DVLA £80 fine passed to Advantis. What to do!

[mojpage]

Hi there, helpful people.

 

I'm sorry to post such a similarly themed topic to many others, but I'm sure you can appreciate people wanting it confirmed that their own situation doesn't differ from the advice already given.

 

Basically, I was caught out by the the tax system turning digital. I've moved house twice in the last 2 years, and failed to update my V5C form. I don't know if they send out a notification for my tax renewal (do they do this?) but it obviously went to an old address if they did.

 

Before even being aware of my taxing error, i received a letter from Advantis asking me to confirm that I was who they were looking for. After looking on here, I didn't respond and thought it was just a [problem] (the fact that their letters address me with my surname followed by my first name made me think it was dodgy).

 

However, I then had the rather embarrassing situation of being stopped by a blank police car, while i was driving, who informed me of my lack of tax. They had to take my car off me there and then. I paid my tax that day and paid for the car to be released the next day.

 

I thought i'd still owe the DVLA for the months where i'd not tax my car, so I accept i'm liable for the £80 fine. However, I've had a second letter from Advantis stating that they're collecting on behalf of the DVLA - 'have been appointed by the DVLA to collect and outstanding late licensing penalty that you owe due to the vehicle detailed above being unlicensed for a period of time. The outstanding amount of £80 must be paid to us immediately.'

 

I'm happy to pay the DVLA, but I'm wary of talking to Advantis. Will this go away if I ignore it? Will it go back to the DVLA eventually? Should I pay it now? From previous posts I've seen, if I contacted the DVLA they'd advise that I should deal with Advantis?

 

Just not seen too many final posts about how things have turned out for people and wanted to know the best course of action.

 

Thanks very much for your time.

 

On a separate note, I spoke to the guy who released my car from the compound and he said they get about 4/5 people a day getting caught out by the tax error now. Surely it can't be right that so many people have made this genuine error and are having to pay so much money!

[Old Cogger]

that is the way it works = no tax then they jump on you - you make a error then no comeback but if they do see them squirm!

[unclebulgaria67]

Suggest you pay it, before it escalates, with enforcement agents adding their fees. Not worth the hassle.

[Raykay]

I'm happy to pay the DVLA, but I'm wary of talking to Advantis. Will this go away if I ignore it? Will it go back to the DVLA eventually? Should I pay it now? From previous posts I've seen, if I contacted the DVLA they'd advise that I should deal with Advantis?

 

The Late Licensing Penalty is not fine, it is treated as a civil debt owed to the crown, which is why debt collectors are involved.