DVLA - failure to relicense

[JonCris]

Great letter - Trouble is it'll be put in front of some Muppet at the DVLA who won't have a clue how to respond intelligently & will simply return to their demands for payment.

[patdavies]

 

 

The transaction to part-exchange the vehicle took place on 28th June 2007, and this is the effective date when I ceased to be the owner / keeper, although clearly I was still listed as the registered keeper at the start of July, whilst transfer of the registration mark, and subsequent re-issue of the ‘new’ V5C were completed.

 

 

Take this out.

 

One of the requirements of a transfer or retention is that you may not dispose of the donor vehicle until you recive a V5 with its replacement VRM. You have actually declared that you will not do so when you signed the form.

 

I know that this stipulation is more honoured in the breach, but it does give them ammunition to come back at you; and raises doubt as to the actual dates of RK responsibility.

[jampot]

I got a rather lengthy (4 page) letter back - obviously not standard issue, the crux of which tells me I'm still liable for the £40 'penalty'.

 

I need to go through it in detail and find if there's any common ground, or any points I can pick up on - but they've certainly gone to town on a response - I just need to decide whether I can be bothered to take this all the way for the sake of £40. I know that's exactly what they are hoping (that I will bow down) but do I make a stand and end up paying through the nose?

 

Hmmm...

 

I think my strongest case is that they're still trying to tell me that BY LAW, I haven't notified them of a change of keeper UNTIL I RECEIVE THEIR ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. That's not how I read the actual Act itself, regardless of what it says on the V5C.

[jampot]

Hmmmm...

 

According to my latest letter, when talking about the acknowledgement letter which they send out...

 

"You remain legally responsible for your vehicle right up until you receive this letter."

 

Ummm. WTF? NO I DO NOT!

 

If the vehicle is involved in a crime (speeding, red light violation etc) and I haven't yet received a reply from the DVLA, when the police come knocking, I can fill out the necessary (police) paperwork documenting when the vehicle was sold and to whom. This absolves me from any further action, irrespective of what the DVLA think.

 

So... that begs the question, if all the facts point to a disposal on a given date, and the DVLA simply didn't receive the paperwork, why can't that be a statutory defence under the Continuous Registration scheme? If both parties agree that transfer of the vehicle took place on a certain day, this should be acceptable to the DVLA and I cannot see the system being 'fair' whilst documents can get lost in the post, mislaid in an office, or simply filed incorrectly.

[jampot]

Next question...

 

Their letter states that if I still fail to make payment, they have 2 courses of action available to them. The first is an action in Civil Court, the 2nd is to refer the case to a DCA.

 

Being as a dispute the basis for the penalty, is not a DCA obliged to pass the file back? Or is there a special law which allows for a DCA to act on this matter as if it had already been to court?

 

I certainly hope the latter isn't true, as I would certainly be denied a right to an 'independent' hearing if that were the case, and the DVLA could act as judge/jury and simply farm collection out to whoever was nasty enough to chase for money...

[scousepie]

I received a letter from Moorecroft asking for the £80.00 fine or they will start legal action in court, I phoned them today and gave them some stick on the phone, they hung up on me...funny that.

 

My wife had a smash in August last year and the car was a total loss, sent the docs off and low and behold a fine was sent out months later, anyway I wrote to them and explained and they have ignored all letters and passed it to a DCA.

 

Rip off Britain.

 

 

scummmm.

[mjltigger]

has anyone managed to get a positive response regarding this yet? Only because I find myself in the same position now, I part exchanged a vehicle in November, and received the failure to relicense vehicle notice last week while away on holiday. They say I have until 03/05/08 to pay the reduced amount of £40. I will send it back now saying that I notified them etc. but I don't have a copy of the letter from them if I ever received it. Obviously as I sent off the yellow slip as soon as I exchanged the vehicle I didn't have anything in my possession that told me to contact them 4 weeks later so didn't....

[scousepie]

My Wife received this responce Saturday from the goons at DVLA

 

I have not had chance to digest it so coments and advice welcome.

 

 

 

page 2

 

 

[Conniff]

There's no need for you to digest it, I will tell you what it says:

 

Get stuffed and give us the money.

 

Irrespective of the word count in the letter, they all say the same thing.

[JonCris]

Hi Jampot

 

I would steer clear of any allegations that the postal service cannot be relied upon as per your 3rd paragraph as this opens you up to a claim for libel by the Post office - who are not very nice to deal with legally. Otherwise it looks fine.

 

I am suprised that other people on the forum didn't point out that you cannot libel the royal mail.

 

Dani

 

If anyone claims that the PO cannot be relied on then that is not libel it's a statement of fact as by their own admission they lose millions of letters & packages each year

[buzby]

If anyone claims that the PO cannot be relied on then that is not libel it's a statement of fact as by their own admission they lose millions of letters & packages each year

 

Absolutely - and they still enjoy the ability to trade under the Postal Services Act 2000 that gives them immunity from legal action or responsibility to their customers. I have been forced to discontinue actions for theft by postal employees because 'they are not liable', not because the theft didn't happen or couldn't be proved.

 

Statements like those by the OP are fair comment, and not libel.

[s.m.h.]

Hi all,

 

First post but doubt it will be the last....

 

Long and short of it is similarly to the above, I have been sent several letters demanding an £80 for not retaxing a vehicle I sold back in the end of november 07.

 

The issue I have is that I had to change the taxation class of the car that I was buying so had to go to Maidstone, a DVLA centre, to do this.

 

I paid the necessary money for the 12 months on the new car, and asked the clerk if I could hand the slip in for the change of ownership for the old car.

The clerk said yes, and I handed the paperwork over.

6 weeks later I get a letter saying I havent sorn/retaxed/changed owner.

A week after that I get a letter from another department of the DVLA saying the vehicle has be registered and no further action will be taken. I thought the lost slip had materialised but no, it was the new owner.

I called their office and sent them a copy of the letter from their other office.

 

I received a letter on the 23rd of May which even stated they do not dispute that I submitted the disposal notification, but because they didnt receive it at Swansea I'm still liable.

 

So after explaining it is their mistake and them saying they accept I had handed the form in, why are they still demanding I pay the fine?

 

I'm so bloody annoyed at the way they pass the buck, and that their incompetence should be rewarded in giving me a fine!