DVLA : Advice needed pls....

[hestonboy]

31/10/10 - My car tax ran out.

 

As I had moved flat 3 months previously and had not notified DVLA, I did not receive any reminders and was genuinely unaware of the tax expiration.

 

21/11/10 - Pulled over and accepted a fixed penalty notice(FPN) for £60. Police officer told me to pay within 28 days and no further action would be taken against me.

 

14/12/10 - Paid £60 fine by phone debit and have just checked bank statement for confirmation of transfer.

 

28/12/10 - Moved flat again. Notified DVLA within 2 weeks and at same time SORN'd(Was previously unaware I had to as it was being kept off road, told on phone everything OK).

 

01/02/11 - Taxed car.

 

14/04/11 - DVLA headed courts summons for use of unlicensed vehicle on 21/11/10.

 

 

 

 

I have read some similar posts but am still confused. So....

 

1. - I have figured out that FPN(not displaying insurance) and DVLA charge(no insurance) are 2 separate things, yet an officer of the law specifically told me no further action would be taken once Ii paid the FPN. Is this something I could use in defence?

 

2. - Is a court summons the first thing I should be hearing from the DVLA or should I have been offered a fine. Any fine given could have gone to old address but I notified them of address change quickly and during at least 3 DVLA phone calls was not informed of any problems.

 

3. - What should I do??? I'm being asked to plead guilty or not guilty, WTF, I haven't got a clue.

 

 

I'm a law abiding citizen who made a mistake and thought he had paid for it, no previous points or convictions - now i'm going to court!!!

 

All advice greatly appreciated.....

[rebel11]

Hi Heston

 

Welcome to CAG

The guys will advise as soon as they are available.

[Raykay]

What the officer would mean is that if you paid the FPN in time, no further action would be taken in respect of that offence by the police. As you say, using the car without a licence is a separate matter and action for that is taken by DVLA who often offer an out of court settlement which you may have missed due to moving, or they went straight to summons for some reason.

[borisbeaver]

The expiration date for your tax is clearly displayed on the tax disk. It is the drivers responsibility to ensure that all the documentation for the vehicle is correct.

[hestonboy]

Beaver, I have no disagreement with the fact I was in the wrong having no valid car tax but the police officers remarks were at best misleading and I did exactly as he instructed. Struggling with 2 kids, a potential £1100 would be simply unaffordable, I'm really quite worried. What is my best course of action and what is the likely end result?

[hestonboy]

The expiration date for your tax is clearly displayed on the tax disk. It is the drivers responsibility to ensure that all the documentation for the vehicle is correct.

 

Beaver, I have no disagreement with the fact I was in the wrong having no valid car tax but the police officers remarks were at best misleading and I did exactly as he instructed. Struggling with 2 kids, a potential £1100 would be simply unaffordable, I'm really quite worried. What is my best course of action and what is the likely end result?

[hestonboy]

The expiration date for your tax is clearly displayed on the tax disk. It is the drivers responsibility to ensure that all the documentation for the vehicle is correct.

 

you and this site are a big load of ****e, thanks for nothing

[borisbeaver]

and may the fleas of a thousand camels infest your armpits for a million years!

[sailor sam]

well I was going to say my usual 'Hi and welcome to GAG' which i say to all new advice seekers but it appears that this OP hasn't much patients and has gone after just 2 contributions!

 

The facts appear to be that the OP has been driving around for 2 months without tax untill he SORNd the vehicle. During which time he was stopped by the ploice who issued a FPN for not displaying a current tax disc which the OP paid within the given time. The OP appears to have miss-understood that although the police action would end there, the DVLA's would not. Clearly the OP is ignorant of the vehicle duty licence/SORN rules and if he had stuck around, he could of been advised to contact the DVLA and ask them if they would be prepared to deal with the matter out of court. He could explain that he has moved house which had 'contributed' to his 'mistake'. The DVLA would still persue for the back duty no doubt, but may have considered his circumstances.

 

But unfortunately he has gone so will not benefit from my suggestion... pity.

[hestonboy]

and may the fleas of a thousand camels infest your armpits for a million years!

 

Congratulations on your second pointless reply to this post, why not go for the hat-trick

[borisbeaver]

I wouldn't dare reply to your post and bring myself down to your level.

 

As sam has said, there you have actually committed two offences, not displaying a valid tax disk and having your vehicle on a publicly maintained road whilst declaring sorn.

