FPN for failure to display tax - should I challenge?

[Myfanwy]

Hi there everyone, be grateful if someone could give me their opinion on whether i should apply for a court hearing request in connection with a fixed penalty notice I received last week.

 

We renewed our tax in March this year a week early, over the internet. The disc duly arrived and was plonked in the lobby for whoever went out next to pop it in the windscreen. Well I thought hubby had done it, he thought I'd done it, but it turns out neither of us did, and we must have lost the disc.

 

As soon as we realised (two weeks ago) we sent off the correct form with our £7 for a duplicate to our local DVLA office.

A few days later, on 23 June we received a ticket in the evening from a PCSO whilst parked on a residential street in a nearby city. The following day, guess what drops through the door....yeah, the replacement disc.

 

With the disc was the receipt showing that the new disc was issued 6 hours before the ticket was slapped on the windscreen. We have obviously kept the receipt, along with the envelope that is franked the same day as the ticket was issued.

 

The thing is, if I take the option of a court hearing, is this likely to be favourable? I know we never noticed the missing disc for two months, but as soon as we did we tried to sort it.

 

I'm very green in issues like this, I've never had a ticket for anything like this before, so would appreciate any input. The penalty is for £60, but with the form that came with the disc it said failure to display fines could be up to £200....

 

Thanks for reading this

 

Myfanwy

[Al27]

With your defence limited to 'we forgot for 2 months' I don't fancy your chances.

 

I'd pay ASAP.

[Mossycat]

With your defence limited to 'we forgot for 2 months' I don't fancy your chances.

 

I'd pay ASAP.

 

I'd agree with that

 

The offence is failure to display a tax disc, which you admit you were guilty of, it doesn't matter that you had a valid tax disc, it matters that it was not on display in the car that was on a public highway

 

Mossy

[crem]

With your defence limited to 'we forgot for 2 months' I don't fancy your chances.

 

I'd pay ASAP.

 

They don't have to admit it wasn't displayed correctly throughout the entire 2 months. The only question is why it wasn't displayed when the pretend policeman, sorry, PCSO, saw the car.

 

Presumably when Myfanwy sent for the replacement disk they should have stated that the old one was either lost or stolen, (implying only recently lost or stolen).

 

I would appeal on that basis as there will definately be a record showing the original purchase was made on time, and having just lost that disk (when cleaning the car or something) sent off immediately for a replacement, which also is documented as preceeding the PCSO offence.

[wheelergeezer]

The offence is not that they didn't have valid VED for the vehicle, it is that a valid VED was not displayed. 2 seperate things.

 

I don't think you have any defence for the charge other than appealing to their beter nature as the vehicle was in fact taxed the entire time.

[patdavies]

The offence is not that they didn't have valid VED for the vehicle, it is that a valid VED was not displayed. 2 seperate things.

Quite right.

 

I don't think you have any defence for the charge other than appealing to their beter nature as the vehicle was in fact taxed the entire time.

I wholly agree. They doubtless checked the car on the PNC before issuing the FPN and it came back as having VED - otherwise it would have been towed.

 

There is only one possible escape clause.

whilst parked on a residential street in a nearby city

 

If this road is private or unadopted and therefore not maintained at public expense, then VED does not have to be displayed at all and the FPN was issued in error.

[crem]

 

If you apply on-line or over the phone in the last few days of this month you will not be committing an offence if you do not display a tax disk for the first five working days of the next month.

 

Although this does exclude you from the offence at the actual renewal date of your VED, I don't think they will extend it to cover this replacement time too although I think they should.

 

Whatare you supposed to do if your disk is actually stolen from the vehicle?

[Myfanwy]

Hiya

 

Well, thanks everyone for your responses. I guess I was kinda hoping that, as at the time of the offence I couldn't physically have the disc in the car, due to the fact that the DVLA had issued the requested duplicate just five hours before I was ticketed, and had put it in the post, that I could use this as a reasonable defence.

