Hi all, in need of advice!

Last summer I sold my car which ended up parked on private land for a few weeks without insurance before it was collected by the new owner.

Someone reported it as 'abandoned' and the council contacted me re no insurance, I got in touch, explaining the situation and had no reply. I assumed the matter was sorted.

Alas, no. Yesterday a bailiff from collectica turned up and left a letter for a removal visit.

I've had no contact from the courts to say it's been looked at, heard nothing for months.

A £100 fine now stands at £565 and being unemployed and on benefits, cant really pay this on one go like they demand.

Ive had no notification of extra charges.

Help!

Hello there.

I'll move you to the bailiffs forum, where the guys should be able to help, and leave a short term redirect here for you to follow.

HB

Hi all, in need of advice!

 

Last summer I sold my car which ended up parked on private land for a few weeks without insurance before it was collected by the new owner.

 

Someone reported it as 'abandoned' and the council contacted me re no insurance, I got in touch, explaining the situation and had no reply. I assumed the matter was sorted.

 

Alas, no. Yesterday a bailiff from collectica turned up and left a letter fora removal visit. I've had no contact from the courts to say it's been looked at, heard nothing for months. A £100 fine now stands at £565 and being unemployed and on benefits, cant really pay this on one go like they demand. Ive had no notification of extra charges.

 

Help!

You should be able to resolve at your nearest Magistrates. Give them a phone call to find out what they have registered and to see what you would need to do. You can probably get a hearing, where you can explain that you had sold the vehicle, it was parked on private land etc. You should have paperwork regarding the sale and receipt of payment from the new owner, as otherwise Magistrates may not be able to deal with the fine aspect. Unless you can prove you sold the vehilce, it would only be a case of dealing with the issue of no court paperwork being received, where they can stop the bailiff, leaving you with the fine to be paid.

Don't forget that you have to inform DVLA of the sale. There is a 2 part bit on the V5 registration document, one part completed by you and the other part by the new owner. Make sure this has been done, as this is a legal requirement.

Was it left on the land after the transfer? If so then it is the responsibilty of the new owner and as long as you can prove the date of sale or transfer you can get this overturned quite easily.

It may well be that the other paperwork has gone to the new owner if yousent off the paperwork in good time.

New owner has paperwork etc, we sorted that out after the car was moved from outside my house. Collectica are telling me I need to call the enforcement agent which I ain't going to do as I'd rather have a record of any correspondence. They appear to be being rather unhelpful - call us, call them, call sometime elsr!

So I call magistrates and say I got no paperwork from them, and it will hopefully go back to them? I'll be honest, I'm not even sure which court it went to add I've heard nothing! !! I have no problem paying £100 but there seem to have been super mistakes been made by everyone that had dealt with this, from council to court to bailiffs!

Thank you all for your advice! I just want to have this sorted as I think it is, then a few months later - there it is again!

If you sold the car and informed DVLA as in sent off V5 it is the new owners debt, collectica know this but don't care who pays so long as someone does.

But I got the notice from the council in the first instance...before it was 'official' I guess

The council were probably acting under legislation other than motor insurance regulations. If the vehicle had a valid SORN in force and the council were made aware of this, then it sounds like some muppet at the council rang DVLA who then registered an unlawful fine with the magistrates court. If this is, indeed, the case, the council and DVLA have some explaining to do.

You should have received correspondence from DVLA regarding the £100 BEFORE it getting to the courts. Are you sure that your address details were correct at DVLA? If not, this could account for WHY you failed to receive documentation. Speak to the Magistrate Court in the morning to explain that you had not received any prior correspondence. The court SHOULD allow you to file a Statutory Declaration.

I've had *some* correspondence, and most of my correspondence has gone ignored. No court summons or information about it having been to court or what the outcome was.

Bailiff being very unhelpful saying I need to call the enforcement officer and they won't give me his details to correspind in writing.

I guess its a case of calling round the magistrates courts in the area to figure out where is dealing with it.

But I got the notice from the council in the first instance...before it was 'official' I guess

Could you describe what this "Notice from the Council" was, please?

You had all the problem after you sold the car, please tell me you sent the V5 to DVLA, and gave the new owner the little green bit . If you gave the whole V5 and new owner failed to send it in, that would explain why you are getting the grief.

June..you say that you received 'some' correspondence. Where these from DVLA?

You should have also received an initial letter from Collctica called a Notice of Enforcement and there would have been a fee of £75 applied. Did you receive this letter?