Licensing

Licensing and registration

Have you bought a new car and are looking out for way to register it in the United Kingdom? Or have you just turned 17 years of age and are waiting to have your automobile license? Do you require any help from the licensing agency for automobiles in the UK? If so, you have landed at the right spot. DVLA helpline 0870-042-1101 is open just for your queries and doubts. This article is going to brief you on the Driver and Vehicle licensing Agency abbreviated as DVLA and their help-lines. The agency had its name modified a bit from the original DVLC which expands as Driving and Vehicle Licensing Centre. The registration system for automobiles in United Kingdom dates back to the early nineteenth century.

Early registrations

In ancient days there were only a few wealthy people who could afford their own automobiles. “Borough and County Council” was the first agency which used to carry out the automobile registration in those days. The council was formed based on the Motor Car Act of 1903. Later in the year 1965, the system for licensing was centralized under the then known DVLC situated in Swansea. It was in the year 1990 that the famous DVLA was established as an executive Agency under the jurisdiction of the DoT (Department of Transport), in United Kingdom. Today DVLA maintains licensing and registration of vehicles along with enforcement and collection of the Vehicle Excise Duty. All this is possible through it database that contains millions and millions of records holding detailed information of the license holders and the automobiles.

Database

The huge system is computerised and has more than 39-million records storing details of automobiles, their registration, type etc and 45-million records which holds details of the drivers such as their name, date of birth, type of automobile they are eligible to use and so forth. Using this information from their database the agency can easily catch hold of the faulty drivers, untaxed automobiles, over-speeding cars efficiently and safely without any hassle. The system was developed by an American Information Technology Equipment and Services company with head quarters in Texas, known as Electronic Data Systems. The project was signed off for a whooping five million British pounds in the year 1965. The system has a client-server architecture that makes use of the Vehicle Identification Numbers instead of the Number plates as primary-key to track automobiles and hence help catch the defaulters.

Help-lines

DVLA is ready to assist you on any query, may it be regarding driving license details via dedicated DVLA contact numbers open on all weekdays from 8 in the morning to 7 in the evening and on Saturdays from morning 8 to afternoon 2.

  • Tax

    DVLA is responsible for recording driver details such as their medical conditions, details of the license endorsement and disqualification of licences.

  • License

    For any details regarding your driving license reach out to DVLA via 0300-790-6801 or reach them via post on “Drivers Customer Services, Correspondence Team – DVLA, Swansea, SA6 7JL.

  • Registration

    Registration enquiries for your vehicles can be answered via calls to 0300-790-6802 or mailing via post to “Vehicle Customer Services - DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1AR“.