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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:
cx5221 · 17/01/2017 11:27

This doesn't sound right to me, if you only bought it last night how did the dvla even know where to find it?

I had my car clamped for not paying tax because my daft husband had not written the bank details into his account properly and we were paying some random £12 a month.
It took them 3 months to come and clamp the car. Thankfully they were pretty quick because we would have lost / owed a lot more if they hadn't.

I find it really strange you bought it last night she posted the keys through your door while you were in bed and by this morning it's already been clamped. She wouldn't have even had time to transfer proof of ownership to you in that time.
Even if it was done online (and I don't even think you can do that) the dvla is closed overnight so no one is going to have processed it, and forwarded it on to a clamping company by this morning.
If she's doing it by post she wouldn't have even had time to post the transfer of ownership to you yet.

My guess is your friend has done a sneaky number on you, she's either not been paying tax and the company arrived at her house this morning so she's sent the company over to you to save herself a fine. Or if you told her weeks ago you were going to buy the car she's already put it in your name in the meantime to avoid paying tax.

She would have had warnings that her vehicle was going to be clamped for lack of tax as you would have had first too from the dvla before it was actually clamped. (We did but the week before carvwas clamped but were away)

sparechange · 17/01/2017 11:31

They definitely do just drive around roads looking for cars to clamp.
I had a friend come to my house for lunch on a weekend, and when he left, his car had been clamped for no tax.
He lives miles away from me, and the tax had lapsed a couple of days previously.

He successfully argued that it was the DVLA's fault because he had moved house a couple of months previously and informed them of his new address, but they still sent the reminder and code to his old address, so got the unclamping fee refunded

I think you need to pay and then write to them with a timeline to explain what happened...

whatsthecomingoverthehill · 17/01/2017 11:32

cx, the clampers aren't going round looking for specific vehicles. They are just driving around and they have automatic numberplate systems that check the status of the car, so if it pings them they then clamp it.

TheMaddHugger · 17/01/2017 11:33

OP, do you have any neighbours that hate you ?

It is sounding like you will have to pay [frown]

TheFutureMrsB · 17/01/2017 11:37

You can transfer the ownership online through the dvla but if the car was taxed it wouldn't have been taken off yet so there can't have been any tax on the car when it was clamped.

Now that you have taxed the car online it won't show up immediately to the anpr? Cameras as it takes a couple of days to show on the system.

Try the website askmid, that will show if it's coming up as taxed.

cx5221 · 17/01/2017 11:38

*Today 11:32 whatsthecomingoverthehill

cx, the clampers aren't going round looking for specific vehicles. They are just driving around and they have automatic numberplate systems that check the status of the car, so if it pings them they then clamp it.*

Shock I didn't even know they could do this!
Think you've just been really unlucky then op. I think you're best bet it to pay then appeal!

cx5221 · 17/01/2017 11:38

Bold fail!

GilMartin · 17/01/2017 11:40

what but given the timescales involved and if the situation played out like the op's friend told her, the car would still be showing on the anpr as registered and taxed to her friend.

chipsandchilli · 17/01/2017 11:42

I think friend shad it untaxed so its on the system as untaxed and the clamp company have been drivng around, you have taxed it but ts not showing up on the system, did u print out the car is taxed slip with the reference on when the dd was set up and give it to the clamp company, im sure mine said use the slip as it may take a while to update on the systems

clumsyduck · 17/01/2017 11:45

Don't listen to people putting ideas of psycho neighbours and friends in your head . As I say this happened to me less than 12 hours after buying car . The be hikes have automatic number plate recognition on them and no tax etc flags up simple as that

clumsyduck · 17/01/2017 11:45

I really need to preview ! Be hikes = vechiles

whatsthecomingoverthehill · 17/01/2017 11:49

Gil, I don't know how quickly DVLA do everything when it is transferred. It seems unlikely that it would show up in their systems as untaxed already if the friend had used the DVLA online service but I don't know. It does seem more likely that she'd let the tax run out in december say.

dailyshite · 17/01/2017 11:49

Gil - it makes no difference who it's registered to as far as the clamping company are concerned - they've just put a clamp on it because its showing as untaxed. They haven't contacted anyone or sent a letter, the only reason OP knows is because she saw them do it.

GilMartin · 17/01/2017 12:19

I realise that daisy what I'm saying is that if the seller had acted like she said, drove car round late last night and retuned home. The earliest she would have been able to inform the DVLA of transfer of ownership would be 7am this morning.

Doing this voids the tax and the new owner then needs to tax the vehicle themselves. So in the op's case it would have been untaxed from 7am this morning.

However it takes about a week for the DVLA to process this. It is beyond unlikely that these details will have been processed by the DVLA and the system updated and the ANPR unit in the redcorn lorry (already out on the road at this point), will have been updated in about an hour and a half.

So if the car seller was on the level, and the tax was only cancelled after the car had been delivered late last night, then the car would still be showing as taxed, as the change of ownership and consequent lack of tax won't have been processed.

The big 'if' is when the tax expired. I strongly suspect it expired in December and she didn't want to pay a full month's tax for January, knowing she'd be selling the car midway through the month.

dailyshite · 17/01/2017 12:26

I dont think it takes a week for the system to update. I taxed mine and straight away, the insurance company could see that it was taxed through the online system.

PinkSwimGoggles · 17/01/2017 12:31

we have parking attendants patrolling all the time. they also check tax status and send for tow vehicle...
just unlucky, op.

Bluntness100 · 17/01/2017 12:42

I'd also suspect either the friend didn't tax it for JAN. And or she transferred ownship a little earlier than you know.

Bluntness100 · 17/01/2017 12:45

The other thing is just ask the clambers they should know,

MidnightSheep · 17/01/2017 12:57

Depending on the age of the car I'd now be checking there was no outstanding finance - sounds like your friend if 25 years has pulled a fast one re:the tax - I'd be wondering what else she might have "forgotten" to tell me about. All you need are bailiffs turning up!

Letsgetreadytorumbleagain · 17/01/2017 13:20

This is one of those times when a computer system works very efficiently for the benefit of the company, nobody has to 'process' anything, the system updates automatically overnight I think, so if the friend transfered the car overnight, as of 7am this morning it would be showing as untaxed. It probably wouldn't be like that if it was for the benefit of the customer though!

It's a bit like bank transactions - card payments come out almost instantly, but a refund takes 3-5 days to 'process' Hmm

GilMartin · 17/01/2017 13:34

Let's you can only access the DVLA system from 7am-7pm so if events played out like the seller claimed and even if she'd logged on at the stroke of 7am this morning. There was a window of an hour and a half between ther notifying the DVLA of the change of ownership (and this becoming untaxed) and the clamp being fitted.

whatsthecomingoverthehill · 17/01/2017 13:44

Unless she did it last night before dropping the car off.

SoupDragon · 17/01/2017 13:47

I dont think it takes a week for the system to update. I taxed mine and straight away, the insurance company could see that it was taxed through the online system.

I taxed mine in October and it showed as being untaxed for several days.

diddl · 17/01/2017 14:26

If it wouldn't show up as taxed by Op, you'd think that equally it wouldn't show up so quickly as untaxed either.

However, if Op doesn't know the system, perhaps her friend did either & thought that parking an untaxed vehicle on the road was OK.

QuinionsRainbow · 17/01/2017 16:25

Cocksandrubbers
You've now taxed and insured the car. Is it old enough to need an MOT certificate. If so, has your friend passed that on to you? You can check MOT status and history online at: www.gov.uk/check-mot-status

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