Barnet council parking fines.

[MrCampbell]

Need some advice for a friend of mine.

 

a guy she use to see bought a car in her name without her consent.

She doesn't drive neither does she have a full UK license,

even the police had knowledge of the situation because it was used to commit an offense and she was cleared of all charges.

  

This same guy put her in hospital and she went through the process of getting a restraining order etc.

She has a crime reference number to prove all this.

 

The total amount of the fines was about £4000 but was brought down to £2430

so far she has been able to pay £1735 and left with the sum of £705.

 

At this junction, I must add that, she was only paying all these fines because she had no idea that she had any rights and could afford to at the time.

It has now reach stage that is hard for her.

 

She is depressed and not sure what to do in this situation.

She has gone to the police and also Citizens Advice Bureau who say there's nothing they can do.

 

 She is a student who pays rent and struggling to keep up with payments on her own and no longer willing to take on debt that was incurred by someone else.

 

In her letter to Barnet council she included the last known address of the guy responsible.

 

 Is there anything she can do to help this situation?

 

It has got to the stage where she has given up and wants to wait for bailiffs to turn up and take her goods which I know will affect her in the long run.

 

 

 

[honeybee13]

That sounds a terrible position to be in. I'm sure the guys will be along when they have time, I hope we can help you.

 

HB

[green_and_mean]

It seems this must be partially her fault the car must have been registered in her name at her address for her to be liable she should have twigged something was wrong when she got the first NTO through the post. The NTO contains a section on grounds for appeal and one is 'I have never owned the vehicle' she should have ticked that and if they rejected gone to adjudication with proof.

[vulcanswb3a]

green and mean try reading the op post she was a victim off domestic violence give her a break

[green_and_mean]

green and mean try reading the op post she was a victim off domestic violence give her a break

 

I did read the post but there seems little point in asking advice if you don't want an honest answer all documentation clearly states what you can and cannot do having a violent b/f surely did not take away her ability to read? If someone asked you for £4000 in fines for a car you had never owned would you just pay up without questioning it or writing back and stating you are not the owner? I'm sorry she has bad taste in men but she obviously has got her self in this situation by not acting earlier and sorting it out before it got to this stage where nothing can be done.

[Bernie_the_Bolt]

green and mean try reading the op post she was a victim off domestic violence give her a break

 

And what constructive help do you have to offer . . . . .

 

I am guessing here but it sounds as though this has gone beyond the "Order for Recovery" stage. I don't even know whether an Out of Time Stat Dec will work. I suggest that you need TomTubby for help on this.

[esmerobbo]

Feel extremely sorry for the OP but as stated the time for action was before it got to the stage it is now. Sometimes facts can seem harsh.

More expert advise then I could offer is needed. I hope she can get some.

[Jamberson]

If I were her I would do the following:

 

1. Request a copy of the registration documents from DVLA showing "her" signature.

 

2. Obtain paperwork from the police quoting the crime reference number from when she reported the false registration.

 

3. Arrange an appointment to see a manager in the parking department of the council, and explain to him/her what happened and show the paperwork. (Keep the originals though - let them take copies if they wish.) Ask them to cancel the outstanding charges, and refund what has been paid, since it was paid under duress. (May or may not bear fruit.) Do NOT pay any more for the moment!!!

 

4. Put a letter in the post to the head of parking, outlining what happened in the meeting, and summarising the situation, and request a refund of the fees already paid. Expect this to be refused, the point being to get it in writing that they will not refund. (Although, you never know!)

 

5. Contact the local government ombudsman with all relevant paperwork, and her local councillor likewise, to take up the case on her behalf.

 

This may or may not get her somewhere, but it is a least a start.

[MrCampbell]

Thanks for all your replies.

 

I spoke to my friend and asked her to email me with information about the whole parking fine incident and below is what she emailed back.

I hope this can give you a better understanding of the situation.

