passed on to debt collection..

[lesley1978]

Hi ,
I sold a car on ebay with around four months tax , the guy i sold it to paid and left ...about 6 months or so after i recieved a letter saying i had failed to tax it ...i phoned saying it had been sold etc etc but was told to wriute ....i then got a letter earlier this week saying thank you for my letter and as i hadnt paid my case had been refered to a debt collection agency ........my question is i am obviously not prepared to pay a debt which is not mine so how do i get this sorted out in the best way possible ...the company that have been passed the case are Phillips collection services, thanks for any help ...lesley

[Chesterexpress]

Did you send off your part of the v5 to DVLA notifying them of the sale when you sold the vehicle?

[wino]

As chesterexpress says, you should of notified DVLA when you sold the car. Things do go astray in the post that is why I send anything important by registered post. (although that has its problems aswell)

[lesley1978]

I did nt send my part the guy said he had bought for someone else and couldnt sign...like a numpty i said ok ...I did however contact dvla giving the details of the person that i could as soon as i got a letter .......is there anything i can do ???

[Chesterexpress]

Looks like you will have to pay up in that case, as you are responsible for notifying change of keeper at time of sale/disposal. Think yourself lucky that the new owner/keeper hasn't racked up numerous parking/speeding offences etc. otherwise you would have all those to deal with also.

[wino]

My Dad sold a vehicle many years ago. He did not notify DVLA as the man who bought said he was motor trade and was going to sell it straight on, he would then fill in the form and send to DVLA. My Dad nievely accepted this.

Several months later my Dad answewred the door to the Police who had come to arrest him for armed robbery. They had traced the 'getaway vehicle' and it was still registered to my Dad.

He was released without charge but had to pay a couple of hundred pounds for parking tickets. There were speeding fines aswel but he did not have to pay them.

MORAL: ALWAYS inform DVLA of change of ownership yourself.

[lesley1978]

same here was told was for the motor trade etc.....was going to ring up dvla to check if it was still registered to me ....i have tried contating the guy through ebay to no avail ......if car is registered to me what is the best method of sorting it out???

[buzby]

Write to the DVLA advising that the vehicle was sold on whatever date, and giving any details you have as to who the new owner was. They may insist you return the counterfoil where these details are required of the original keeper to inform the DVLA of the change, but if you don;t have it, there's not a lot you can do.

[gwc1000]

Hi, lesley. If you ever sell your vehicle to someone who claims he is a Motor dealer it is ok to give him the V5 BUT tear off the yellow slip (V5C/3) put his name and address on that and send it to DVLA. It won't produce a V5 in his name, but you will cease to be responsible for the vehicle. If he says he can't sign it as in your case, leave that bit blank, and still send it to DVLA.
Write to DVLA and inform them you have sold the car on whatever date and give them his name and address and ask to have the records updated. It won't let you off the hook for this fine, but if the car is still registered to you it is possible that any parking tickets the car gets will come your way.