Being fined by DVLA for not taxing a car I no longer own!

[puffernutter]

Has anyone else got caught in this unbreakable loop?

Over 2.5 years ago my son had a car that needed an MoT to make it more saleable. At the time it was cheaper for me to insure it, so we transferred the car to my name, I taxed it for 1 month, insured it, got it insured then SORNd it.

2 years ago my son put it on eBay and it was sold. The DVLA paperwork was completed and sent off. If there was a receipt, my son doesn't have it/can't find it. The details on eBay are long gone.

It looks like DVLA didn't get the paperwork. Since February 2022 I have been receiving letters telling me the vehicle is about to run out of tax. Today I received a letter telling me that I am now to be fined as the tax has run out!

I spoke to DVLA in February and was told to send a letter in. I did. They have a 4-6 week processing delay and so far they haven't found it.

I have appealed but they want the name and address of the new owner which I do not have, neither do I have any part of the V5, so I cannot make any changes on line.

I am being fined for not taxing a vehicle I do not own, but cannot prove I do not own and the DVLA delays mean if the appeal is unsuccessful the fine will double and I assume the "unpaid tax" will continue as long as the new owner doesn't tax it!

Suggestions how to break this cycle?

Cheers

Peter

 

[Beanwood]

Has it been mot'd/insured by the new owner?

 

[Morrisman]

Report it as stolen. That'll wake the new owner up a bit. He obviously knows he's not got tax etc.

 

[Cobbler]

My son got caught on this, car was sold to a dealer who processed the paperwork & sent it all off. A year or so later DVLA sent a fine through the post saying it wasn’t taxed. It must have been taxed in the meantime by the new owner, but DVLA said they had never received the paperwork. When my son spoke to them, the person virtually admitted the paperwork had been lost at their end, but he still had to pay the fine. It seems they fine whoever they like with little or no comeback.

 

[8ob]

Lesson one. Keep a copy of anything you send to dvla. Lesson two. Go on line to inform them of a change of ownership.

Bob

 

[Morrisman]

Lesson one. Keep a copy of anything you send to dvla. Lesson two. Go on line to inform them of a change of ownership.

Bob

I've used the online dvla facility several times the last couple of years, buying and selling, it works great. V5 arrives within a week, cancelled road tax too. With on line banking, money transfers etc it's a matter of minutes to sell or buy a vehicle, with no risk.

 

[Pete.]

Lesson one. Keep a copy of anything you send to dvla. Lesson two. Go on line to inform them of a change of ownership.

Bob

Yep do it online and NEVER let the buyer be responsible. It's the seller's duty to inform of the owner change so if you don't do it then there's only one person to blame.

 

[Justme]

Check if its still insure.

You could claim to have been in an incident with it to gain the insurance company's details. Contact them. They will not give out details but will contact the owner re keeping a vehicle on the road un taxed.

 

[Robotstar5]

I've used the online dvla facility several times the last couple of years, buying and selling, it works great. V5 arrives within a week, cancelled road tax too. With on line banking, money transfers etc it's a matter of minutes to sell or buy a vehicle, with no risk.

Thanks for the reminder, I did an online change of ownership the end of Jan and still not received the V5, I will have to look how to chase them.

 

[julianf]

I'm not saying I would do this, but I wonder what would happen if...

You paid the fine,
Ordered another v5,
Took a bunch of metal that looked kind of like a car to a scrap yard and declared the vehicle scrapped.

That would be a way to wash your hands of it, all be it at a cost.

 

[Craig-SM]

Surely you have emails and messages in eBay listing the car as well as communication after to arrange payment and collection.

for future reference use the DVLA online services for transferring ownership

 

[bricol]

Has anyone else got caught in this unbreakable loop?

Over 2.5 years ago my son had a car that needed an MoT to make it more saleable. At the time it was cheaper for me to insure it, so we transferred the car to my name, I taxed it for 1 month, insured it, got it insured then SORNd it.

2 years ago my son put it on eBay and it was sold. The DVLA paperwork was completed and sent off. If there was a receipt, my son doesn't have it/can't find it. The details on eBay are long gone.

