Is there anything we can do re DVLA fine?

[CuriousLadyBird]

Hi all,

Back in December we reserved a car at a local dealership you know one of those £100 fees so no one else could have it but then our funding fell through and I cancelled the deposit (which we didn't get back anyway even though they said we would but whatever) and told them we couldn't get the car.

For some reason though the dealership put all our details onto the car and when we received the v5c I contacted the dealership and they said they'd sort it but we've been fined £172 for non payment of tax and even though we have sent all the proof to the DVLA they are not accepting that we never bought the car and was not the registered keepers.

I've contacted the dealers but they aren't much help. I really don't know what to do. I suspect I'll need to just pay the fine but it seems unfair when I didn't own/buy the car so it wasn't my responsibility to tax it?

No wonder the DVLA doesn't believe us because it's still in our name.

DH is really mad and says we should report it stolen but that's not fair on the poor guy who did buy it.

They've just massively cocked up and need to sort it really.

I'll send another letter to DVLA, I'll try what other people have suggested but like said worse comes to worse I'll pay it and then hopefully get reimbursed somehow (unlikely I know).

Thank you everyone.

dont Report it stolen. I can see why your husband is pissed off. It will just make it look like you are the owners and add a complication. You need to keep it clean and concise that you’ve never been the owners, it was an error on the dealers part.
don’t leave it to the dealers they are shit, they’ve proved that. Ultimately the buck stops with you as the registered keeper.

You could write to the new owners (or Facebook??) and tell them they are driving round in an untaxed car and the dealer have shared their info.

Unfortunately the dvla will likely say when you had the v5 document you should have filled out the slip which said you’re no longer the keeper and post it back to them. You could possibly get speeding tickets!

I appreciate that but I was never the keeper so I didn't think to say I was no longer the keeper and the dealership said they would deal with it. It's my mistake I know, I guess I just thought it was a easy mistake to fix.

Plus the tax was sent at a similar time as the V5C so if I said I was no longer the keeper then I was also saying I was the keeper and thus liable?

I think I'll pay the fine but absolutely take this further as I'm sure it's some sort of fraud?

What a ballache 🙃

Don't pay the fine. It's not your error, and by doing so implies you're at fault.

Okay, plan of action possibly

I won't pay the fine (at least not yet) and send another very detailed letter to the DVLA explaining the full situation and how I didn't know I was still the registered keeper (at least now I know why they don't believe us), if that fails I will ask to speak to a supervisor and contact my MP.

The dealership have said they'll sort it so I will contact them again later in the week and if it's not sorted I'll go a bit hard ball on them saying it's their mistake, it's fraud, they've breeched GDPR and get them to sort it one way or another. I don't want to do the new keeper details or any paperwork and I'm not their admin and I don't want any involvement in it as I was never the registered keeper.

I understand the DVLA will say I should have filled in the slip saying I was no longer then owner but I was never the owner so I can't be no longer the owner to something I didn't own.

I know I should have kept on top of this but we've had some family issues to deal with so I let it slide and trusted the dealership had dealt with it but that's on me.

Thank you so much for your help everyone. I will keep this thread updated.

If the dealer hadn't changed the V5C details it would have still be in you sister's name so the ved reminder and 'last chance' would have come to her surely and could have sorted it. Plus you can notify DVLA on line you sold the car, which is better than relying on the dealer to do it and forgetting.

Option B is rubbish as being the registered keeper of a car does in no way mean you own it, it even states as such on the V5

I appreciate being the registered keeper doesn't mean we own it but we're responsible for it however i don't know whether to seek legal advice or something as it was fraudulently put into our name, their mistaken has caused problems for us and they've sent us another customers details.

Looking online however it says the owner of the car is responsible for the tax and stuff so ??

It's all very confusing.

How have you contacted the dvla to explain this? You've not been very clear on here, so perhaps they've had similar trouble in deciphering what has happened.

It might help to write to them. Put each step in bullet points about how this mess has occurred. Don't include anything unnecessary that didn't actually happen - sending to new owner, etc.

• Paid £100 holding deposit on xx/xx/xx to [dealership].

• Decided against purchase on xx/xx/xx, £100 holding deposit forfeited. Prospective sale cancelled by dealership.

