No, nothing. The paperwork does not state whether it has to be loaned to them by a company...surely even a written reciept should suffice?

Why not? Who else is to say what was loaned to the company or not?

Ok this is going to be slightly long winded but bear with me. I was stopped earlier this year by a policeman in my peugeot 206 over an insurance query and was asked to produce. The car was insured by my employer but it took alot of time to get insurance documents from them so I went to the police station and explained this and they were understanding and gave me more time (did not state how long). I had also mislaid the white skip given to me by the officer, I was reminded this was necessary as they apparently do not retain a copy themselves...which seemed very odd to me! My car 2 weeks later was impounded and I had to pay £250 to get it released. Shortly after I was sacked from my job over a personal dispute and was offered a job abroad, I was out for 4 months until I returned last week for a visit. I come back to a court summons not only for not providing insurance documents but also not providing my licence either which is an all out lie...and low and behold along with the summons was a photocopy of the white slip I had lost and they claimed they did not have a copy of!!! I will not be present in the UK at the time of the trial which is at the end of this month. I managed to get the insurance document back into my possession through a friend as my ex employer will not co-operate with me. It is AXA policy stating. Description of vehicle: Any goods carrying vehicle owned by the policyholder or hired or loaned to them The policyholder: *company name* Effective date of the commencement of insurance for the purpose of the relevant law: 29/10/09 - 28/10/09 Persons or classes of person entitled to drive: Any person driving on the Policyholder's order or with his permission provided that the person driving holds a licence to drive the vehicle or h as held and is not disqualified from holding or obtaining such a licence. Limitations as to use: Use for the policyholder's business and for social domestic and pleasure purposes EXCLUDING use for hire or reward or whilst towing a greater number of trailers in all than is permitted by law or for racing competitions (other than treasure hunts) ratllies or trials. NOTE: I was using this vehicle which is my own, for picking up staff in the morning and transporting work documents and other materials between branches. Does this seem fitting to everyone? this will be the second time I'm being dragged to court over vehicles and I'm also currently fighting the DVLA for a fine in which I didn't tax a car which I had sold a week prior. After this I'll be quitting driving as its not worth the constant hassle I get. Any help on what I should do would be appreciated.

Bookworm may be able to spell "you're" but I'm not sure what a "rethoric" is

Doesn't explain why they can own it if I use a kit car though.

I don't have a scanner unfortunately. I turned up to Neath magistrates court, they read out the letter I sent them containing the mitigating circumstances. They fined me £85 only. £45 of that is court costs so by turning down my cheque of £60...the DVLA lost out on £20. A small result but its got to be worth something. Thanks guys.

The summons is from the DVLA, everything has their letter head apart from the expense booklet.

The expense sheet was fun to fill out...I've got 2.95 disposable income a week (on paper) so I don't know how they will fine me. The sheet asks for the case number which I was not provided with on the summons...where will I find this code is it on the photocopy of the ticket they sent me?

Statement of facts On the 09/09/2008 the defendant kept an unlicensed mechanically propelled motor vehicle, registration mark xxxxxxx at xxxxxxxxxx. The previous licence expired on 31/07/2008, and the annual rate of duty was £120.00 In accordance with Section 12(7) of the magistrates' Courts act 1980, the above statement of facts will be read out in court, if you inform the clerk of the court that you plead guilty and wish the court to deal with the case in your absence. Notice of penalties Derived from Sections 29 and 30 Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994.The maximum penalty on conviction is £1,000.00 or five times the annual rate of duty, whichever is greater. The prosecutor will also ask for a minimum contribution of £45.00 towards the legal costs. In addition if you were the vehicle's keeper, the prosecutor will ask the court to order you to pay a further penalty in the sum of £20.00, being an amount equal to the outstanding duty for the period 01/08/2008 to 30/09/2008. Also I've got a small HMCS handbook I'm meant to fill out with my current earnings and outgoing to ensure I can afford the fine. Currently I am unemployed on JSA so as long as my outgoings amount to roughly the same as I earn...what can they possibly order me to pay?

The summons came through the door this morning with all the relevant forms and a copy of the original letter I sent them ages ago of which I'd mostly forgotten the content, this would be the admission they are referring to so I will type exactly what I said to them. "To DVLA In relation to the incident in question, the car has been up for sale for quite some time hence why it was parked some miles away from our house. My father has not used the car for quite a long time and I have taken responsibility of the car to help sell it. Despite being the registered legal keeper of the car he was not responsible for this slight pretermission. I am certain it is not the first time 'nor will it be the last that an elderly person with a torrent of health problems forgets to pay their car tax by a particular date. I have paid the clamping fees and car has been since taxed. I take full responsibility for the alleged offence and I hope you can deal with this matter with the sensitibility it deserves." It is me they are taking to court so now its just a case of damage control. I can plead guilty and not contest any fine brought upon me (which wouldn't require my attendance), or plead guilty but still contest the fine the prosecutor attempts to put on me. Considering the finer points as in the DVLA addressing the letters to me and not my father and them claiming not to have the resources to make simple checks...do I stand a chance in court getting away with a small fine?

