DVLA letter - "application for this vehicle"?

[clockworks]

My sister bought a used car from a dealer 3 weeks ago, and has received the new V5 in her name.

Today, she received a letter from the DVLA, showing her details and the car reg.
The first line of the letter says "I have received an application for the vehicle mentioned above".
It goes on to ask if she still has the vehicle.
It asks her to send photographs of the stamped in VIN number, VIN sticker, and VIN plate. If she doesn't do this, they will process the application.


From what I can make out, this "application" is for a V5 in someone else's name?

[vonhosen]

Probably.

They are investigating.

[E-bmw]

Had that before myself, I phoned & they cleared it up straight away, new v5 received shortly afterwards.

[Alex Z]

Does the vin match what was on the V5 you saw, and does it look original and untampered with?

[clockworks]

I've only seen phone pics of the documentation, as she lives 2 hours away.

Seems a bit odd to get this letter AFTER receiving the new V5.

I've asked if they were given the "new keeper" slip from the previous V5 when they collected the car.
I'll get her to check the VIN against the V5.

[clockworks]

My sister didn't receive the new keeper slip when she bought the car. She remembers the dealer saying that the car was a new arrival.

The VIN on the new V5 matches the car.

It looks like the dealer may have bought the car without a V5, applied for one, then sold the car to my sister.

The sale process generated a new V5 before the duplicate request was actioned by DVLA. By the time it was being actioned, the car had been registered to my sister. I guess the DVLA letter is DVLA's clumsy way of trying to sort out the confusion.

She has emailed the requested info.