Anyone on here had any experience of this?

Short story is they said I didn't inform them of a keeper change and liable for a fine imposed by the court.

I did sent them the V5 and either the Royal Mail or DVLA have lost or misplaced it.

Along with this the Cossie Rep I sold at the same time the V5 for this was in the same envelope and they are trying to say I was never a keeper of this vehicle and a new keeper was added in September 2012 when I owned the car!

Seems to me like they have ballsed something up.

I think I have a pretty strong argument/case but has anyone else actually been in the same boat?

I can put the correspondence up if needed.

 

You got it in 1 bud the dvla are the biggest bunch of idiots going! Sent my licence back for renewal do not here anything back so after a month contact them to be told i haven't got a licence long process after ended up brooking a test and passing again with no lessons after 20 odd years from previous test but no longer have my motor bike on it or hgv wankers!!!

 

They make the law up as they go along to suit themselves

 

Agreed. I used the Interpretation Act against them which basically states that by me posting it I've done my part and they said its not a defence. However, when they didn't reissue me a V5 a few years back they used it against me to say they weren't at fault it was Royal Mail. Kind of hoping it goes to court now so I can say my piece.

 

That's why took a copy of mine, then I went to the post office and renewed there.

 

Not heard great things about their admin but I guess given the volume of things they deal with they'll always make a percentage of mistakes.
I went to tax the saph last night and it ran out on 31st April and wasn't on SORN as I'd been away etc for most of May, not a totally valid excuse but I was a bit hacked off when i taxed it online and it said the tax would start 1st June and not 1st May, so basically they now have an excuse to fine me for 1 month gap where it was untaxed. I'd have been quite willing to pay from 1st May, but I don't get that choice!

Before anyone says it was my fault, I do agree, however I get sick of living in an effin country where I can be penalised for something so bloody trivial as 1 months car tax..... you can't do ANYTHING these days without getting fucked!

 

Never been to court for this myself, but if you can produce the confirmation letter you should be fine as it will prove you are in the right. If you can't produce the letter or prove in some way that you did actually send it then its only your word and that will probably not be enough.

Also I'm sure it's on the v5 somewhere that if you don't receive the confirmation letter back within a certain time period you should contact them about it, if you've done that and kept all correspondence you would be ok.

 

It's four weeks but you are not legally obliged to do so. They have no right under any Statutory Legislation to enforce a fine for this.

I have no proof it was posted, but the Interpretation Act basically states that the onus is on them to prove I didn't send it. Their guidelines for posting the V5 to them also makes no requirement to send it via any recorded means.

I 'm based over 200 miles away from my home address during the week and because of how busy I am with work I didn't give it a second thought that I hadn't had a confirmation. I didn't receive a court Simons until over 6 months after I sold the car.

I can't see how any of this can legally be enforceable by a court. My only worry is that as its a Magistrates court the case will more than likely be heard by lay magistrates who don't know anything about Statute Legislation and might just side with the DVLA as they couldn't possibly be wrong

 

You may well be right. I'm not saying this is the case with you but just think how many people try to weasel their way out of legitimate fines, how many oops I forgot and other bullshit excuses these magistrates have heard, who do you think they will side with?

It could end up worse going to court, I'd only do it if you are really confident

 

I argued it and said I posted the logbook to dvla on a recorded delivery and they failed to update it, and said I lost the delivery slip

I went to court and argued it and didn't even go in the court room and they offered me a settlement out of court where I paid a "minimum" charge which was Ł54 and job done

 

Why didn't you just go into the Post Office? They could have back-dated it, and you would avoid a fine.

 

Anything that I send to the Dvla goes recorded delivery. I don't trust them at all!

 

As above, recorded delivery for me as they are well known for c*ck ups.

 

Was just going to say this!

 

Had exactly this. Went to court where the case got adjourned (sp?)
The dvla then sent me a letter offering an out of court settlement of Ł60odd which I politely refused. It's been 4 months since 2nd court date and so far I haven't heard anything from them.
It might be worth you looking into the time of the alleged offence and see how long it took the dvla to start court proceedings! I'm sure one of my colleagues pointed out that there was a specific amount of time allowed for an offence of this type to get to court??

 

Sending stuff by recorded signed for doesn't wash according to the DVLA. They say it does not count as proof that you sent them any kind of correspondence. I do think they would have difficulty trying this in court though. I think they just use it as a scare tactic to make you pay up when the cock up is down to them. They are a law unto themselves and don't seem to be accountable to anyone.

 

Ive still got the pass slip for my car test and my hgv test.When i hear things like this it makes me think glad ive kept mine lol.Its the slip that the examiner gives you

 

This is happening all the time now and although there is no obligation on you to do so I would advise when sending anything to the DVLA to pay the bit extra and have it signed for which provides proof of postage should anything go wrong !