• Vehicle never in my possession or ownership.

• V5C received in post on xx/xx/xx. Immediately contacted dealer who promised to rectify their mistake.

• Dealer asked me to register New Keeper at Post Office with V5C, but I refused as I no longer had document and didn't think I should as I was never the owner.

• Fine received...

• Contacted DVLA ...

Etc.

Include copies of relevant documents and correspondence with the dealer.

Send recorded delivery or at least get proof of posting.

Good luck. I wouldn't pay the fine, but make sure you keep evidence that you have been trying to deal with this.

Also, if you want to call again instead of writing, have the bullet point timeline in front of you, so you can stick to the facts and not get sidetracked.

Contrary to popular belief, a V5C isn't actually proof of ownership. According to the DVLA, having your name on the document merely indicates you are the one 'who is responsible for registering and taxing the vehicle', not necessarily the one who owns it.

Cross-posted. Glad you have a plan of action!

Sorry I wasn't clear :- We have on multiple times explained to the DVLA what has happened by letter, email and phone calls, not quite like you have so I will do that on the letter I send.

However I guess they are still seeing I'm the registered keeper so are upholding the fine.

I appreciate that but if the DVLA want me to pay the fine for not taxing the car .. are they assuming I'm the owner?

It's all confusing tbh.

It’s states on there that you must register the vehicle to consider it yours - did you do this?

If not use their wording in your email

Also what is the likely hood of you going to court? I would definitely go down that route.

No, I didn't register anything.

As mentioned all I did was pay the holding fee and leave our details and then I called to say we can't have the car anymore and they said fine and put the phone down and kept our deposit and then we heard nothing until March when I received the V5C and the tax fine at the same time so I contacted the dealership and DVLA and yeah, we're still on it.

I don't know if it's worth seeking legal advice really. I'm really thankful for mumsnet.

DVLA are in the right. You are responsible for tax on the vehicle and it was not paid hence the fine. They won't waive it I suspect as they are correct according to their documentation.

As someone else suggested you need to go to the Dealership in person. You need to present them the fine and explain they must pay it as it was their error that caused it. If they don't then you will not fill in anything and then they will have sold a car that they were not entitled to sell and they will be in a very sticky situation with the new owner. As basically they sold a car they didn't in fact own.

You hold the cards here as you are the official keeper of this vehicle! So they need you to help them fix this. You need to see them paying the fine there and then online or else you will not be doing anything and you will be contacting the new owner to inform them that they do not in fact own the car as the dealer was not entitled to sell it. And that unless this fine is paid then you won't be doing any paperwork.

@nevynevster I know it's not the DVLAs problem and I appreciate that.

They've sold the car, I have all the new owners details but I don't really know how to go about it?

Why would they need me if they've already sold it? They've caused so much trouble and they don't care.

I didn't even push back on the holding fee as I felt bad for cancelling.

Bloody Nora, I don't know what to do really.

The dealership is at fault.

They registered a car in your name before the sale was complete.

Writing to the DVLA and using bullet points to explain ia what I'd do - you're presenting your information in a confusing way so sticking just to the facts may help. I think you should actually speak to a lawyer and let them deal with it for you.

If you pay the fine yourself, I'd look at perusing the dealership for the costs through small claims court.

It wasn't my sister.

She did get the reminder.

It took so long to sort that the fine was issued anyway. Nobody would engage in rational conversation , and you can't do anything online without the number on the v5c, which the dealer had lost.

how odd they transferred car to you with just a small deposit....i have found dvla quite helpful, ask for a manager and sort out over phone. good luck.

As others have said, write to your MP.

Did the garage sell the car to new owners in January? This is very odd, because who would buy a car without the V5 (it's like the golden rule of car buying - no V5 no sale!). Also, surely the people who purchased it would know they needed to register it and pay tax from the day they bought it. So why did the issue only come to light when you received a V5 in your name in March and contacted the garage to let them know at that point?!

Apologies if I've misunderstood. It sounds very dodgy of the garage tbh.

I genuinely have no idea what's happened to be honest.

According to the invoice orders the new owner picked it up in January and I received the V5C in March.

I don't know why the new owners haven't registered it either.