Not sure if this has been posted elsewhere http://www.oft.gov.uk/news-and-updates/press/2012/107-12

Hi, I would like to share my frustrating story.. In November 2011 I've received a letter from the DVLA saying that my licence has been revoked and it no longer covers me to drive. I rang up DVLA immediately and after long conversation I was told that there are 6 points on my licence with driving with no insurance somewhere in London. After couple of weeks I received another letter from the Magistrates court (North West London) saying that I didn't show up to the court,however, they didn't notify me at all. In the meantime I spent hours on the phone trying to sort this out, because I am living in Manchester and I've never been driving in London. In this letter (from the court) I've noticed that my name is spelled wrong (only the first letter of my first name matches, but the surname and DOB is correct). I'll give you an example: imagine that my name John Smith, but they sent it to Jago Smith, but the driving number (which is on licence) is mine. After this I came up with decision that some guy Jago was convicted in London and he didn't provide his driving licence and policeman recorded it like J SMITH and system found me instead of him. I spent another weeks trying to sort this out, I sent all the paperwork to the DVLA, Magistrates Court and I went to the local DVLA department to have a word with them, but with no success. The next step was getting solicitor involved. This guy was very helpful.. he did his best to solve the problem. He managed to reopen this case and after 2 months we went to the same Magistrates Court in London. I had with me all evidences to prove that it wasn't me driving in London with no insurance. I provided all insurance policies I had since 2010-2012, letter from the work that I was working in this day in Manchester, bank statements in which is clearly seen that I was doing shopping in Manchester and physically I couldn't be in London. Before we went to the court my solicitor managed to get a fax copy from the London Metropolitan Police with an actual report/protocol made by policeman. In this report was written name Jago Smith, driving white Iveco van. We though that it will help us a lot, because I am not a Jago and because of someone's terrible mistake I was disqualified. The court was USELESS, my case was 50 minutes long with 3 breaks. The court agreed that there is something wrong and was very sorry about me, but they need a Jago not me and I have to contact DVLA again. You can't imaging how upset I was in that day.. we went back to the Manchester and next day my solicitor spoke with some big boss in DVLA directly, explained everything and points were removed from my licence next day. All this process was from mid November - mid August. Guess now what' the reason why I have posted all this rubbish? I received a letter from the DVLA this morning ON MY NAME, WITH MY DRIVERS NUMBER, WITH MY DOB, WITH MY ADDRESS and saying that I WAS CONVICTED on 24th Sep in North West London. Sadly, my solicitor is no longer in this country and I have to start all this from the beginning. I rang up DVLA straight away, explaining all the situation, but they don't want to listen to me, they just kick me to contact Magistrates Court and when I ring to Magistrates Court they told me to contact DVLA. Can you please give me any sort of feedback? I am starting to think about claiming compensation, because I couldn't drive for the 5 months and it ruined my holiday and now I am in exactly the same situation. Is it reasonable to even think about compensation? The last case shocked all my family and we had a really stressful period of time, I don't know if I will tell my family that this happened again. Thanks for your time. Best Regards, Yuri

Hi I would appreciate some info on changing my current valid N.Ire driving licence to a uk/scottish licence.(Got a job in scotland) Does anyone know anything about how to go about doing this? How much does it cost? I have 6 points, will they get transferred over to scottish licence? Thanks, can't find anything on net about this issue but maybe i'm just dumb

Recently me and my wife renewed our Photo Licences via the post office service, as our 10 years were up. The wife's new licence was received within 10 days but not mine. I have received a letter from the DVLA stating that the photo licence and paper licence were from two different issues ie. 77A and 77B. I remembered about eight years ago I misplaced my licences, left in an old locker at work, and ended up having to get them replaced. A few years later the old licences were handed back to me and I ended up with two sets. Since then I've hired many cars here and abroad and somehow must have got the two sets mixed up. I have yet again misplaced one set, for the life of me I don't know what I have done with them, and sent a mixed set to the DVLA. My question is, will they try and fine me for not returning/destroying my first set when I found them or do you think it's just proceedure?. I have to let them know with an explanation. Should I just tell them that when I found them I must have destroyed the wrong set by accident? By the way, there are and have never been any conviction points added at any time. Am I worrying about nothing? Thanks for reading Chelsea Blue