 

The reason she didn't know about the tickets was because the guy had the car registered at his address with her name so all the tickets went to his address.

 

In the end the council asked her to register the car at her address then sent her one letter containing all the ticket fines etc.

 

I really do feel sorry for her as she is young and vulnerable trying to better her life and would help if I could but the fines are far too many and Barnet council are now requesting immediate payment.

 

She actually gave the guy the money to purchase the car or something along those lines. From what I remember she intended to start taking driving lessons or something.

 

Thanks for all the replies and jamberson I shall email her your response. It's a start and better than her sitting down and waiting for bailiffs to turn up.

 

My friends statement

What happened with the car basically, this is most of the stuff I remember

 

The car was in my name but his registered address, all the time he had the car he did stuff with it, as in got loads of tickets, did criminal activity in it as I was told that by the police.

 

Cause the car was in his address I never got any letters to my house, and when he got them he never gave them to me, I kept asking for the car back he wouldn't give it back to me, and every time I did ask for it he would get angry start shouting at me etc.....

 

he finally gave back the keys and I had to go get the car with my mum so she could drive back down with it, when I got there, the police was there said I had to remove the car it had been left there for a couple of months and it was about to get taken away,

 

i explained what happened they said ok, just move it, and the ticket man was there as well, he told me the car has been getting tickets everyday.

He advised me to call the council.

 

I had to jump start the car my mum drove it home called the council 2 tickets had gone to the baliiffs had to pay them and then I explained everything to the council,

they called me back put me on a payment plan, told me to change the address back into my own address which I did with the dvla so I got the letters sent to me to see how many tickets I had, the Barnet council also said I still have to pay cause I was the keeper of the car.

 

police kept knocking at my house asking about the car....etc, so I decided to sell it cause I didn't want more stress on top of everything else.

 

[green_and_mean]

 

That is a bit of a different slant to the first post as it now appears the cars is hers, not just registered in her name by her b/f so she was liable for the PCNs.

 

The only defence would be it had been taken and parked without consent but since he had the keys and it seems wasn't reported stolen that is on shaky ground.

[Jamberson]

Agreed. You said at the top, "Basically a guy she use to see bought a car in her name without her consent."

 

Now she says "I kept asking for the car back".

 

If he bought the car, why would she be asking for it back? If she is the legal owner, then this changes the position considerably. Can you (or her) clarify who owned the car, and whether her (genuine) signature went to DVLA when it was purchased?

[MrCampbell]

I sent her both your response and this was her response:

 

Her response

He took me to get the car I Paid 4it I signed everything my name on all the paperwork, the only reason why it said he brought the car without my consent was cause alot of people were advisin me what to say and some one advised me to say that, so it would help, but it has not.

 

So it was my car I paid for it my signature went to the dvla, he just told me to put it on his address, he said he was going to help me do it up....etc then he never gave it back after that.

[Bernie_the_Bolt]

I'm afraid the law does not cater for situations such as the one your friend finds herself in unless she is prepared to do stuff such as reporting the vehicle stolen at the outset.

 

Her best hope IMHO is to try and lobby her councillors and MP to see if they will exert some pressure to get some goodwill out of the council.

[green_and_mean]

Personally I think she is going to have to put this down to experience! It could have been worse I'm still paying off a £20,000 debt a previous partner left me, such is life I'm afraid.

[Jamberson]

I agree with the others. She was the owner and is therefore liable. I still think it is worth trying to have a meeting with a manager in parking at the council and asking for some leniency. They have had more than their pound of flesh and might look sympathetically on the situation and agree to reduce the remaining debt. If that fails, Bernie's suggestion about getting representation from her MP is a good one. I think it's going to be nigh on impossible to recover what has been paid already. It's a sad story, and she has my sympathy.

[seanamarts]

Just a thought, but has she appealed these tickets?

[Jamberson]

This thread is from last year!

[seanamarts]

Yup No idea where that came from