Another DVLA fine story - Please help :/

[FestaPWR]

Hi all,

Sorry for posting yet another story of woe featuring the fines department of the DVLA, but i cant find a case that mirrors mine to use for advice, so i`m afraid heres my story;

 

In April 2011, my car was hit whilst parked outside my home and ended up being an economical write-off. I got paid for the car and was requested by the insurer to send the V5, MOT and possibly other docs (cant remember exactly). I sent all that away and sent the little slip off to the DVLA. I sent it 1st class post, which now seems like a bad idea, but i had no reason to doubt Royal Mail's ability to do what they`ve been doing for decades.

 

I heard nothing back, and to be honest, i was sick of the whole situation of losing my car and my NCD through no fault of my own, so was glad to see the back of it all. I had to buy a scooter for work as i couldnt afford to insure a new car.

 

We moved house at the end of August, and so when we finished unpacking and i found my drivers licence, i sent it off for renewal AND a change of address (kill two birds one stone etc.). I heard nothing back for ages, and with work, new house and two kids, time flew by and before i know it it was nearly christmas before i realised i still hadnt got my licence back.

Phoned them up and they`d sent it to my old address, even though i filled it in. They confirmed their error and sent another to my new address without extra charge. I got that in January.

 

I`ve had no other correspondence from the DVLA at all, until yesterday (17th April) when i received a Further steps notice from Greater Manchester Accounts and Enforcement Unit saying i owe them £250 for failing to make payments as directed.

 

I phoned the GMAEU to find out why i owed them the money and they told me it was for failing to pay the DVLA for the fine after reminders were sent out (which i didnt receive) and that it had already gone to court. As we were a no-show (i didnt even know about it), they`ve marked us as guilty and this is were the letter enters the case.

 

I was told by the GMAEU that i should make a statutory declaration at Bolton Magistrate Court to confirm that i hadnt received any correspondence from the DVLA previous to this Further steps notice.

 

(Sorry for rambling) Other than doing the above, what else should i expect and what is my best course of action and what consequences are to come from this??

 

I look forward to any help on this one, as i think i`m still in shock over this. If i didnt have bad luck, i`d have no luck at all

 

Thanks for reading my novel (if you got this far) and regards,

 

Kris

[Tony P]

First step, as you are doing, is to submit the Statutory Declaration. There is a fairly short time limit for this (28 days or less) from when you first became aware of the case.

 

That puts it all back to start before the Court Summons was issued.

 

DVLA will then write suggesting an offer at or near the original 'penalty'.

 

From here there are many threads showing your obligation was to send the slip to them by post. If the Post Office (or more likely DVLA) lost it, that is not your problem - you did what the Law said you must do. No more is enough!

 

You do not need proof of posting - it is for them to prove you did NOT post it. How the F can they prove that?

 

They will they start saying you SHOULD have contacted them if you heard nothing from them. No such Law or legal requirement!

 

They will wriggle with things like you should have 'delivered' it to them whereas the Interpretations Act says at the point of posting it is deemed to have been received - therefore delivered!

 

Ultimately if it goes to Court they will still try to do a deal with you outside the Courtroom door. And if you lose and take it to Appeal they will offer even more to stop an Appeal Judge create a Legal Precedent against them.

 

As it progreses keep coming back here - there's lots of help available. Keep us informed please.

Edited April 18, 2012 by Tony P

[FestaPWR]

Thanks for the quick reply.

 

My next step is to make the appointment for the declaration. I`ll phone them tomorrow when i finish work and then we go from there i guess.

 

Without risk of sounding stupid (i`ve never been in court before), what happens with the Statutory Declaration, i mean what exactly am i expected to do once there?

[crem]

A Statutory Declaration is exaclty that; you are legally declaring (and confirming to be true with your witnessed signature) that you knew nothing about this fine prior to now, and that as such the DVLA have to go back to the beginning and start again using the new address info you provided.

[FestaPWR]

Thanks Crem

 

I phoned them to arrange an appointment, but was told i can just go in any week day at 09:30 and do it then. They did take some details so they could arange the paperwork beforehand, which they reckoned should save me some time the morning i turn up.

I plan to go in tomorrow morning and get it out of the way. Then its back to square one.

They also told me that when the DVLA receive notice that i`ve made the declaration, they have 6 months to re-issue the fine etc. and if they do not, then i need not to worry about it going forward.

Has that ever happened, or are the DVLA always too keen to chase people for their money?

 

Either way, i plan to fight this thing, as i have done nothing wrong. It worries me how much the public must've paid in unnecassary fines

 

Thanks for the help so far, but i`m guessing the harder part is when/if they start chasing again. So i look forward to some much needed support.

Any information i come across in the mean time i will gladly put up here incase it helps future cases.

 

I`ll be back tomorrow to update on how the court trip goes.

[FestaPWR]

Ooops. So much for being back on the day after. Ofcourse i blame my job and my kids! lol

 

Anyway, as far as the Stat Dec went, all was well.

They had already written out the paperwork ready for me to check. From reading this (there was no info in the Further Step Notice), the fine was issued on 30/08/2011 to my old address, 3 or 4 days after us handing the keys over to the letting agents. But even when we went back to collect any post via the new tenants, nothing from the DVLA was there. Oh well.

 

After reading the Stat Dec to the magistrates, i signed it and was sent on my merry way.

 

Now it's up to the DVLA if they want to chase me again for the fine, so i`ll update when/if that comes through.

 

So for now, thank you for your advice guys, and catch you soon