Hey guys,

My Dad received a fine today for not displaying his tax disc. He received a new tax disc yesterday, after waiting almost three weeks for it to arrive from the DVLA and, in fact, it was in the car. However, he damaged the tax disc holder yesterday when removing the old disc, so the new disk was just left on the dash and had fallen off. Has anyone had any experience of contesting these fines? Is it worth doing so? Obviously a simple check with the DVLA will show that the tax was paid for and valid.

Thanks in advance for any advice

FM

The law does state that an offence is committed for not displaying the disc....

33.—(1) A person is guilty of an offence if—

 

(a) he uses, or keeps, on a public road a vehicle in respect of

which vehicle excise duty is chargeable, and

 

(b) there is not fixed to and exhibited on the vehicle in the

manner prescribed by regulations made by the Secretary of State a

licence for, or in respect of, the vehicle which is for the time being

in force.

However, it may still be possible to avoid the fine if the circumstances are explained - I certainly don't think it would be appropriate to issue the fine if what you describe is an accurate description of events. Unfortunately my view will not be enough...

Good luck - hopefully someone who has contested in this manner will read your plight and offer guidance.

p.s. Does your father have any breakdown or insurance policy that offers free legal advice for motoring related matters? Worth a call if he does...

On the downside (as if there aren't enough) I believe this is a "strict liability" offence which - in the simplest of terms - means that not being at fault or not knowing is not a valid defence.

Let's hope you find someone who has experienced the same...

However, it may still be possible to avoid the fine if the circumstances are explained - I certainly don't think it would be appropriate to issue the fine if what you describe is an accurate description of events. Unfortunately my view will not be enough...

Well, that's good enough for me. You'll get my vote if you ever run for PM...

p.s. Does your father have any breakdown or insurance policy that offers free legal advice for motoring related matters? Worth a call if he does...

I'm not sure. I'll check with him and see. The trouble is, he's in Glasgow, I work in London and I'm heading to Canada for a couple of weeks tomorrow. I know that if I leave it with him, he'll just pay the fine. Oh well, maybe it will teach him to be more careful in future...

Thanks for your input, guys. If anyone else can offer anything on this, I'd appreciate your thoughts...

The section quoted above relates to 2 distinct offences.

1) Failure to have VED for a vehicle on the public highway. Which does not apply as he had the tax disc, but not on the windscreen.

2) Failure to display a valid VED disk. That there is valid VED is immaterial; the disk must be displayed and fixed to the vehicle. If the disk was resting on the top of the dash and visible through the windscreen then a penalty for this is over-zealous, but factually correct as the disk was not fixed, the fact that it fell off is testament to this. It had fallen off, so it wasn't on display at all, then there is no argument - the penalty is valid. The broken disk holder is irrelevant - the disk could have been sellotaped to the screen temporarily.

I'm afraid to say that he will have to pay it. If you send your defence/miitigation as you have outlined here, you are simply admitting the offence.

I'm afraid to say that he will have to pay it. If you send your defence/miitigation as you have outlined here, you are simply admitting the offence.

Thanks for the comments, Pat. All valid points, just, I suppose, one of those things that you don't think about. Not to worry, it's only money...

I know you have implied it but can you just confirm that the fine is for "Not displaying" and not for "No Tax" ??

Yes, definitely for 'Not Displaying'. Tax was valid at the time.

Tell you what.

Our Director didnt renew the company pool car tax discs and printed out the renewals for us to put in the windows! We told him to shove it obviously.

Even if its been paid online. Your Tax disc is the actual receipt of payment. Thats why you get your reminder a good few weeks before expiry. Theres no excuse for missing it. It could have been worse in this case. The car could have been taken away to the crusher!

I totally sympathise with your situation but its best to just pay the fine in this case and at least have a mini roll of selotape in your glove compartment for next time!

The car could have been taken away to the crusher!

No it couldn't.

It can only be removed (and possibly crushed) for no VED.

Failure to display is a simple fixed penalty offence

A longshot:

The DVLA is a civil authority (and not a millitary one), the Bill of Rights 1689 - unrepealed - legislates freedom from fines and forfeitures without trial.

Have you asked the DVLA to revoke the fine? The RTA does not provision the DVLA to subvert a point of law.

Who is this penalty from?

Usually the DVLA issue tickets based on their computer (and ANPR). I would have thought that a failure to display ticket could come from the police?

If you check DVLA Online Vehicle Licensing | Home does the car come up as "licence not due"?