It looks like DVLA didn't get the paperwork. Since February 2022 I have been receiving letters telling me the vehicle is about to run out of tax. Today I received a letter telling me that I am now to be fined as the tax has run out!

I spoke to DVLA in February and was told to send a letter in. I did. They have a 4-6 week processing delay and so far they haven't found it.

I have appealed but they want the name and address of the new owner which I do not have, neither do I have any part of the V5, so I cannot make any changes on line.

I am being fined for not taxing a vehicle I do not own, but cannot prove I do not own and the DVLA delays mean if the appeal is unsuccessful the fine will double and I assume the "unpaid tax" will continue as long as the new owner doesn't tax it!

Suggestions how to break this cycle?

Cheers

Peter

Apply for duplicate V5 - might have to go ask your MOT person if they can look up the chassis number from the reg.

Go on-line and declare scrapped.

 

[gaz1]

Yep do it online and NEVER let the buyer be responsible. It's the seller's duty to inform of the owner change so if you don't do it then there's only one person to blame.

if you think online wont be at fault forget it

all it takes is glitches on there system
always take copys of stuff even if online or not or click the tick box for a reply by em,ail that they have it

by taking copts easy enough by the snipping tool

same with on ebay should have snipped it as proove it was sold and also you have an address

 

[Pete.]

if you think online wont be at fault forget it

all it takes is glitches on there system
always take copys of stuff even if online or not or click the tick box for a reply by em,ail that they have it

by taking copts easy enough by the snipping tool

same with on ebay should have snipped it as proove it was sold and also you have an address

Haven't heard of anyone having troube with online 'glitches' but it wouldn't matter anyway because the email confirmation is your get out of jail free card.

 

[DAPPH]

Lesson one. Keep a copy of anything you send to dvla. Lesson two. Go on line to inform them of a change of ownership.

Bob

Even then take pictures of each screen you fill in & where possible do screen dumps before pressing next . Then print and keep them for donkey's years.
It took the DVLA five years to get to me after I gave my wife's BX17 RE to our daughter & filled out the paper work , sent it off from Cambridge shire by recorded delivery three years later it was scrapped in Scotland did the same with the paper work for said daughter and it appears the scrappy sold it as repairable to someone in Newcastle .

 

[aesmith]

Has anyone else got caught in this unbreakable loop?

Over 2.5 years ago my son had a car that needed an MoT to make it more saleable. At the time it was cheaper for me to insure it, so we transferred the car to my name, I taxed it for 1 month, insured it, got it insured then SORNd it.

2 years ago my son put it on eBay and it was sold. The DVLA paperwork was completed and sent off. If there was a receipt, my son doesn't have it/can't find it. The details on eBay are long gone.

It looks like DVLA didn't get the paperwork. Since February 2022 I have been receiving letters telling me the vehicle is about to run out of tax. Today I received a letter telling me that I am now to be fined as the tax has run out!

Sounds to me like a later DVLA screw up. If they just hadn't processed the change of keeper it would still be in your name and SORN. No tax to run out. In addition, if the tax has just run out now in March 2022 then at the very earliest someone must have taxed it starting from March 2021.

DVLA should have sent you a letter confirming that you are no longer the registered keeper. They like to claim that if you don't receive that then it's your responsibility to follow up, but that has no basis in law.

 

[Justme]

Have a good look in your glove box for the old dog eared receipt book you keep there
It will have a carbon copy of the sale details like date & price you sold it for.

 

[Agrismith]

I'm not saying I would do this, but I wonder what would happen if...

You paid the fine,
Ordered another v5,
Took a bunch of metal that looked kind of like a car to a scrap yard and declared the vehicle scrapped.

That would be a way to wash your hands of it, all be it at a cost.

Your way over complicating this.

Simply make a name and address up. And say you sold it to them.
Fill in the details. On the sheet. You won't hear from them again

 

[BarrieJ]

Several years ago I sold a scrap Mk1 Fiesta van to a member of the travelling community.
He gave his address as:
1 High Street
Northampton.
Maybe you sold your vehicle to the same man?
I'm sure my van wasn't the first vehicle he'd bought, nor the last.

 

[puffernutter]

Pre-dates the on-line option unfortunately

Peter