 

They answer to the court that any case would be heard in and I know of a few cases in which people have fought their corner and the Magistrates have thrown it out.

I speak to one of the chaps who prosecutes for the DVLA and when I see him next I'll ask him about this issue as it does seem to be happening far too often ?

 

Yeah, they would have to answer to the courts but they will happily tell the customer that recorded signed for is not proof as far as they're concerned. They said exactly this to my sister over some issue. I'm sure they just do it to bully the punters into doing what they want/making them pay the fines before they threaten court.

 

Well, today I have been offered to settle out of court for Ł35, which although out of principle I really don't want to do, they don't work out of Colchester Magistrates so I would have to drive to Ipswich or Chelmsford and ask for a day off work. It's an absolute joke that they can just use the court system to bully and extort people for their cock up, something which I have told them.

It also annoys me that they claim to have sent me a letter saying about the fine which apparently I ignored which is why they have taken court action. I received no such letter and when I phoned them the fine had gone from Ł35 to Ł55 for late payment and I couldn't talk to anyone about the problem or put my point across, either pay the fine or go to court. I had to ring the court and send DVLA correspondence through them!

I have to admit, the chap who I have been dealing with has actually been surprisingly helpful now that I have actually managed to talk to someoen but won't drop the case. Seems they like to turn up at court and take their chances.

I think to save the bother of court I may just pay up, but I can't help feel victimised. I definitely want to get in touch with some regulatory body/ombudsmen etc and put a complaint in, though.

 

One of my acquaintances reckons he went to court and basically said if you stand up in court and say you wasnt the registered keeper at the time , they throw it out. Don't know whether to take it as a pinch of salt or not, guess theres no reason for him to lie about it. Always thought our justice system was "you're innocent till proven guilty" so if they cant prove you havent sent it off how can you be guilty?

 

Basically, they try and interpret the law the way they want it to read. Section 7 of the Interpretation Act 1978 basically states that if you address, stamp and post a document and relinquish responsibility to a third party (such as Royal Mail) in the eyes of the law it is deemed served unless they can prove otherwise.

When i told them this The DVLA argued that their V5 used the work 'deliver' in the eyes of the law deliver means to 'place an item into the hands of a party'

I told them that if that was the case, every V5 sent to the DVLA would have to be driven down in person and handed over, in person to the Secretary Of State himself in a face to face meeting. As they ONLY give the option to post and not deliver it in person then there is no other way to deliver it other than via a third party, and as such, their argument doesn't stand. They didn't challenge this as they knew I was right.

I also pointed out that they have no power to legally enforce the fine as I am not Statutorily Obliged to chase them up after four weeks, as that was their other argument. They also didn't contest this and said only that 'it is sound advice to do so'

It just grips me that they know I'm completely right but won't drop the case over a Ł35 fucking quid fine.

 

DVLA are a completely useless bunch of cunts. I would take the court route and then seek a claim against the DVLA for wrongful prosecution and your incurred costs

 

I took them all the way on a non continuation of insurance fine and won,didn't pay a penny despite them trying to fine me Ł430 in my absence,despite me phoning the court direct,speaking to the seventeen year old "alright BABES" girl over the phone etc etc.
Went back in and had a good chat with a lovely lady who said effectively what they were trying to charge me with would set a precedent for pretty much 50% of the motoring population.
They also claimed to have sent me a letter offering an Ł80 fine out of court which I never recieved,in fact I've been through all my paperwork from the past 6-8 years this trip home and found nothing relating to it.
Went back into court on the day after 4 adjournments and was told it was thrown out as the car WAS on the MID database.
This is horseshit,I never put the car on until about 3 months after I'd taxed it,just through forgetfulness but of course as I'm on trade insurance the car is effectively covered,its just some companies can be arsey if you don't update the MID after 14days,my new company are very strict about this.
The court was full of DVLA fines and they had their own solicitor in there full time,their not giving up as easily as before,every penny counts I suppose.

 

Slightly different but I had 2 policemen at my door last week with an arrest warrant for failing to attend court, they couldn't give me the exact details as they offered me the chance to basically hand myself in on the Monday as I had the kids etc and if they radio'd it in it would have been on record that they'd spoke to me and they'd have gotn wrong for not locking me up.. I went to the court on the Monday and it was all to do with the dvla and a car that I owned years ago that was also scrapped years ago and docs sent away, they were trying to do me for keeping a vehicle with no insurance in August last year, the woman in the court told me that I'd be settling for a fine and 6 points i was like no way so I had to get a copy of last years traders policy to show I was covered even though there's no such car lol. Madness.
Oh and the reason I never had any letters to go to court was that it was the vehicle was from a previous address and I've lived here 6 year.