 

The police will only look at the failing to display offence, but they do pass this onto the DVLA, who, as we all know, like to, and will claim their pound of flesh.

 

Waiting for the next reply......

Edited April 28, 2011 by borisbeaver
Not sarcastic enough.

[hestonboy]

well I was going to say my usual 'Hi and welcome to GAG' which i say to all new advice seekers but it appears that this OP hasn't much patients and has gone after just 2 contributions!

 

The facts appear to be that the OP has been driving around for 2 months without tax untill he SORNd the vehicle. During which time he was stopped by the ploice who issued a FPN for not displaying a current tax disc which the OP paid within the given time. The OP appears to have miss-understood that although the police action would end there, the DVLA's would not. Clearly the OP is ignorant of the vehicle duty licence/SORN rules and if he had stuck around, he could of been advised to contact the DVLA and ask them if they would be prepared to deal with the matter out of court. He could explain that he has moved house which had 'contributed' to his 'mistake'. The DVLA would still persue for the back duty no doubt, but may have considered his circumstances.

 

But unfortunately he has gone so will not benefit from my suggestion... pity.

 

Well it looks like my angry rant has attracted someone with a brain. After waiting two weeks and only receiving two pointless replies on the post subject, it was worth a punt and has paid off. Says a lot that beaver would childishly reply to my rant rather than the plead of help i directed to him after his original, rather ignorant reply.Please don't tell me that patience is a virtue either as i'm due in court in 3 and a bit weeks!

 

Thank you for your informed reply, i shall follow your advice.

 

P.s. I was ignorant of the duty license/SORN rules just as you were ignorant of my intention to revisit the board. Or should i say unaware?

[borisbeaver]

What's the point of being grown up if you can't be childish from time-to-time. Anyways, old chinese proverb say, "Man with hole in pocket, feel cocky all day.":fencing:

[sailor sam]

Well it looks like my angry rant has attracted someone with a brain. After waiting two weeks and only receiving two pointless replies on the post subject, it was worth a punt and has paid off. Says a lot that beaver would childishly reply to my rant rather than the plead of help i directed to him after his original, rather ignorant reply.Please don't tell me that patience is a virtue either as i'm due in court in 3 and a bit weeks!

 

Thank you for your informed reply, i shall follow your advice.

 

P.s. I was ignorant of the duty license/SORN rules just as you were ignorant of my intention to revisit the board. Or should i say unaware?

 

You could say unaware if you like. But you are wrong in the assumption that I was 'ignorant' of your intention to revisit the board, simply because I knew that you would do so to read my previous post. Can i respectfully suggest to you that if you require guidence on these matters (which clearly you do), then try and loose the attitude otherwise you will alienate yourself from the advice that you seek because my friend, there are caggers on here with LOADS of experience in giving good advice in their own time without payment who will ignore you. It will irritate some that while most of us make sure that our cars are road legal at all times (by paying our insurance premiums and road tax ect), someone then comes on asking fotr advice on getting out of a hole when they have been caught not paying their way. I have chosen to give you the benefit of the doubt on this occasion because of your possible 'unawareness' of the DVLA rules in car taxation.

Edited April 28, 2011 by sailor sam

[Raykay]

Well it looks like my angry rant has attracted someone with a brain. After waiting two weeks and only receiving two pointless replies on the post subject, it was worth a punt and has paid off.

 

I tried to explain your confusion in post 3.

[hestonboy]

I wouldn't dare reply to your post and bring myself down to your level.

 

As sam has said, there you have actually committed two offences, not displaying a valid tax disk and having your vehicle on a publicly maintained road whilst declaring sorn.

 

The police will only look at the failing to display offence, but they do pass this onto the DVLA, who, as we all know, like to, and will claim their pound of flesh.

 

Waiting for the next reply......

 

He shoots, he scores, another pointless reply. Congrats!!! Repeating what has already been said - again, you genius.

[borisbeaver]

He shoots, he scores, another pointless reply. Congrats!!! Repeating what has already been said - again, you genius.

Yay - runs around like a loon with his t-shirt over his head

[hestonboy]

I tried to explain your confusion in post 3.

 

All due respect but you only repeated what i had already stated in my original post. You gave me no advice on how to proceed or what consequences i might expect.

