My hearing was at a magistrates court and so I think your's will be too, so yes, this would probably mean a criminal conviction if found guilty however i'm not completely sure on it all! I rang the DVLA as it is much quicker than sedning letters, they will not send out a copy of the photos to you, you will have to go to them to view them, we had to go to Kent to see the photos

I'm afraid I wouldn't know about the court/conviction or how it would effect your immigration process! I know that when I was dealing with it I found a lot of solicitors on the Internet who offered to take the case on a no win no fee basis (I didn't take them on) who also offered quite helpful advice for free! It would help if you could see the photos, is there anyway you can go to their offices to view them?

I'm sorry that it has taken me so long to reply to you!! I was the same - confident that they did not/could not have photos of my car as it didn't even work so couldn't have been parked where they said!! Turned out that they did have photos of my car, in a PRIVATE car park outside my house and they were saying it was somewhere else! So they may have photos of your vehicle but may be saying it was somewhere else! Your situation is made even worse by the immigration/job application process but I really would advise against paying the fine just to get them off of your backs! Remember at the end of the day they have to prove that your car was illegally parked, but do prepare yourself to prove otherwise! In the end I was taken to court and was very worried about the whole thing!! When I told them I was pleading not guilty and they asked if I had evidence to back up my plea I told them I did but wanted to present this evidence with their witness - the employee who claimed to have clamped my car - present! They did drop the case against me before the next court date arrived and I would advise you to fight this! It is terrible that they seem to be getting away with this all to often!!

Ok, thanks! I think the more I hear from them the more frustrated and determined not help them I become! Again, thank you very much for the advice!

Thanks for your quick reply!! I thought for a second that I was being difficult not just handing over my details but as I said, I have absolutely nothing to do with this so I do not see why I should hand any of them over? I did offer them a letter from the landlady confirming that the person that they are looking for no longer lives here buth they said I must write and sign the letter as I own the goods in the property!

Hi all, I hope that some of you can help me! I have recently moved into a new property and I keep getting letters from various debt agencies regarding the previous tenant! At first I just sent these back to the adressee advising that the tenant had "done a runner" about 11 months ago. I got so many of these letters that I eventually started opening them (I know that's not allowed!) in order to get the actual contact details of the debt collection agencies so that I could phone them. I have done this but I am still receiving letters! One firm, Marston has sent another letter advising that a baliff is to visit me tomorrow with a removals company to "sieze and remove goods". I have rung them again and advised that the person in question hasn't lived here for approx 11 months and they said that I needed to give them my details, as I am the owner of the goods in the property and a letter confirming that the previous tenant no longer lives here. I don't see why this has anything to do with me and I am not willing to hand over my details to a company that I have absolutely nothing to do with! Do they have any rights, do I have any rights?! Any help much apprieciated!!

I agree, I thought from the beginning that this guy must have to hit certain targets That does, in no way make me feel sorry for him or think that he should keep his job!! I am determined that he should be sacked for what he is doing!

Unfortunately it seems (though only going by my case) that this guy is blatently trying it on and if the accused does take it as far as court then he convieniently does not turn up!! I agree he does need to be stopped! Would it be a silly idea to write to the local paper giving his name? Does anyone have any advice regarding this?

I cannot beleive this!!!! It is a disgrace and something needs to be done about this guy!!! I am going to check if the MP holds open sessions and go along to see her with print outs from this forum to show I am not the only victim and this guy must loose his job over this!!! Is this your 1st court appearance? If so I would suggest doing as I did and not showing any evidence but saying that you will present this at a later date once all parties are present - including Mr. Jamie Bunter!!! I have spoken to Natalie Bushell since my case has been dropped and she was not at all surprised by what I said about it being a fradulent claim on Mr. Bunter's behalf. Try not to worry about the photo that they have of your car! I can hazard a guess that Jamie Bunter has done exactly the same to you as he did to me! They will have a photo of your car but it will more than likely be a photo of the car where it is with the clamp on! The photo that they had of my car was on the off street car park where it has been sat for nearly 2 years! He put the clamp on, took the photos and then took the clamp off!! And that is what he is calling evidence!! We actually showed the Sidcup DVLA office the photos and matched the trees in the background, the paving style in the car park, the cars parked oneither side of the car (which obvioulsy doesn't happen on a public road!!) Take photos of your car to use as evidence! Where is he saying that the car was seen? You never know, it could be the same road that he said my car was parked in!! Any other questions - ask away! Any more help I can give I will!! I am now more determined than ever to make sure this guy does not get away with it!! They simply play on the fact that some people will be scared into paying the fine rather than go to court!

