I hate the DVLA

Rilot

Rilot

Rilot

Don
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
23,617
Location
Wargrave, UK
I just got a fine for £40 for not taxing or SORNing my bike that I sold.
I sent the notification off recorded delivery but stupidly, lost the receipt so can't track it.

Oh well, lesson learned. In future I will keep the proof of postage in a safe and sit by my front door waiting for the postman with the acknowledgement letter.

What annoys me is that there's no recourse with this. You just have to pay it.
 
Do you not have details of the sale? The new owner must have the new V5 with details of last change of owner?

But you are right you cannot be too careful with DVLA!!

Andi.
 
I do. I called the guy I sold it to and he told me that he's subsequently sold it on. God knows how he managed to do this without the V5 as if the DVLA are fining me, I must be the registered keeper.
 
You might get more than just tax fines if its still registered in your name.

I am not surprised though, I have come across people who have been sent fines a year or two after they sold or scrapped a car, thats how incompetent DVLA, that or they like to extort money for their bonuses.
 
I've had a mare with them recently.
I applied for tax online but it never arrived. After a couple of weeks I phoned them and they told me with was sent to my address which was number 1 of my street. I live at number 11. I checked my V5 and it incorrectly showed number 1.
DVLA said they would send a replacement to me and that I needed to send my V5 back to them with an amended address.
Guess which house they sent the replacement to? Yes, number 1 again.
 
It is a funny layout here in that number 1 is actually around the corner and we have never met them before!
 
Luke said:
I've had a mare with them recently.
I applied for tax online but it never arrived. After a couple of weeks I phoned them and they told me with was sent to my address which was number 1 of my street. I live at number 11. I checked my V5 and it incorrectly showed number 1.
DVLA said they would send a replacement to me and that I needed to send my V5 back to them with an amended address.
Guess which house they sent the replacement to? Yes, number 1 again.
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I had the exact same problem when I bought my car, they entered the wrong door number, cost me a fair amount in parking fees because i couldn't buy a permit without the correct V5, fortunately managed to get the V5 from the neighbour who was a nice old chap.
 
You do not need proof of postage or need to pay it. Once you've posted it via normal mail your legal obligation has been met.

I had this issue with a bike I sold and it went all the way to the debt collectors. A few nasty letters from them and one back from me saying get lost there's nothing you can do and it's all done and dusted.

They send out over 300,000 letters like that to people who have done nothing wrong and over 200,000 people pay up because they think they've done something wrong. People need to stand up against this and stop them banking free money.
 
Might be worth pointing the DVLA droids at the Interpretation Act 1978 which states:

IWhere an Act authorises or requires any document to be served by post (whether the expression “serve” or the expression “give” or “send” or any other expression is used) then, unless the contrary intention appears, the service is deemed to be effected by properly addressing, pre-paying and posting a letter containing the document and, unless the contrary is proved, to have been effected at the time at which the letter would be delivered in the ordinary course of post.
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There looks to be an update to it which is mentioned here

To avoid uncertainty as to the date of service it will be taken (subject to proof to the contrary) that delivery in the ordinary course of post was effected:-

(a) in the case of first class mail, on the second working day after posting;
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A quick Google turns up people wining cases against the DVLA with it eg this
 
Didn't they go through a phase of "losing" people driving licence records and requiring them to do their test all over again?

It's a shame that "**** off, your problem, not mine" isn't valid. DVLA aren't going to learn when their mess-ups have little consequence.
 
Prophet said:
They send out over 300,000 letters like that to people who have done nothing wrong and over 200,000 people pay up because they think they've done something wrong. People need to stand up against this and stop them banking free money.
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With over 34.5 MILLION vehicles registered in the UK, that 300k is a 0.87% error. Assuming a fair number of these simply get lost in the post and so on, that's stil reasonably good going...
 
Prophet said:
You do not need proof of postage or need to pay it. Once you've posted it via normal mail your legal obligation has been met.

I had this issue with a bike I sold and it went all the way to the debt collectors. A few nasty letters from them and one back from me saying get lost there's nothing you can do and it's all done and dusted.

They send out over 300,000 letters like that to people who have done nothing wrong and over 200,000 people pay up because they think they've done something wrong. People need to stand up against this and stop them banking free money.
Click to expand...

I've paid it now. The guy on the phone said that if I refuse to pay, they would take me to court and that I would have to provide proof of postage or I would lose and be faced with court costs too.
Funny, I thought in this country the onus was on the authorities to prove wrongdoing, not on the individual to prove innocence.
 
Rilot said:
I've paid it now.
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:(

Rilot said:
The guy on the phone said that if I refuse to pay, they would take me to court and that I would have to provide proof of postage or I would lose and be faced with court costs too.
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Of course he did - probably on commission!

This is no different to phishing emails, send out a million mails and you only need 0.1% of people to fall for it to make £££!!
 
Rilot said:
I've paid it now. The guy on the phone said that if I refuse to pay, they would take me to court and that I would have to provide proof of postage or I would lose and be faced with court costs too.
Funny, I thought in this country the onus was on the authorities to prove wrongdoing, not on the individual to prove innocence.
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He was just giving you a load of BS mate.

I had exactly the same thing all the way from the DVLA to the debt collectors then finally their bogus solicitor. The only reason I went 'all the way' was down to how the woman from the DVLA spoke to me otherwise I'd have probably paid.

They play the numbers game and hope most people pay up.
 
It's shocking that an organisation that is supposed to be providing a public service can operate in this way.
 
Rilot said:
It's shocking that an organisation that is supposed to be providing a public service can operate in this way.
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Agreed.

You think that's bad you should hear how their debt collector phone operators scream at you down the phone!

Disgusting!
 
Rilot said:
I do. I called the guy I sold it to and he told me that he's subsequently sold it on. God knows how he managed to do this without the V5 as if the DVLA are fining me, I must be the registered keeper.
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If the person hasn't registered it, then your the last register keeper, so fines etc incurred by new owner will come to you.

Nearly 20 years, I sold a motorbike, did the dlva paperwork, photocopied it, forgot about it, then about 5 months had arm police on my doorstep, carted me off to the cop shop for a arm robbery which it had been used for in Birmingham, interesting 12 hours in a police cell.

I had a alibi, for the day in question thank god.
 
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