Here’s what I got from the DVLA.  I’ve un-redacted Maurice’s last name, because eventually, he might find this page and get the actual response he intended to get:

From: DVLA Email
Subject: Re: Email DVLA - Vehicles Form 41 (KMM845563I15977L0KM)
Date: April 15, 2010 07:06:24 AM EDT
To: Maurice Ozanne

Dear Mr Ozanne

Thank you for your email received on 14/4/10. Your email reference number is [redacted].

When you apply for a tax disc using our telephone service or on our website, the vehicle’s insurance is electronically checked with the Motor Insurance Database (MID) run by the Motor Insurance Bureau (MIB).

If you have recently renewed, updated or changed the insurance policy, the vehicle details may not have been updated yet on the MID. The reason for this is that the MID only records the expiry date of the current insurance period. Once that current period ends the new insurance period updates the database.

Although, Insurance cover may have been agreed with an insurer a few days or weeks in advance of expiry of existing cover, the information is not necessarily sent to the MID until policy expires. This can take anything from a matter of days to a few weeks, depending on the insurer concerned.

It may be of help if I mention there is a legal requirement, that before any vehicle tax disc may be issued an applicant must produce, or have in place, appropriate insurance that is valid on the day the tax disc comes into force. Therefore, if your insurance is due to expire approximately the same time, both the EVL system and the Post Office® need to check the new insurance cover.

If your details on the MID have not updated, you will not be able to fill in an online taxing transaction using our electronic service, and will be required to apply for the tax disc at any tax disc issuing Post Office® branch.

Do not reply to this email. If you wish to contact us again about this response then please use our Reply Formor copy and paste the following URL in to your browser:

[redacted]

When filling in the form the email reference number [redacted] will be required.

Regards

[redacted]
Customer Enquiries Group
DVLA

Original Message Excluded: ————————————-

The original of this email was scanned for viruses by the Government Secure Intranet virus scanning service supplied by Cable&Wireless Worldwide in partnership with MessageLabs. (CCTM Certificate Number 2009/09/0052.) On leaving the GSi this email was certified virus free.

Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or recorded for legal purposes.

I didn’t know the Post Office was a registered trademark in the UK, but apparently it is.

Maurice Ozanne, retired Salvation Army Band conductor, has submitted an inquiry of some sort with the UK’s Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, and their auto-response says that they’ll “send a reply to you within 3 working days.”  So I’ll be looking for that.