Hiya, No, I haven't actually been in touch with the press as yet but I do intend to! Regarding asking for costs from the DVLA I was told by the duty solicitor at the court that it would more than likely be a waste of time as they rarely do pay costs and if they do it's in the region of £10 or a silly amount when you compare it to the time taken running/phoning around trying to get any advice possible and also babysitters, witness days off of work etc!! Do you think it would be different to what the duty solicitor has said?

Would gladly help! Do you know the DVLA agents name? Do you have evidence to use against them? I would get in touch with the MP Siobhan McDonagh as she was extremely helpful!! MCDONAGHS@parliament.uk I found that she wrote to the DVLA straight away once I had e-mailed her. I mentioned to her that I had been on this website and you should too! As she has been dealing with my case I think it would be a great idea for you to enlist her help! Not only as she seemed to have a bit of clout in getting the DVLA to sit up and pay attention but also it will highlight the fact that the enforcement agents are creating fradulent claims in her area and that my case was clearly not just a one off!! Let me know if I can help in any other way!

I agree, it was not the fault of the DVLA this time and on a whole, the people from the DVLA have been polite and helpful. I did understand that as far as they were concerned they had received a report of an offence and were just following procedure as they are supposed to, however it was very frustrating to know full well that I was entirely innocent of this offence and yet still I had to go to lengths to prove my innocence! I am going to drop it as far as the DVLA are concerned but I am definitely taking it further regarding the actual enforcement agent. I will be asking my MP what they plan to do about him and am also considering writing to the local papers to warn people about what is going on! I think it would be a fair assumption to say that this isn't the first time that this has happened and I feel that the pound needs to be investigated as who knows how many people have paid fines for offences that they did not commit! Thank you Conniff for your advice and if anybody has any more as to how I should go about taking this further please advise Many thanks!!

Update again! I received a letter yesterday from the prosectutor at the DVLA informing me that "in view of further information received it is the Agency's intention to offer no evidence against me" and so on! I could not believe this and so rang and spoke to her for confirmation and, yes, it is true, the case against me has been dropped and it is all over!!!!! The prosecutor was a very nice lady by the name of Natalie Bushell and when I questioned her about the whole thing she told me that whether it was a fradulent claim, on behalf of the car pound, or not the DVLA had received a report of an offence and had followed proceedure accordingly. However it has come to light that "an error" was made by the actual car pound/enforcement agent and so the case has been dropped. She couldn't detail what this "error" was but when I told her that it was infact the enforcement agent blatently trying to pull a fast one and that the car has not moved for well over a year and cannot move as it is broken she told me that she was not at all surprised by this!!!!!!!!!! So there you have it - the prosecutors at the DVLA are, it seems, well aware of what the enforcement agents are up to!!! Am very relieved that it is all over, with regards to them taking me to court however I am now very interested in what my local MP (who has been a great help so far and I recommend that everyone having trouble with the DVLA to get them on board!) intends to do about DVLA agents making fradulent allegations in her area! It amazes me that the DVLA try it on like this and I wonder how many people may have paid up purely because the threat of court has scared them into doing so!! I will keep you posted!!

You are right indeed. I will wait patiently!

Just a quick update! I had still heard nothing from either the MP regarding the letter that she sent on my behalf to the DVLA chief executive or the chief executive himself and so I chased her up on Monday. I sent an e-mail to her mentioning this website and the many many people that are having continuous problems with the DVLA and being wrongly taken to court etc. I also explained what the duty solicitor at the court had told me regarding the DVLA being a money making scheme and that he wouldn't be surprised if the top boss was connected to the criminal underworld. I recieved a letter from her this morning with a copy of another letter that she has sent to the Chief executive, along with my e-mail, asking him for a reply to her letters and also an explanation regarding the comments that I have made! I will update this if I get a reply but judging the amount of letters that the DVLA "do not recieve" I will not be surprised if we do not get a reply!!

I agree, the court summons should be for the registered owner only. As for the legal aid, i'm afraid that your out of luck! I am going through a similar thing with the DVLA, fradulent claim on their part, court summons etc etc. and I have tried the Citizens advice bureau, free internet legal advice and also various high street solicitors who have all told me that as this is classed as a "parking/motor" offence and not an actual criminal offence then you will not be able to get any help with legal costs! I tried Law Answers: free legal advice and answers to any law question — law answers and one of thier solicitors gave me some pretty good free advice and also offered to take up the case if I wanted her to, unfortunately I too cannot afford solicitors fees so am having to defend myself! If you have any advice on fighting them then please feel free to share!! Good luck!

I was so nervous that I forgot to get his contact details and when I came out he had gone! I will try contacting the court to see if they can give me his details

That would be great thanks!!

Do you think that I really could have a cse for this? Do I have to wait until it's all over first? I Know the local CAB woman quite well now and will seek her advice however I think that she is just a general adviser and don't think that she speacialises in legal issues! I'm quite stuck for free legal advice, I have tried most places that I could think of already! I can't afford a solicitor and do not qualify for legal aid as apparently this comes under the "parking offence" catagory and isn't considered serious!

