Advice Needed - DVLA Court Action Imminent

[micklauk]

Hi Guys,

 

I am looking for some advice, my car was repossessed by Welcome Financial Services on 01/02/10 at which stage i handed over the keys and the car. Good riddance i thought end of the matter....

 

However, I have now received documentation from DVLA to say that I am due to appear in court because the Secretary of State for Transport has received information from a new keeper that they acquired the vehicle on 23/02/10.

 

I am now being charged with failing to notify change of keeper on 23/02/10, my question is, how was i supposed to notify when i didnt know that the vehicle had been sold and would the finance company have not taken back ownership of the car when they repossessed it on 01/02/10.

 

Not sure what to do next, can anyone advise??

 

Thanks

[buzby]

You are confusing ownership with being a Registered Keeper. Once you lost control of the vehicle, you needed to advise that you were no longer the RK. Normally you need the FH to acknowledge they have taken the vehicle or a copy of your receipt for same, as they'd be classed as a 'trader' so notr to increment the number of Reghistered Keepers. You;re luxkt there were not loads of parking fines and the rest, as it is the RK not the Driver that will carry the can.

[Big Bill]

Sorrry Buzby but the law is on the side of the DVLA. This is an extract from the SI that allows the DVLA and their agents to take possession of a car without a court order. This would normally be a tortious act against the "owner" of the goods and contrary to the oldest legislation in this country the C 15 of the 1267 Statute of Marlborough, which makes it unlawful to apply distraint to any goods without a court order.

References to the "owner" of a vehicle at a particular time are to the person by whom it was then kept and the person in whose name the vehicle is registered at a particular time shall be taken, unless the contrary is shown, to be the person by whom the vehicle was kept at that time.

So unless the owner can prove otherwise the RK is the owner.

[buzby]

Hi Bill, read my posing again (I've fixed the typos!) My point is that the OP is duty bound to deal with the DVLA irrespective of what the owner does. It is the OP who had the expectation that the FH has the responsibility, when it doesn't.

[wheelergeezer]

The OP should have sent the relevant section(s) of the V5C to DVLA on 01/02/10 to notify DVLA that the OP was no longer the keeper. That is where the problem started. Unless they did this, they have no defence.

[buzby]

There is, however, mitigation - as the situation the OP outlines is neither explicity mentioned nor explained. Therefore the reasaonable expectation would be that as the vehicle lost the use of the vehicle the beneficial owner - who has been the prime mover, would do this paperwork too.

[wheelergeezer]

I agree that the OP probably thought that was the case, but as the old saying goes, 'ignorance of the law.....' It is the registered keepers job, not the owner. This is where the DVLA will lap it up. They know exactly what has happened, but couldn't give a toss because there will be a few more quid in it for them.

 

The Op did nothing wrong as such, the finance people did nothing wrong as such, the new keeper has done nothing wrong as such. nobody got hurt, nobody is a criminal, but teh DVLA will want blood.

[buzby]

As noted in post #4. At least the mitigation is both plausible and reasonable, given the circumstance.

[wheelergeezer]

DVLA don't do mitigation.

[buzby]

No, but the courts do.

[wheelergeezer]

Sure. He can try it. 'I didn't send the V5c off to DVLA because I was unaware of the law'. They will definitely let him off then.

 

I tried that once. 'I didn't know it was wrong to do 120mph down the high street because I was unaware of the law'. Worked for me, so why not give it a go.

[buzby]

That's not the issue and you knew it. The instructions on the form to not state what to do when thewre is adverse posession of the viwhicle. If there was, there would be no mitigation. As there isn't, this leaves the OP with a reasonable claim that he expected the Finance House, who had done everything else, to do it too. Since there is no Dealership, New Buyer, or Scrap Merchant there to sign his slip - I'd be hards pressed to know which box to use, and if there wasn't one, believe (mistakenly) that is was not appropriate.

 

As for your last point - there's little point being idiotic unless it's funny. It wasn't.

[wheelergeezer]

Now now, calm down dear. Don't be too alarmed when someone more knowledgeable expresses an opinion.

 

This is not a complicated issue. The law is very CLEAR. When you stop being the keeper, tell DVLA. Then you stop being the registered keeper too. If you don't tell them, they won't know. That is the whole basis of how their system works. It is not a rule or policy, it is law.

[buzby]

And the slip to fill in when you car is repossessed is.......?

 

And who signs as the receiving party?

[wheelergeezer]

The yellow portion with the name and address of the people who have now taken possesion with a view to selling on, just like any other trader. The rest should have been given to the nice repo man.

[buzby]

Doesn't say that on it. Additionally, if the person collecting the vehicle refuses to sign the document, shouldn't they be culpable too?

[Raykay]

It's in the notes on the back of the yellow V5C/3 that Motor Trade includes a finance company with an interest in the vehicle.

Doesn't mention what to do if the person collecting refuses to sign, but knowing how incompetent DVLA are, if you filled it in and put 'Refused' in the signature box, they will accept that it was signed by a Mr Refused!!!

[buzby]

Yup, I could believe that

[wheelergeezer]

I hate to say, 'I told you so'.

[buzby]

Ok I'll bite? WHAT did you tell, and to whom?