DVLA : Going to Court over No Car Tax - What Evidence Will they Provide ?

[byrney]

Hi Everyone,

 

This is my first post, but would be really appreciative of some advice of what sort of evidence the DVLA will provide in court.

 

Essentially the DVLA are taking me to court for not having car tax, but what sort of evidence will they give to prosecute me. My car was stationary at a roundabout when the police got to the car after an unsuccesfull towing mission to get the car scrapped.

 

Will they look at motorway cameras for an offence like this ? Or will they be just looking at their database and using the police report ? This happened 6 months ago now, the car has been scrapped, but they are still taking me to court.

 

Any advice is much appreciated. Many Thanks

[Raykay]

They don't need to know where the car was, they will know from their records if the car was taxed or not.

[byrney]

Hi, Thanks RayKay.

 

So they will base their evidence of me not having the vehicle taxed and it shows on their database ? They will also use the police officers ticket that found the car ? The reason I say this is, if they go through the video on the motorway cameras i dont want them trying to say i was towing illegally or try and get me for something else. my defence is that i was towing the car to get it scrapped which it was subsequently scrapped the following morning. i have now found out that i cannot tow it, but it should be on a transporter. the law is very unclear about towing and i was not to know about you not be able to tow an unlicenced car.

[buzby]

If the wheels are on the road, then it needs to be taxed. It is unfortunate you were unaware of this, but you have some useful mitigation: (1) provide proof that the vehicle was scrapped the same day (an invoice or receipt), and a copy or reply of any letter to/from DVLA notifying the vehicle has been scrapped.

 

A court may tale a lenient view that it was the only way you could dispose of it, however if you have nothing to back this up, then your actions will be almost impossible to prove.

[byrney]

I actually called the police as soon as it happend to let them know. I have a phone record of this. However I couldnt get the vehicle picked up until the morning and let the police know of this in the telephone call. They still went to the car at 11pm at night and placed a ticket on it and notified the DVLA. The vehicle in the morning then got scrapped.

 

Is there anything else I can do to help my case. My new car now is fully insured, taxed and MOT along with a brand new drivers licence i had the pleasure of paying £24 for. Should i get a statement from the vehicle recovery firm to say i did call them the day it happened but they couldnt get to it until the morning ?

[Raykay]

It doesn't matter if the wheels are on the road or not, if the vehicle is registered it is required to be taxed, s1. Vehicles Excise and Registration Act 1994.

 

They won't worry about towing, motorway cameras etc, although they may mention the police report. The only matter the police would follow up regarding tax is 'failure to display' (which is different to no tax) but often they will just submit a report to DVLA of seeing an untaxed car and leave it to DVLA to take any necessary action for no tax .

Edited December 8, 2010 by Raykay

[byrney]

Ok guys thanks for clearing that up. I will just have to hope they will be lenient on me as I was trying to do the right thing. Now that I understand the laws regards towing and taxing etc I will make sure it will not happen again. I wrote a response letter to the court clerk saying i was very sorry and even offered to pay £200 if it was deemed i done something wrong. This was a week ago and I haven't heard anything. My court cased is on Tuesday of next week.

 

I could really do without getting £1000 fine before XMAS !

[buzby]

It can be taxed OR sorned. If being scrapped on a loader, the charge can only be not declaring SORN as it is not 'on the road', but if the wheels ARE on the public road, then the requirement for VED is absolute. So it DOES make a difference.

[byrney]

It can be taxed OR sorned. If being scrapped on a loader, the charge can only be not declaring SORN as it is not 'on the road', but if the wheels ARE on the public road, then the requirement for VED is absolute. So it DOES make a difference.

So am I going to get hung, drawn and quarterd for this

[sailor sam]

So am I going to get hung, drawn and quarterd for this

 

They will probably fine you the equivalent to how much out of date the tax was (back-dated). No doubt you will have to pay costs as well. The actual towing issue will be of no interest to the DVLA, it would be a police matter.

 

Please Note

 

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

 

I would always urge to seek professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

 

Please click my reputation 'star' button at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice useful.

[byrney]

Thanks guys. this has been really helpful. Any advice of what to do when i am in the court room ? Be remorseful ? Sorry ?

 

3 years ago I got done for speeding on a motorway in dumfries, scotland and had to go before the sheriff, mr kenneth Barr who was notorious for being heavy with his punishments. Felt like I was getting tried for rape or something.

[Raykay]

It can be taxed OR sorned. If being scrapped on a loader, the charge can only be not declaring SORN as it is not 'on the road', but if the wheels ARE on the public road, then the requirement for VED is absolute. So it DOES make a difference.

 

It doesn't make any difference, although it doesn't affect the OP's case. The offence is No tax, even a vehicle on a low loader is required to be taxed unless it is SORN which is one of the exemptions in s.31B Vehicles Excise and Registration Act 1994. If it is not SORN it is required to be taxed even though it is not on the road. The requirement is having tax unless s.31B applies, if it doesn't apply the offence is 'no tax', contrary to s.31A of the same act - not 'not declaring SORN'.

Edited December 8, 2010 by Raykay

[zoomboy]

Is it possible to negotiate a settlement out of court? If so it'd save those costs at least.

[byrney]

Went to Court today and didn't get fined !! I had to pay the back tax and £20 court costs. Im happy the matter is put to bed.

 

To add there were 5 of us there today in the magistrates all with DVLA related attendances. out of the 5 only myself and another had anything to pay. The cases were all dropped in the others. Complete waste of peoples time and money to get there. What makes it worse is the prosecuting officer for DVLA just seemed to pass it off as another one gone by, didnt really care as he knew he had another 15 - 20 cases coming in that day he might get a result in.

[buzby]

That's why it is imperative to go to court and not ignore the action, as a fine would have been applied if you hadn't.

[byrney]

That's why it is imperative to go to court and not ignore the action, as a fine would have been applied if you hadn't.

 

completely agree. the magistrate even thanked me for turning up !