 

Going to pay up and shut up, though am really annoyed with myself and my hubby, lol, for not noticing sooner. The car had not been parked on a public road in all the time since the renewal, so would have not been been noticed before - typical that it was my turn to be the nominated "sober one" and drive to the one pub that didn't have a car park more fool me, eh

 

Cheers

 

Myfanwy

[Al27]

The problem with cases like this is that you have to have a really really valid reason. Discretion and timing don't really come into it - it's just a case of "did you have a tax disc displayed? Yes/No"

 

Bad luck. Sorry you got stung.

[lonerider]

They don't have to admit it wasn't displayed correctly throughout the entire 2 months. The only question is why it wasn't displayed when the pretend policeman, sorry, PCSO, saw the car.

 

Crem our local PCSO Caught someone breaking into my car and detained him. PCSO's are not police officers so how can they pretend to be? well unless they were once police officers then retired or left to be a PCSO Do you have a problem with authority? - WITH RESPECT GROW UP.. have some respect. My PCSO where i live are better then PC'S.

Edited July 12, 2009 by lonerider
Add some words

[green_and_mean]

Crem our local PCSO Caught someone breaking into my car and detained him. PCSO's are not police officers so how can they pretend to be? well unless they were once police officers then retired or left to be a PCSO Do you have a problem with authority? - WITH RESPECT GROW UP.. have some respect. My PCSO where i live are better then PC'S.

 

Have to agree PCSOs are not pretend or plastic policemen anymore than nurses are pretend doctors they are different jobs with different responsibilities.

[katedog]

Whatare you supposed to do if your disk is actually stolen from the vehicle?

 

 

1 report it to the cops

 

2 get a crime number

 

3 write crime number on a piece of paper

 

4 put the paper where the tax disc goes

 

5 hope the cops check their crime records.

[katedog]

Have to agree PCSOs are not pretend or plastic policemen anymore than nurses are pretend doctors they are different jobs with different responsibilities.

 

 

 

Sorry have to disagree

 

PCSOs are not police men or women.

 

They are a political cosmetic sticking plaster.

 

And a cheaap plaster at that.

 

Did you know that fot the price of 3 pcso's you can get two real cops, with powers off arrest and evertthing. (i do appreciate that the cost of the cop increases with years service) but i know which i would rather see walking round my town.

[green_and_mean]

Sorry have to disagree

 

PCSOs are not police men or women.

 

They are a political cosmetic sticking plaster.

 

And a cheaap plaster at that.

 

Did you know that fot the price of 3 pcso's you can get two real cops, with powers off arrest and evertthing. (i do appreciate that the cost of the cop increases with years service) but i know which i would rather see walking round my town.

 

You may be happy paying someone 30 grand a year to supervise school children on a bus, hand out crime prevention leaflets or give out red route parking PCNs but I'm not.

[HSBCrusher]

PCSOs are not police men or women.

 

They are a political cosmetic sticking plaster.

please refrain from taking pop shots at PCSOs

 

Its nice to have a chat about police officers, but its rather off topic for this car tax related thread.

[patdavies]

Whatare you supposed to do if your disk is actually stolen from the vehicle?

 

 

1 report it to the cops

 

2 get a crime number

 

3 write crime number on a piece of paper

 

4 put the paper where the tax disc goes

 

5 hope the cops check their crime records.

 

None of this will negate the offence, but it will, hopefully, cause them to show discretion.

Edited July 13, 2009 by patdavies

[katedog]

You may be happy paying someone 30 grand a year to supervise school children on a bus, hand out crime prevention leaflets or give out red route parking PCNs but I'm not.

 

 

 

30 grand a year, that would be a 20+ year PC. A starting PC when you deduct pension contribution is on less than a PCSO.

 

Should we rearly need anybody to suprevise children on a bus and if we do is not some small part down to the scholl the parents and even the bus company?

 

Anyway that's me done agree with HSBC this is not the time or the place.

 

BUT I BET SOMEONE WILL HAVE TO HAVE THE LAST WORD!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edited July 13, 2009 by katedog