12 replies to this topic

[bigrob]

Morning,

In October last year, i swapped my Metro for another vehicle. I was going on holiday at the time so i posted off the logbook when i got back the next day.

So i posted it off and thought nothing more of it.

A few weeks ago, i got a letter through the post telling me i had to pay an £80 fine and tax for the last 9 months as the car hadnt been taxed. With the letter was a section in which i could write a dispute. So i explained i had sold the car 9 months prior to this letter and sent off the logbook at my first convenience, and having sold about 6 cars i've never had one of these 'acknowledgement letters'.

A couple days ago i got another letter stating that they've rejected my dispute and i am still eligible to pay the fine and the outstanding duty arrears.

What can i do about this?
I posted the logbook and their argument is that the would have sent me a letter to confirm, obviously i wasnt expecting one so i believed everything was fine

[Ben_O]

I'm not to sure but would be very interested to hear the suggestions as i have sold  car a few months back and not had a confirmation through.

 

Do you know who bought the car? Might be worth asking if they received the log book?

[IainStallard]

When I sold my clio, I had a letter come through saying I was no longer the registered keeper of the vehicle. I'd give them a call as they said I was liable to pay outstanding tax as my SORN has been removed yet It should have lasted the year, not 2 months like it did.

 

They were actually very helpful on the phone when I explained the situation and they dropped the fine.

[nicklouse]

My old man sold his car at the end of last year and got a letter confirming he was no longer the registered keeper.

[Tommyboy12]

I got a letter stating I was no longer the registered keeper for the last car I sold. I would check with the DVLA that they recieved the logbook.

[Jordie]

Surely they would need to prove that you didnt send the document. There is no legal requirement to send this tracked. You cannot be responsible because the royal mail may have lost it.

From their arguement i can only assume the new keeper didnt recieve the v5 after you sold him the car....so he should have used the dvla form and new keeper section to obtain the v5 if it didnt arrive after 6 weeks.

The new keeper had a responsibility to check with dvla after 6-8weeks without recieving the v5 for the car.

[mk3 Cooper S]

Surely they would need to prove that you didnt send the document. There is no legal requirement to send this tracked. You cannot be responsible because the royal mail may have lost it.

From their arguement i can only assume the new keeper didnt recieve the v5 after you sold him the car....so hr should have used the dvla form and new keeper section to obtain the v5 if it didnt arrive after 6 weeks.

Or you didnt report you had not recieved the "No longer the keeper" letter confirmation

[Dzmarc]

I brought my current mini back in October and SORN'd it the same day as it had to have some extensive work. 

 

Then had a letter come through at the end of January demanding I paid the outstanding tax. 

Thankfully I had an email confirmation as well as a letter, so when I rang them up they accepted it and changed the status. 

 

I would give them a call, and any proof that you can that the vehicle was not in your possession. 

[Cooperman]

First of all you have not received a 'fine', you have received a conditional offer of fixed penalty. You don't have to pay this and can elect to go to court and defend yourself.

Now if a document is posted it is considered to have been sent. That's how it works. Think of how the Old Bill send out speeding S.172 notices and deem them to have been served because they were sent by post.

Personally I would send an extremely assertive letter back naming the person to whom you sold the car and stating the actual date on which you posted the V5 to the DVLA. Say that you now consider the matter closed unless they wish to have their claim tested in court, in which case invite them to issue a summons. Send a copy of this to your MP, with the DVLA knowing you have done this, if you are absolutely certain that you posted it and ask him/her to get involved as in your opinion the DVLA are demanding money which is not due.

The DVLA might well not wish to risk a court case in case they lose, as they well might.

[bigrob]

I wasnt aware the dvla sent out confirmation notices as i have never had one for any of the vehicle i have sold before.

I contacted the buyer and he confirmed he hasnt received the logbook.

In my reply to the dvla i stated who the new owner was with his address etc and the date of when i posted the logbook.

I dont see in anyway how its my fault

Edited by bigrob, 05 June 2015 - 01:50 PM.

[Cooperman]

I wasnt aware the dvla sent out confirmation notices as i have never had one for any of the vehicle i have sold before.

I contacted the buyer and he confirmed he hasnt received the logbook.

In my reply to the dvla i stated who the new owner was with his address etc and the date of when i posted the logbook.

I dont see in anyway how its my fault

Be very assertive with them. If you have a witness who can confirm under oath that they saw you post the document on a date given tell them that. Say your witness is willing to attend court and that you believe they received the V5 and are now denying it due to their mistake(s). Confirm that you will be more than happy to attend court and prove their errors and that you will be claiming costs against them when you win.

Don't give an inch on this and keep on telling them that you want a court date. they don't like going to court as it can backfire on them  and they are short of staff anyway. Insist absolutely that the V5 was posted as required by law and ask them to explain what makes them think it wasn't. Give them a lot of s**t. They know that they make a lot of errors.

 

Google:  dvla errors with change of ownership fine

 

That gives some specific cases where DVLA have either lost court cases or given up at the last minute. Be very strong with those idiots!

Edited by Cooperman, 05 June 2015 - 04:00 PM.

[bigrob]

I'll give that a search later. Unfortunately nobody came to the postbox with me so it is literally my word against theirs. I'm going to phone them tomorrow morning to talk it through and follow up the conversation with a summarised letter stating what was agreed/disagreed or confirmed or even just discussed

[CityEPete]

The new owner under the new scheme must have known that the car was untaxed, even a dodgy savvy person would check online to see if you had sorned it or sent the log book back which then automatically ends your VED direct debit if you have one or raises a cheque for the credit if you paid up front and puts it on the new owner to sort out which they would then know because they would have received a log book. I have started to pay for recorded delivery of the V5 to the DVLA, £1.56 on a car sale isnt much really is it?