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Original poster

Dvla court case should I be worried

46 replies

misscarlar · 03/03/2017 14:58

I received a next steps letter stating I owed nearly £600.
The letter had the wrong door number when I called I was advised I had missed a court date

The original charge is for having a non insured car in August, I have set up a payment plan as they won't atop proceedings

I contacted the dvla to explain that I hadn't heard anything of the case and the car had been scrapped in the may.

I have been recalled to court with a new date. The problem is I don't have proof I scrapped the car.

How much trouble am I likely to be in

OP posts:

Original poster

misscarlar · 03/04/2017 20:29

Morifarty it was done directly. I understand that I didn't do everything I should have done but at the moment I now have

A fine for nearly £600
A lot of wasted time trying to call / wrote to people
To spend tomorrow afternoon at court to provide info of when I'm available to go to court

OP posts:

Morifarty · 03/04/2017 20:34

It's tricky as lots of scrappers aren't the best at helping you with paperwork, or being that honest, so you can get tripped up if it's not something you've done before.

Thing is, even if they scrapped it at the time and only just did the certificate, it's not possible to back date a certificate any more so you would never have proof. Are the scrappers saying they did it at the time or only scrapped it more recently? Maybe they could provide something in writing to say they scrapped it straight away?

They have to keep records for a certain amount of time such as a copy of ID so they should want to help you to cover themselves.

Morifarty · 03/04/2017 20:41

And yes, it's your fault but you know that and people hammering you isn't going to make anything better, you've had a tough time.
I've seen it plenty of times where the DVLA have lost people's ownership transfer slips and seen people end up with fines through no fault of their own. Yes this is your fault, but hope you find a solution. PM me if you need more advice.

clarrylove · 03/04/2017 20:46

When did the road tax in the car expire? Did you send it off for a refund at the time of scrapping? That could be evidence.

Original poster

misscarlar · 03/04/2017 20:47

Thank you I am going to go tomorrow with all the facts about what happened not getting the original fine and a statement of income and outgoings and see what happens.

OP posts:

BathTangle · 03/04/2017 20:53

Have you been sent a "Means Form" on which you fill in your income and outgoings? Assuming you are in England and going to a Magistrates Court, make sure you fill that in, because that is the basis on which any fine will be calculated.

Original poster

misscarlar · 03/04/2017 21:34

bathtangle I literally have a letter with a time and location on I don't even have in writing anything detailing the offence committed

OP posts:

anotherdayanothersquabble · 03/04/2017 21:36

Good luck!! I hope the scrapping company can provide you with evidence that you scrapped it on May. What a stressful situation

LoopiusMaximus · 03/04/2017 22:03

If you haven't been receiving tax reminders, how do you tax your car? This is all very strange.....

MiscellaneousAssortment · 03/04/2017 22:06

Hope it works out oktomorrow

BathTangle · 03/04/2017 22:07

I'm not sure at what point they are sent out, but if they are calculating a fine (rather than giving you a fixed penalty), they have to do that on the basis of your income. I'm sure you would give the information if asked - might be worth noting it down for yourself, so that if they ask you to fill in the form at court, you can do so. Fines are usually calculated as a percentage of your weekly income (and can be more than 100%, i.e. effectively a multiple). Disclaimer: I'm not legally qualified, just have a little bit of awareness of what happens in the courts.

IvyLeagueUnderTheSea · 03/04/2017 22:18

How bad that you have to pay a fine for something that wasn't your fault.

I wonder what happened to the letters to the wrong house number?

cherryberrymum · 03/04/2017 22:34

OP did u go to the house which the car was registered to and see if there is any legal paperwork there?

Original poster

misscarlar · 04/04/2017 07:44

anotherdayanothersquabble they can't do that apparently - they are not taking it overly seriously
IvyLeagueUnderTheSea and cherryberrymum I didn't go there it's a block of flats and I would assume It been returned to sender or binned I did ask for copies to be re sent to me and was ignored

LoopiusMaximus It was taxed at the post office using a form ( v85 for lost log book I think) I didn't claim the tax back when it was scrapped as there wasn't much left on it

Bathtangle that's interesting at the moment it stands at nearly 4 times my weekly income

Will keep everyone posted

OP posts:

JustanotherJP · 04/04/2017 08:24

For info - Standard fine for no insurance is a band C fine which is 1.5x relevant weekly income (which is reduced if there is a guilty plea) plus 6 points on the licence. There are prosecution costs (usually £85 for a guilty plea) and court surcharge on top of that (10% of fine with a minimum of £30).

If of course you were convicted in absence, which sounds like it, the court would have had no idea of your income and would have used a standard figure.

I wonder if you're going to court to do a statutory declaration to say you knew nothing about the court case? Sounds probable to me. If so, you do the declaration then they set aside the previous conviction and re-open the matter. They then put the charge(s) to you and ask if you plead guilty or not guilty. If you please guilty they will then sentence you there and then, if you plead not guilty they will arrange a trial date.

Original poster

misscarlar · 04/04/2017 17:45

So I went to court today
I was given 3 options regarding re opening the case
Plead not guilty
Plead guilty
Or pay a fixed notice of £50

I am paying the £50 and drawing a line under it.

OP posts:

JustanotherJP · 04/04/2017 18:59

I think you were very lucky. I have never seen anyone be offered anything over than plead guilty or plead not guilty in all my days in court. I definitely would have done the same as you.

Glad it is over for you.

Original poster

misscarlar · 04/04/2017 19:26

JustanotherJP it's because I didn't get the first warning letter or the original fine letter

OP posts:

Oblomov17 · 04/04/2017 19:35

You sound either very naieve, silly, dim, or ..... your story just doesn't add up. You seem to be claiming ignorance for about 3 or 4 major mistakes here. Are you playing dumb hoping that they are going to let you off?

Oblomov17 · 04/04/2017 19:38

Just Seen latest post. So ignore that. You were VERY lucky. Not sure I agree with what happened, but hey ho!

Whileweareonthesubject · 08/04/2017 23:03

When I scrapped my old car the scrap company needed the paperwork that was on the log book as that showed my name as registered keeper etc. I also didn't need to apply for a refund of car tax as the new system means it is fine automatically and I got a refund to my account within a few days.

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