Presumably the address forms part of the direct debit instruction. Although it seems to appear on some direct debit forms and not others.
Theo
Are you saying that the existing direct debit for my existing account for which I have notified the bank of the change of address is no longer valid and a new direct debit mandate is needed? If you can change banks and let the banks do the work, surely to goodness you can change your address and let the bank do the work?
But the bank should be dealing with that, by internal redirection or update. The customer shouldn't be having to update details for half-a-dozen or more direct debits. The banks even advertise that if you move your account from one bank to another, they can automatically transfer your direct debits and standing orders for you, without you having to do anything - why on earth would they not be able to do the same internally, between their own branches? Anyway, as most branches close and people deal mainly online, branch sort codes are becoming pretty meaningless (my branch and all those for miles around have long gone) and there seems little reason anymore for the banks to have to change the account/sort code when you move to another address.
Do not rely on it. Some years ago Santander persuaded a relative to switch from one Santander account to another at the same branch. They then cancelled all the Direct Debits and claimed that the promise about no-hassle switching between banks did not apply to transfers within banks.
But I haven't switched my account, only changed my address. The sort code and account number remain the same and no other DD appears to have failed. Methinks the DVLA is getting confused.
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That's correct. The switching service is a specific thing with a specific protocol for moving an account between banks with DDs kept in place, plus a redirection for any payments which are sent to the old bank. The system is operated by Pay UK with specific IT in place to operate it:
Theo
Update: No other direct debit has encountered any difficulty following my change of address. I think the DVLA were simply wrong in suggesting a new direct debit is needed (unless of course the banking details change, which here they did not).
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