Unfortunately, this is the current state of things. DVLA had skeleton staff through lockdown so paper applications weren't processed at the usual speed they would be. DVLA told us recently that it's working through a big backlog of applications but those who submitted applications back in March/April time would be dealt with first, with those submitted recently at the bottom of the pile. We expect the situation to improve as the year goes on but it's currently very slow going. We've had reports of other V5Cs lost at the DVLA, and the DVLA phone line is experiencing a very high volume of calls - so, again, lots of reports that people can't speak to anyone there.