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AIBU?

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Original poster

Car has been clamped

151 replies

Cocksandrubbers · 17/01/2017 09:10

I bought a car last night which my friend bought round for me, I've got up this morning to tax it so I can drive it as I've looked out the window it is being clamped for being untaxed. I ran out of the house to find out what was happening and told them I had just bought it and am taxing it I have proof of purchase plus email from dvla to show it's taxed but they are refusing to remove the clamp unless I pay £100 for it only being on 11 mins.
Is there anything I can do? I've had to get my mum to take dcs to school and there's no way I can get to work

OP posts:
SheSparkles · 17/01/2017 10:02

If it was untaxed even overnight, it parked on the roadway, it's an offence.
However there's something not adding up with the timescales, and the clamper knowing where the vehicle would be if you just bought it yesterday

SantasLittleMonkeyButler · 17/01/2017 10:07

I'm not sure that the clamper actually has to know the location of the vehicle in advance do they?

Couldn't it just have been having the bad luck for the Police to drive past and carry out a random ANPR check & then request it clamped?

That said, if your friend hadn't cancelled the tax payments, and had only sold the car to you last night - how on earth is it showing up as not taxed so quickly? There would have been no way for DVLA or the Police to know that your friend no longer owned the vehicle and that, therefore, their tax was no longer valid. It takes a few days for the records to get updated surely?

ComputerUserNumptyTwit · 17/01/2017 10:09

My guess is that the friend's tax had expired well before selling the car to the op.

Sirzy · 17/01/2017 10:09

Might be worth phoning the non emergency police number for advice? Or your local station?

hoddtastic · 17/01/2017 10:10

we live in the inner city, the clampers drive round with a mobile camera that scans number plates, if cars aren't taxed against the database that the pics are linked to they get clamped. It happens once maybe twice a year.

whatsthecomingoverthehill · 17/01/2017 10:13

OP, is the company NSL? They are authorised by the DVLA and drive around with number plate recognition that automatically checks the cars. If so it just seems incredibly unlucky but not much you can do.

Original poster
Cocksandrubbers · 17/01/2017 10:14

Well I have two pages basically saying I'm wrong and it doesn't ring true, although I've given all the information I can possibly give.

OP posts:
TantrumsAndBalloons · 17/01/2017 10:15

I'm not saying you are lying.

Private clampers don't clamp for untaxed cars, the DVLA do

Bailiffs will clamp the car if there's an outstanding warrant for no car tax, which your friend would know about.
Someone isn't telling you the truth.
Can you google the name of the private company, and call their office, because private companies do have ANPR vehicles but they only show which cars have outstanding warrants, not which cars are currently untaxed

Vango · 17/01/2017 10:15

I was clamped a few years ago (before tax discs were abolished). For whatever reason, we had forgotten to renew and hadn't noticed until a week into the next month that we had no tax. I had renewed online (the moment I realised) a couple of days before the clamping and was waiting for the disc to arrive in the post.

I phoned the number on the sticker straight away and very, very VERY apologetically explained. The woman I spoke to said the clampers were still in the area so she sent them back and they removed it with no charge. I now know it's an offence to park on the public highway but I didn't realise that then. Phone now.

catsarenice · 17/01/2017 10:19

Did you tax online today? I recently taxed a car as DP relative had died and we had to transfer ownership and it flagged up that the car was untaxed and left a gap of one month. Just wondering if you had a message like that show up?

enfru · 17/01/2017 10:19

It does sound as though the car has been untaxed a lot longer than just overnight.
If they are a private company not employed by the DVLA and are just the stereotypical "chambers" you hear about then don't pay the fine but call the non emergency police line for help. Call the DVLA first to check whether they have authorised the clamping, if they have you'll have to pay the fine but I'd take it up with your friend too and find out when she cancelled the tax on the vehicle

TantrumsAndBalloons · 17/01/2017 10:21

What sounds odd about a private company driving past and it registering an untaxed car

That's exactly what's odd. I would be concerned that there was an outstanding fine on the car that your friend knows about but didn't tell you iyswim
Bailiffs tend to be a bit suspicious when a car is sold to a "friend" after the person has had numerous letters saying they need to pay or else the car will be clamped.

