Jules wrote:
On Fri, 08 Jun 2007 13:27:50 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

I recieve a notice to relicense my car.

Its off road and has been for two years. So its a zero cost SORN..

I think I've always just ticked a box on the form they sent me and
returned it back to them via a post box, which in light of your
experiences sounds a damn sight easier!

"Sorry, we don't have a record of that reference number"

I seem to recall my folks having horrible troubles [1] a while back
because the reference number required by the DVLA didn't match anything on
the V11 - in the end it required talking to a human being at DVLA, who
took the (much shorter) reference which *was* on the form, but didn't have
any explanation for why the online / automated systems didn't tie up with
their paper forms.

[1] OK, so that's a slight exaggeration. But you'd think that if any gov't
entity is going to introduce public-driven procedures, then the data
expected would at least match the data provided!

The government, like the septics, can be "relied upon to get things
right, after they have exhausted all other alternatives".

Its bureaucracy by natural selection, rather than intelligent design.