Dear all, This forum has actually helped me in the past have the internet set up at my flat in 72 hours instead of 6 weeks! So hats off for that! I decided to join it because I have a very serious situation that is affecting both my mental and physical health. I live on top (almost) of a restaurant that "converts" into a club on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and plays LOUD (sorry for the caps) music till 3:00 am on each!!!!!!!!! I checked with the council and it is actually licensed!!!! :!: So I have a couple of questions: is it possible that any council in London would permit a venue in a residential area to play music till 03:00 including Sundays ?????? My second question is: under which head title in this forum should I submit my story (the whole, story, that is).... Thanks in advance for your replies. Best, Sabiha

I have been reading about TV Licensing recently and whether they are lawfully required or not. I have no personal objective here other than enlightenment. I DO have a linence and will contiunue to do so as I can afford it (thankfully I have a job) and I know that I would be harassed if I didn't have one. But that got me thinking....is the main reason that people buy licences because they feel that they would be committing a crime and be threatened/harassed for not having one? When I was at Uni (some time ago now!) I received all sorts of threatening letters (more and more red ink each time) despite not owning a TV or equipment capable of receiving a signal...and this was despite me notifying them of this. Reminds be of DCA threatogram tactics. Churn out 10,000 threatograms, a few will cough up = result for them. I've heard about £1000 fines being threatened, sending enforcement officers round to visit, and even prison! Some arlicles I have read (and youtube vids watched) talk about how, as the TV Licence requirement is based on the Communications Act, it is a 'Statute' and not a 'Law'(Common Law). Not having one does not cause harm or loss to another person so cannot be considered an unlawful act. The case studies suggest that one can 'remove their implied right of access' so that TVL peeps are not allowed to enter one's property and one can refuse to answer any questions to any enforcment agents (normally Capita)....and there is nothing that they can do. The key (apparently) is to avoid engaging with them in any way as they have no right to demand info and enter your property...or even demand your name. People fall foul of this when they fall for the intimidation and sign statements agreeing that they do not have a TVL despite having a TV. As we are talking about an Act/Statute, there has to be an agreement on both sides so unless you agree, they cannot enforce. Correct? or BS?!! So my question is - how does this work out in reality? If someone cancels their licence (or never has had one) will they be 'got' in the end by the TVL people and court system. Can the Police get involved? Will you go to prison? Or is the BBC/TVL hoodwinking us all and with untruths, deliberate misinterpretation of the law, intimidation, threats, harassment and bullying? And should the TVL be abolished? I came here to ask as I very much value the CAG members' opinions and views....

Hi I would appreciate any advice A bailiff from Marston came to my house this morning regarding an unpaid debt of £550, i was fined £250 by magistrates for no tv licence. I paid £50 and presumed the rest was being taken from JSA. I pay £5 a week but it only states fines, not a particular reference. I explained this and asked for time to pay/check it out and was told that was impossible. I asked for it to be referred back to court - again no. The bailiff then came in and filled in a Notice of Distress. He listed two sofas, a coffee table, 1 alba tv, 1 xbox 360 and 1 excercise bike. He has given me days to pay. I have no money to spare so wont be able to but after finding this forum I am hoping i can appeal against the validity of the Notice of Distress?? My coffee table only cost 60 new, tv 250, xbox belongs to my 18 year old son, leather sofas are both ripped and have no fire tags? and the exercise bike is actually a cross trainer - does this make it invalid? Also i phoned them asking for a cost breakdown and was told 85 admin and 215 for the visit, is this acceptable? I am trying to get hold of the court but not having much luck, if i dont pay can the bailiff take these items and what can i do in the meantime to prevent him taking them and give me time to pay. I hope i have included enough info but will happily post anything else that might help. Thanks

my son applied on line and selected the option to send his own photo as his passport exp in may and s from when he was 12/13 everything went through using the passport number online, even 'knew who he was' but now the form is here its still going on about wanting a valid passport and/or an unlaminated Birth cert sent back with it is there anyway around this? can we show docs locally to someone. not a driver so never jumped through these hoops dx

Hello. My friend moved out to Oz a few years ago and in that time he got himself a driving licence. Now he is moving back to blighty in the next couple of weeks and seeks to get his licence exchanged when he gets here... Will he be able to exchange for a full UK licence or will the DVLA send him a provisional licence and be required to sit a UK test....? Thanks....