Or else your friend has had numerous warnings that there was no tax on the car and didn't tell you.

Did you check on the DVLA website the last time the car was taxed before you did it? That might help

If it's all legit then I would ring the DVLA to verify what private companies (if any) have ANPR vehicles to check for untaxed cars

ComputerUserNumptyTwit · 17/01/2017 10:21

I wonder if the previous owner is liable, if the change in ownership was yet to be communicated to the DVLA. As I said, my guess is that the tax lapsed some time ago, unless the car was SORN in which case the car has been clamped for being SORN but on a public highway..

I recently inadvertently (carelessly to be fair) allowed my tax to run out - I was required to pay the tax for the month (I know, I know) for which my car had neither been taxed nor SORNed to catch up before everything was legit.

IpDipCatnip · 17/01/2017 10:21

Unless the "clampers" have made a mistake the tax on your car must have expired a while ago. As soon as you took ownership of the vehicle it was your duty to tax it yourself, it should not have been untaxed parked on a public highway.

All said there is no way DVLA know change of ownership yet, they wouldn't have received the papers! You can check online whether a vehicle is taxed and has a valid mot- however now you have taxed it you won't be able to check when your friends tax on it expired.

Original poster
Cocksandrubbers · 17/01/2017 10:23

I've called the dvla already it has not been clamped by them but a company called red corn.

OP posts:
ChristmasCwtches · 17/01/2017 10:26

It seems most likely that your friend had let the tax expire - how else could it be showing as untaxed? It can take a while to update the online database, if you enter the reg number here it may show the status of the car prior to taxing it today.

www.gov.uk/check-vehicle-tax

Mollyringworm · 17/01/2017 10:27

That sounds well dodgy - I wouldnt pay it, I'd be ringing the police!

UrethaFranklin · 17/01/2017 10:28

Yes! they was clamping it the same time I was taxing it I only knew they was outside when I'd opens the curtains and happens to see them.

So it wasn't taxed when then started clamping it then. Redcorn are a legitimate company who clamp untaxed vehicles, they use ANPR technology to identify those without tax: www.redcorn.co.uk/services/

So it looks like you will have to pay up.

ComputerUserNumptyTwit · 17/01/2017 10:28

When I messed up, DVLA were incredibly helpful. Were they able to advise you at all, op?

TheMaddHugger · 17/01/2017 10:29

Redcom ey. I smell a scam. Can you call the non urgent police line and ask them how to proceed ?

uggmum · 17/01/2017 10:29

When you look up Redcorn they appear to be a private clamping and disposal company.
They drive around with anpr and clamp untaxed vehicles. It is likely that your vehicle was untaxed for a while before you purchased it.

Can you call Redcorn and speak to them

CheesyMcTudd · 17/01/2017 10:30

I bought a car at the end of November. I couldn't tax it until I picked it up because I needed the reference number on the new owner slip but then I completely forgot about it and left it untaxed for a week (yes I know, it's illegal but I was unwell and forgot Blush). I received a polite letter reminding me to tax it and when I did online it back dated the tax from November (it was now December).

It sounds as if the car had been untaxed a lot longer than you thought. If you only signed the new keeper form this morning when you woke up, surely it's the previous owners mistake and not yours?

dailyshite · 17/01/2017 10:32

The car needs to be taxed the whole time it is on the road, not just when it is being driven.

Did DVLA say that it was taxed from midnight last night? That is the only way that the clamping is illegal (as I understand it). If it is illegal, phone the police and get them to deal with the company. If the car is taxed from midnight tonight, then it is an untaxed car on the road and therefore has been legally clamped (I would have thought).

enfru · 17/01/2017 10:33

Pay the £100, Redcorn are a legitimate company.

Then have serious words with your friend.

TantrumsAndBalloons · 17/01/2017 10:33

Redcorn work with local councils, it looks as though the car must have been untaxed for more than a few hours for the to pick it up

However I do think you will have to pay it otherwise they are somehow within their rights to remove it, which is going to cost a whole lot more

Did the DVLA confirm when it was last taxed?