In the past, the paper tax disc in your windscreen was a helpful visual reminder of your renewal date. These were abolished in 2014, and the following three years saw the number of untaxed vehicles treble in the UK. According to data from the Department for Transport¹, in 2019, 1.6% of all vehicles on the road were untaxed – that’s over 634,000 vehicles!

When your car tax is up for renewal, you should receive a V11 reminder letter in the post to help you to remember. It’s also a good idea to be on the safe side and set your own reminders, as if you are caught driving without tax, you could face a fine of up to £1000. Even if your vehicle is stationary on the road, if you’ve forgotten to pay the tax, it could be clamped or even impounded!

MoneySuperMarket Car Monitor user data² shows that the most popular month for drivers’ tax renewal is August, whereas most insurance renewals occur in January, March and May.

Car Insurance is a legal requirement and forgetting to renew your policy could bring severe penalties. If you’re caught driving an uninsured vehicle, the police could give you a fixed fine of £300 and six penalty points. However, if your case ends up going to court, you could receive an unlimited fine and risk being banned from driving altogether.

Cars are a major investment for some people and being involved in an accident, or having your vehicle stolen can be costly. Depending on your coverage, your policy should provide financial protection if your car is stolen or involved in an accident. It should also offer cover for injuries or damages to people and property, so it’s essential that you renew your insurance when it’s due.

Many insurance companies offer customers a rolling auto-renewal, which takes away the need to remember to renew. However, this could mean that you miss out on a better deal, so setting up an early reminder will give you time to shop around and assess your options.

If your car insurance’s end date is looming and you’re considering a new lender, you can compare quotes by checking out our car insurance page. We make it quick and easy to figure out how you can get the best and most affordable rate, and we even offer automatic reminders through our credit monitor app.

Photocard driving licences were introduced in 1998 and must be updated every ten years – so if you got one when they were first brought in, you should have updated it twice by now!

However, recent figures from the DVLA¹ suggest that 2.3 million people in the UK are driving without a valid licence – putting themselves at risk of a fine of up to £1000.

Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the DVLA has granted an automatic 7-month extension period to drivers whose photocard licences expire between 1 February 2020 and 31 August 2020. If this applies to you, you will be sent a renewal letter at the end of this 7-month extension period.

If you can’t remember your licence renewal date, you can find the expiry date printed on the front of your photocard, under section 4b. It’s important to let the DVLA know if you change address as you should receive a renewal letter in the post before your licence is due to expire – but only if your address is up to date!

It’s essential you don’t forget to update your details on your licence as having an incorrect address, could also incur a fine of up to £1000. If you’re moving house, make sure you remember to change your driving licence at the same time. Similarly, if your name or gender has changed, you need to have this updated on your licence, too to avoid being fined.

It’s easy to forget things like insurance or tax, especially when they only come up once a year – but as the data shows, it can be easily done. So, what can you do to improve your memory and avoid a potentially hefty fine?

Nelson Dellis is a four-time USA Memory Champion and one of the world’s leading memory experts. He gave us his six top tips on what you can do to improve your memory.