Well, I have appeared in court and I have to go back in January for a proper hearing! I spoke to the duty solicitor when I arrived and told him that I had lots of evidence; photos, statements etc to prove that the enforcement agent was lying and that I was planning to show my evidence today. He said that I shouldn't do this as that is exactly what the DVLA want, he said "the DVLA are meant to let you know every bit of evidence that they have but they rarely do, they always like to keep a few tricks up they're sleeves so that they can surprise you in a hearing, keep everything that you have very close to your chest". He then said that he would go and see if he could find out anything from the prosecutor. When he came back he said that the DVLA prosecutor was very surprised that I had turned up! Did they think that I would just pay fines for an offence that the enforcement agent has dreamt up?? I went into court, plead not guilty and when asked what my issue was I told them that it was a falsification, that the claim was fradulent. I was asked if I could back this up and said that I had evidence to support this however I wanted to sow this at a hearing when all parties were present, including they're enforcement agent. They replied that they would "just add that to the costs" and I was given another date to return and sent on my way! I am furious that I have been looked upon and treated like a criminal! I have never meant such a bunch of unfriendly, intimidating people! I naively thought that you were presumed innocent until found giulty but that is not the case at all!! To make this worse, the duty solicitor told me that in his opinion the DVLA were nothing but a money making scheme for the government, that he sees so many people coming through the court where it is obvious that they have done nothing wrong and the DVLA are just blatently trying to pull a fast one!! I am going to go back to my MP and will also be writing to newspapers and watchdog about this!! If anyone else out there wants to do the same maybe (probaby being naive again!) we can actually get somewhere!!!

Thanks! Am taking print outs of the photos of the car that I have along with witness statements and letters from the Citizens Advice Bureau & my MP (Anything to help!) I know that I shouldn't be worried as I have done nothing wrong at all yet here I am being taken to court! Hopefully it will be resolved tomorrow and I will post the outcome on here Thanks again for your help!

Thanks for reply! Car is definitely parked on private land! The photos that he took were produced as evidence by the Sidcup office and I showed them a photo on my phone that I had taken that morning and you could clearly see that the photos were taken in the same place! They then said that photos taken on a digital camera etc cannot be used as evidence as they can be doctored very easily and they have not included their photos in thier evidence sent with the summons. I do have statements from 2 neighbours confirming that the car does not/has not moved and one of these neighbours saw the DVLA guy in the car park taking some photos though didn't see him use the clamp as he had parked his van across the front of my car, probably to hide this fact! Am quite worried about going to court especially as it seems to be a case of his word against mine!

I hope that somebody can help! I am desperate for advice on this! In August I caught a DVLA enforment agent taking photos of my car (declared sorn, parked off road and not actually working for over a year!) in the car park where it has been for over a year. When approached he bumbled out something about new government laws declaring that no vehicle that was untaxed could be kept on private land (!) said there was nothing to worry about and drove off! In Sept I received a letter asking for £305 out of court settlement as my car had been parked on a public road with no valid tax. After arguing this I was told that they had photographic evidence. When I was shown this "evidence" it was pictures of my car, parked where it is, outside my flat, on private land! The guy had put a clamp on it and taken photos of this shortly before I approached him!!! His story is that he clamped the vehicle on a public road and then when he returned the next day to tow it away both the car and clamp had vanished!! I have repeatedly refused to pay the fines and am now being taken to court - tomorrow! I have gotten everyone from the Citizens advice to the local MP involved in getting this dropped but to no avail and have to go to court tomorrow afternoon to fight it! Any advice will be grately apprieciated!! Thanks!

DVLA - Fraudulent claim made on my SORN car that doesn't work!

I hope that somebody can help! In August I caught a DVLA enforment agent taking photos of my car (declared sorn, parked off road and not actually working for over a year!) in the car park where it has been for over a year. When approached he bumbled out something about new government laws declaring that no vehicle that was untaxed could be kept on private land (!) said there was nothing to worry about and drove off! In Sept I received a letter asking for £305 out of court settlement as my car had been parked on a public road with no valid tax. After arguing this I was told that they had photographic evidence. When I was shown this "evidence" it was pictures of my car, parked where it is, outside my flat, on private land! The guy had put a clamp on it and taken photos of this shortly before I approached him!!! His story is that he clamped the vehicle on a public road and then when he returned the next day to tow it away both the car and clamp had vanished!! I have repeatedly refused to pay the fines and am now being taken to court - tomorrow! I have gotten everyone from the Citizens advice to the local MP involved in getting this dropped but to no avail and have to go to court tomorrow afternoon to fight it! Any advice will be grately apprieciated!! Thanks!