I am now resident in Australia ,have a clean Aus drivers licence and want to buy a car in UK rather than Rent. The UK insurance co's are gougers when it comes to premiums. To get a reasonable rate i need a UK licence . I have my expired licence which exp 1974 . Is it possible to get it renewed without all the rigmarole of a new test? After all, I can drive on my Australian Licence. I cant find any answer in DVLA nor email contact address Appreciate any advice. I travel Sept 1 2012

So it near the end of July any news on their license?

http://www.credittoday.co.uk/article/14160/online-news/crook-hid-criminal-past-to-get-consumer-credit-licence

I have a TV Licence for period 1.1.12 to 31.12,12 which is on the weekly payment system. To the best of my knowledge the whole amount has been now paid, and I have started to receive texts from TVL saying amounts overdue, this may be a catch up scenario, However, there blurb says I can start now paying in advance for next years licence, I get this rubbish every year, and as far as I am aware, there is no legal requirement or statute that requires me to comply and I guess that even if I dis enter this, I doubt if they will entertain paying me interest on advanced advance payments:madgrin:

I got caught for speeding & received an SP30. I sent off my 'old-style' pink paper driving license and details for payment (plus a covering letter explaining I’d been in hospital and moved house and that was the reason for my delay in returning my details). Today I received my driving license and my letter back. The £60 has been taken from my account but my license hasn’t been updated with the 3 points. Will these come at a later date? (or have I been lucky?)

I received a letter from the DVLA with the following content: Date: 28/02/2012 Our records show that on the above mentioned date you were convicted of a driving offence but either did you not produce your driving licence or only produced part of your driving licence to the court. The number of valid penalty points currently shown on your driver record mean that your driving licence will be withdrawn under the provisions of the Road Traffic (New Drivers) Act 1995, with effect from the fifth day after the date of this letter. You must send us your driving licence (both the photocard and paper counterpart if you have a photocard licence), with the reply slip in the enclosed envelope. You should note that the revoked licence no longer covers you to drive You are entitled to obtain a provisional licence if you wish to continue driving, but you will be required to comply with the "learner" conditions attaching to that licence until you pass another driving test (theory and practical). to recover all previously held full entitlements the retest must be for one of the categories held prior to the revocation. A test for a category not previously held will result in a full licence for that category only. On the 29th Feb 2012 I was stopped by the Road Traffic Police and checked my Insurance, Mot, Licence and said everything is fine. On the 2nd March 2012 I was stopped again by the police and checked my details on their computer and told me that I am not entitled to drive and that their records shows that I driving without a licence. The police then seized my car. I explained to them that I have a letter from the DVLA stating CLEARLY that the licence is revoked after five days of issuing the above letter "driving licence will be withdrawn under the provisions of the Road Traffic (New Drivers) Act 1995, with effect from the fifth day after the date of this letter". The police asked to present the evidence of this letter to the police station as soon as possible. On the same day my car was seized, I went to the police station with the DVLA letter and the clerk at the police station confirmed that the letter is correct and took a copy and apologized for the mistake but said that the application was processed and there is litter they can do. Now my car is the lockup park. I was not able to retrieve my car as they claim there is "no policy cover that allows me to retrieve the seized car by police" although I was with another qualified with fully comprehensive insurance cover driver. Summary I am clearly within my legal rights to drive the car within the duration stated in the DVLA letter: DVLA letter issued on 28 Feb 2012 Driving Licence to be withdrawn with effect from the fifth day after the date of this letter. 3 March 2012 Car was seized on 2nd March 2012 It is crystal clear that my car was seized illegally by the police and I am here looking for professional advice on the matter as the police is taking the case to court. Thanks for your interest

I was convicted of having no insurance recently after a mix up with insurance companies. As a new driver i was given 6 penalty points. Yesterday (sat 16 june 2012) i received a letter from dvla saying my licence would be revoked with effect from 5 days from date of letter (13 june 2012). I was stopped by police at 01.00 hours today and they told me my car was not insured. I explained i had a short term policy cover with ecar from 16 june until 19 june and proved this on ipad via emails from ecar. Then they said my licence was revoked. I explained i got the letter yesterday and it said 5 days? They have seized my car! I found the letter from dvla and contacted police. They came to my house i went outside gave them the letter and insurance proof. They were very rude and said it was the 18 june today; i explained there was no time on letter and 18 june surely lasts until 11.59 this evening? They just drove off? Basically i just need to know where i stand and if the 5 day warning of revokement of licence is inclusive so i can get my car released! P.s i am not a boy racer; i am 40 and me and my family are already being harassed by police after a recent complaint not directly relating to myself. Thanks in advance julieI