[borisbeaver]

All due respect but you only repeated what i had already stated in my original post. You gave me no advice on how to proceed or what consequences i might expect.

Then again, no-one expected the inquisition!

[hestonboy]

What's the point of being grown up if you can't be childish from time-to-time. Anyways, old chinese proverb say, "Man with hole in pocket, feel cocky all day.":fencing:

 

there is a time for childishness, may i suggest it is not when someone is in genuine need of help. Thanks anyway

[hestonboy]

You could say unaware if you like. But you are wrong in the assumption that I was 'ignorant' of your intention to revisit the board, simply because I knew that you would do so to read my previous post. Can i respectfully suggest to you that if you require guidence on these matters (which clearly you do), then try and loose the attitude otherwise you will alienate yourself from the advice that you seek because my friend, there are caggers on here with LOADS of experience in giving good advice in their own time without payment who will ignore you. It will irritate some that while most of us make sure that our cars are road legal at all times (by paying our insurance premiums and road tax ect), someone then comes on asking fotr advice on getting out of a hole when they have been caught not paying their way. I have chosen to give you the benefit of the doubt on this occasion because of your possible 'unawareness' of the DVLA rules in car taxation.

 

You said i was gone and would not benefit from your suggestion.

 

To suggest that i don't pay my way is a bit harsh as I have explained the reasons for the genuine mistake I made regarding the car tax and I never made any complaint about the fines i have had to pay since.

 

I do not intend to give people 'attitude' but with posters like beaver it is easy to get a little defensive. I am genuinely grateful for the advice you have given and have now resolved the matter. After contacting the DVLA and being directed to the local fines office, i have paid the out of court settlement which 'they' confirmed was wrongly sent to my old address.

 

Thanks again

[Raykay]

All due respect but you only repeated what i had already stated in my original post. You gave me no advice on how to proceed or what consequences i might expect.

 

1. You said that you were confused by what the officer said and if you could use that as a defence - I explained what the officer said only applied to the insurance FPN and your confusion over that.

 

2. It is usual for DVLA to offer an out of court settlement offer first in similar cases, I explained that with your moving flat you may not have received and replied to the offer they sent, so they proceeded to summons.

Edited April 28, 2011 by Raykay

[sailor sam]

You said i was gone and would not benefit from your suggestion.

 

To suggest that i don't pay my way is a bit harsh as I have explained the reasons for the genuine mistake I made regarding the car tax and I never made any complaint about the fines i have had to pay since.

 

I do not intend to give people 'attitude' but with posters like beaver it is easy to get a little defensive. I am genuinely grateful for the advice you have given and have now resolved the matter. After contacting the DVLA and being directed to the local fines office, i have paid the out of court settlement which 'they' confirmed was wrongly sent to my old address.

 

Thanks again

 

Yes I did didn't I. But I'm the one with the brains remember, as I knew you would still read my post. why do you think I wrote it that way? It may of seemed a bit harsh to suggest that you havn't paid you way but lets be honest, it seems that you havn't maintained your road tax for 2 months for what ever reason. The point I was trying to make was there are some her who will not be very sympothetic about that and you could of made things worse for yourself by the way you reacted to the earlier posts. It simply gets other cagger's backs up and if you want help, thats the last thing you want to do here. You never know when you may need advice again.

 

In any event, it seems that we have resloved your problem as you have managed to sort it out with the DVLA without going to court and getting clobbered. In those circumstances I would imagine that you will be clicking the star at the bottom left of this post to confirm that the advice was usefull.

[hestonboy]

Yes I did didn't I. But I'm the one with the brains remember, as I knew you would still read my post. why do you think I wrote it that way? It may of seemed a bit harsh to suggest that you havn't paid you way but lets be honest, it seems that you havn't maintained your road tax for 2 months for what ever reason. The point I was trying to make was there are some her who will not be very sympothetic about that and you could of made things worse for yourself by the way you reacted to the earlier posts. It simply gets other cagger's backs up and if you want help, thats the last thing you want to do here. You never know when you may need advice again.

 

In any event, it seems that we have resloved your problem as you have managed to sort it out with the DVLA without going to court and getting clobbered. In those circumstances I would imagine that you will be clicking the star at the bottom left of this post to confirm that the advice was usefull.

 

Your second sentence is certainly debatable(that you knew, not the brains bit of course)! Thanks again and i will hit the star, just a shame that it took my rant to stir up some meaningful debate.