Registration Applications - watch out from Saturday !

boatone

boatone

Well-Known Member
Joined
29 Jul 2001
Messages
12,845
Location
Just a few cables from Boulters Lock
www.tmba.org.uk
The following has just appeared on the EA website:
We are sorry for the delays that some customers have experienced over the last few weeks in us processing their boat registration applications. We received an unusually high volume of applications leading up to Easter and the April Bank Holiday. This caused a backlog and meant we were processing applications outside of our Customer Charter of 10 working days.

While we were out of our Customer Charter targets, our enforcement staff were not taking any formal enforcement action if customers who had applied and were waiting for their registration plate, kept or used their boats on the river.

We are now processing applications within our Customer Charter of 10 working days. Therefore our enforcement staff will start formal enforcement again from Saturday 28 May 2011. This means that any boat kept or used on our waterways must be displaying a valid registration plate.
Click to expand...

Bold bit is me highlighting it.
Full notice HERE
 
Last edited:
With regard to bona fide tenders is it not time that the EA gave some form of concession on this type of vessel.
To register my tender is £30 unpowered or £78 powered.(the powered figure is based on the minimum charge of 5 sq m, many tenders are below this size)
After paying the thick end of £500 for the main vessel surely some leeway could be given for a vessel which in most cases is used infrequently.
 
bulto said:
With regard to bona fide tenders is it not time that the EA gave some form of concession on this type of vessel.
To register my tender is £30 unpowered or £78 powered.(the powered figure is based on the minimum charge of 5 sq m, many tenders are below this size)
After paying the thick end of £500 for the main vessel surely some leeway could be given for a vessel which in most cases is used infrequently.
Click to expand...

They do now I believe tenders are half price.
 
According to Reading this morning retrospective tender registrations are allowed as long as you state the name of the parent vessel.
I will go through the procedure over the next couple of days and see if this is correct.
 
Have people received their licences this week? I am waiting for 2 for my hire boats, applied for end of April. I have spoken to the EA and they confirm that they are in the system. After this weeks EA notice I would have expected them to appear in the post but nothing?
 
suzanne said:
Have people received their licences this week? I am waiting for 2 for my hire boats, applied for end of April. I have spoken to the EA and they confirm that they are in the system. After this weeks EA notice I would have expected them to appear in the post but nothing?
Click to expand...

Sounds like you need to get in touch with them again and find out what the hold up is. I understand they are now dealing with applications received as recently as 20th May.
 
suzanne said:
Have people received their licences this week? I am waiting for 2 for my hire boats, applied for end of April. I have spoken to the EA and they confirm that they are in the system. After this weeks EA notice I would have expected them to appear in the post but nothing?
Click to expand...

I shall be sifting eagerly through my post when I get home today - it would be nice to use the boat without fear of having to explain that "it's in the post" all the time...
 
rr_123 said:
I shall be sifting eagerly through my post when I get home today - it would be nice to use the boat without fear of having to explain that "it's in the post" all the time...
Click to expand...

A friend at our place reports that yesterday , after applying on line for their newly aquired craft on 9th May, they were "threatened" with prosecution "by the police" as they didnt have a license displayed. They had the copy of the received on-line application and the payment acceptance but it was made very clear that they would probably denied lock usadge if the continued their day out. The family had driven up from Somerset for the day out and went home very dissapointed.
What is really going on here?:confused:
 
plumbob said:
A friend at our place reports that yesterday , after applying on line for their newly aquired craft on 9th May, they were "threatened" with prosecution "by the police" as they didnt have a license displayed. They had the copy of the received on-line application and the payment acceptance but it was made very clear that they would probably denied lock usadge if the continued their day out. The family had driven up from Somerset for the day out and went home very dissapointed.
What is really going on here?:confused:
Click to expand...

It's very difficult to tell from your 'anecdotal' report.
Firstly, I am confused by the statement that your friends applied 'online'. To the best of my knowledge there is no 'online' method of application for a registration plate. You can download the application form but it has to be completed and submitted by post to Reading. Similarly confusing is that you say "they had the copy of the received online application and the payment acceptance". Again to the best of my knowledge the EA do not send out acknowledgements - they simply deal with the application and, assuming everything is in order, they send out the registration plate.

Who were 'the police' ? We all know it would not have been the police themselves but more likely a lock keeper or river inspector. In either case, I would have expected them to have been somewhat more informative than just threatening prosecution. Also, denial of passage through locks is not normal procedure either - a notice of unregistered craft is issued and this would be signed at each lock they transited.
Finally dates. If your friends posted their application on May 9th it would not have been received by the EA until a day or two later. Add the 10 days statutory turnaround time and return posting time and we get to the end of last week before they might expect to receive the registration plate back.

Please don't think I am trying to defend anyone here - I am simply analysing the information you provided to try and explain what might be 'going on' as you put it. Of course, if your friends are new to the river they would not necessarily be aware of all the minutiae, and annoyance that they could not proceed with their outing would , no doubt, be their first reaction.

Finally, the right people to tell you what 'is going on' is the EA at Reading - tell your friends to take the matter up directly with the craft registration team.
 
Extremely unlikely that they would have been told they would be 'denied lock usage'

The trouble with stories passed on from person to person is that they get embellished.

B1's comments are valid.
 
Indeed the comments are very valid, these new boaters obviously could not have applied on line as they would need to send their docs in, I am sure they meant a statement showing the payment having been taken...........thats why I put it in inverted commas. And as we all know the Police would not be involved. However, it seems to be a valid point that there has been an very protracted delay in issuing the licences of late.
 
plumbob said:
Indeed the comments are very valid, these new boaters obviously could not have applied on line as they would need to send their docs in, I am sure they meant a statement showing the payment having been taken...........thats why I put it in inverted commas. And as we all know the Police would not be involved. However, it seems to be a valid point that there has been an very protracted delay in issuing the licences of late.
Click to expand...

and the 'being denied useage of the locks' ?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top