Thread: Change of Keeper - DVLA "fine"

I recently sold my van and have received a letter from DVLA issuing the standard "fine". Having read through some of the threads I've composed a reply and would appreciate opinions from more knowledgeable people

I acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 16/04/2009, in which you accuse me of a criminal offence. The facts of the matter are these:

1)I sold the VW Transporter van registration mark V*****L on 01/02/2009.
2)The new owner is G****** R***** of ** ********** ****, *********, *******.
3)Both G***** and I completed our respective parts of the V5C
4)I posted the V5C to DVLA on Monday 02/02/2009

As I’m sure you are aware, under the Interpretation Act 1978 s.7, any letter that is properly addressed, pre-paid and posted is deemed to be delivered in the normal course of post. Therefore I delivered to you the change of keeper details on 04/02/2009. As this discharged all my obligations under the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act, I see no reason for our correspondence to go any further than an apology from you for the stress and distress that your letter has caused me.

Should you disagree with me please feel free to bring the case to court where I am happy to defend myself. I think it highly unlikely that you will be able to prove beyond reasonable doubt that I didn’t post the V5C, particularly as this is exactly what I did.

Please note the change of address above

Yours sincerely

Sounds fine to me. Not sure it'll get the DVLA off your back that easily though.

AFAIK, whenever someone has firmly stood by a claim like yours, the DVLA have threatened/arranged a court case, but never actually proceeded with one. Perhaps they are aware that they are on thin ice and don't particularly want it tested in court?

you may wish to have a look at this FOI question.

In it DVLA admit that although only 91 formal complaints were made about items going missing within DVLA the true number is much higher as they don't record an item as missing unless you make a formal complaint in writing that is specifically about the missing item.

Internally lost mail and SORN declarations - WhatDoTheyKnow

Here's the reply from DVLA


I think the most annoying bit is "...you have indicated that you are no longer the registered keeper, the Department has not received notification of this". How do they know I have 'indicated' it if they haven't received it?

I'll address the rest of the nonsense that he writes in a reply that I'll post here but can anyone point me to the legislation that allows the DVLA to "fine" people for allegedly failing to notify a change of keeper?

This is what I'm proposing to send. Any comments?

Dear Mr Bradshaw

I made my position clear in my previous letter although I would like to make a couple of points in response to your letter.

1)You have acknowledged receipt of my letter but it was not, as you claim, an enquiry. Instead it was a statement of facts detailing the date that I sold the van and the name and address of the person to whom it was sold.
2)In your second paragraph you confirm that I have “indicated” that I sold the van but then claim that you haven’t been “notified” of the sale of the van. Please explain, with reference to the legislation that justifies your reply, what you understand to be the difference between “indicating” and “notifying” in this context.
3)You claim that “when there is a duty to deliver documents there is an onus on the customer to ensure we receive the documents”. On what basis do you make this assertion and in which legislation is this onus defined?
4)You concede that “the system of acknowledgement letters is not in legislation”. Why then do you rely on it as a justification for issuing what you describe as “penalty charges”?
5)Please identify the legislation that allows the department to levy penalty charges for an alleged offence of failing to notify a change of keeper.

In closing you should be in no doubt that I want you to stop demanding money that I do not owe.

Yours sincerely

Originally Posted by bedlington83

2)In your second paragraph you confirm that I have “indicated” that I sold the van but then claim that you haven’t been “notified” of the sale of the van.

I would have read his reply that you had 'indicated' this in your letter in response tot he penalty