Well yeah obviously my logic would be they obviously found my father when having just a licence plate so why couldn't they do that with the reverse? They deal with partial number plates on a daily basis with the police so why not now because it doesn't suit them. I'll keep all posted. thanks.

It wouldn't suprise me if it was a bluff because why would they know the date and place in such a short time (1 week) and I still haven't been notified officially. So assuming it is a bluff I should just pay the penalty?

My main aim of course is not to alleviate any blame from myself if it is to come back onto my father. I'd rather take the rap for it than him.

The car was taxed when it was taken there and was left there where it then ran out and they would not be able to prove otherwise. I'm quite confused because of the difference of opinions I'm getting. Without legal aid all thats left is citizens advice and they can't really give advice regarding fine prints of the law. Still haven't recieved the official summons yet for some reason aswell.

No just that I was the one entrusted to sell it, I left it at a not so busy but popular spot for selling cars. I didn't go into any more detail than that but I did claim responsibility over being the one to leave it on the particular public road. Neither of us actually use the car in all honesty, less-so my father.

Ok unfortunately I don't have a copy of the letter I sent to them but I did panic for my father's sake and took responsibility because I was under the impression it could result in points and he would lose his job as a voluntary NHS driver. I accept responsibility for the original offence, what I am trying to fight is the way the out of court settlement was handle...or not handled so to speak. We gave blatantly the full intent to pay but because of something very trivial they use it as an excuse to exort more money from me.

The first thing I thought too is that how can they take me to court and not the registered keeper? Surely that would get laughed out of court which is exactly what citizens advice told me. The summons still haven't arrived yet but they did give me the date and which magistrates court I'll be expected to attend. I don't want to pay solicitors fees for a court system I have very little faith in and I don't see why I should. Heres part of the last correspondence from them. "All vehicle records are held under vehicle registration mark and can only be accessed with this information. All letters sent from this office carry the reference number as the registration mark in order for this to be quoted in any correspondence. If the registration mark is not quoted correctly we are unable to access the vehicle record and therefore unable to deal with any correspondence recieved. Any letters sent from this office will be addressed to the person that enforcement action is being taken against and not necessarily the registered keeper. As you admitted liability for this matter no letters regarding the action taken will be sent to your father. The matter was dealt will be dealt with at Neath Magistrates Court on 21st January 2009 and you should expect to receive a summons in due course. As this matter is now in the hands of the court I am unable to accept your payment and I am returning your cheque for £60.00." I find it hilarious how they expect me to sympathise with not being able to access any data without the registration number but do not show the same understanding when I do not open letters addressed with someone elses name. You're right I shouldn't have to postpone working in Spain but if I don't attend court I'm sure it won't turn out well. I've never in my life heard of them allowing "passing of the buck" like was said...surely its just the registered keeper that takes the head...does anyone have any knowledge of what they expect to achieve?

I used to wonder why the DVLA kept recieving bombs and anthrax through the post until they took it upon themselves to show me why. My father has 2 cars, one which is for sale and left on a public road, it was untaxed for about 2 weeks and we don't contest that at all. The clamping fees were paid and the car was taxed the same day. We recieved a letter stating the offence still stands. I sent a letter to them explaining my father is quite elderly and it is an honest mistake and basically attempted explain that the situation should be dealt with the sentivity it deserves. They replied with an offer of an out of court settlement of £60 which we were more than happy to pay (as happy as you can be to pay a fine), strangely enough they refused to take card payment but insisted on taking a cheque which was to be recieved by 24/11/08, I was away at the time so I instructed my father to fill out the form and send them a cheque, he did so but he did misspell the first letter of the registration of the car. (Why did they need it anyway? If they didn't know then the car wouldn't have been clamped and we wouldn't have been sent letters about it.). They sent the cheque back with a letter saying it was the wrong registration and to fill it out again and send it back...of course by this time the 24th had passed so after sending it to them a 2nd time they sent it back saying it was too late and to await court summons. My main defence is that when they first sent the cheque back they addressed the letter to myself and not my father and I was away at the time which is my perogative. So the letter was there until I got back because we don't open each other's letters (and wouldn't it be illegal to do so anyway?). I pointed this out to them in my next reply, reminded them that they are not out of pocket only ourselves and to accept the cheque and forget about it as I'm sure the magistrates take a dim view of timewasters. I recieved the usual bummff back along with the cheque for the 3rd time stating that because I admitted responsibility for my father, the letter was addressed to me and I am due to appear in court in January which I am now awaiting official summons for which is extremely inconvenient as I was going to fly out to Spain to work in January but now have to stay in the country to deal with a petty matter concerning a petty amount of cash. I plan to fight this any way I can, I'm not sure I can get legal aid over a motoring matter...does anyone have some advice for me?