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Original poster

Car Parking - Small claims court

33 replies

Smile03 · 07/06/2021 11:18

Hi,

I sold my old car via auction in May 2020. I sent the V5 to DVLA and assumed that was the last of it.
A letter was sent in December to an old address for a parking fine. I didn’t see this letter until March 2021. I then contacted DVLA who confirmed they had removed my details as the registered owner.
I then received another letter for the parking fine this time at my current address and have now received a notice from the small claims court.

I have provided details for who I sold the vehicle to and shown the letter which states I am not the registered owner so why are the parking firm still going after me?

They have refused mediation and wish to go straight to court - Can I actually be prosecuted for someone else's parking fine?

I should also mention I live approximately 70 miles away from the car park and the UK was in lockdown so noway was I travelling that far as I was 4 months pregnant!

OP posts:
Comefromaway · 07/06/2021 11:25

The parking company are a bit silly then aren't they.

As long as you have proof of selling your car they don't have a leg to stand on. Make sure you apply to have the hearing moved y=to your local court rather than theirs.

prh47bridge · 07/06/2021 12:42

As long as you can show that you were not the registered keeper on the date of the alleged infringement, the parking company's action against you will fail. They can take you to court but they won't get anywhere.

eurochick · 07/06/2021 12:51

Does the letter from the dvla actually show you were not the registered keeper at the time of the parking fine?

Original poster
Smile03 · 07/06/2021 16:23

Hi,

Thank you all for your replies yes the letter states ‘you are no longer shown as the registered keeper from the 23/05/2020 this was updated on the 23/03/2021 as we did not receive the posted V5 you state you sent following the sale of the vehicle’

I have just received a without prejudice offer stating following new information they are willing to settle for a reduced price of £125 out of court Hmm not accepting as it’s not my fine to pay

OP posts:
ApplePie86 · 07/06/2021 16:28

Tell them you look forward to seeing them in court and that you will be counter claiming for your costs. In practice if you did go through with that you would only get about half of your costs reimbursed however it's worth the threat and hopefully they will back off.

prh47bridge · 07/06/2021 18:12

This is the small claims court. The OP cannot claim legal fees from the parking company even if she wins. She can claim loss of earnings (up to £95) and travel expenses for attending the hearing but that's about it. And costs are not dealt with by lodging a counterclaim.

ElinoristhenewEnid · 07/06/2021 18:23

The way the message reads from op is that the dvla updated the details on 23rd March 2021 saying that op no longer owned the vehicle from May 2020. This means that when the parking incident happened op was still registered as the owner.

To the parking company this could look suspicious that op has updated the status retrospectively after the parking incident.

Does op have proof of sale from the auction such as a receipt?

prh47bridge · 07/06/2021 18:59

The parking company is entitled to collect its fine from the keeper of the car on the date of the offence. It sounds like the OP was the registered keeper on the relevant date. It is therefore up to her to prove she was not the keeper on the date in question even though she was the registered keeper. So yes, she will need proof of sale.

AyyMacarena · 07/06/2021 19:11

If I'm reading their letter correctly, the car was registered in your name at the time of the parking ticket because you had not correctly notified the DvLA of ownership change. Do you have proof of postage of the original they are saying they did not receive?

The DVLA have acknowledged that you state you did not own the car but the evidence was not provided until may when it was taken out of your name.

It is your responsibility to ensure the DVLA are notified of any registered keeper changes. You did not notify them of this until months later. If you had, you would have received notification of this in writing.

You should pay the £125 as it appears you cannot approve otherwise and ensure you receive notification next time.

NoWordForFluffy · 07/06/2021 19:15

Do you have anything from the auction confirming the sale? The DVLA letter isn't going to be enough evidence.

AyyMacarena · 07/06/2021 19:17

What auction was it? Can you email the company and ask them for evidence of sale?

Librariesmakeshhhhappen · 07/06/2021 19:22

Ah, that letter makes things different. You really need to give all the information in your OP. Twisting the information to get the replies you want isnt going to help you.

So, according to the DVLA, you disnt update the registered keeper until March 2021 (so a few months ago). The parking fine was sent our way before that, so when the parking infringement happened, you were the registered keeper so your details are the details the parking firm are correctly using.

After getting the fine, you updated the DVLA, which does look dodgy so of course they're going to try and get you to pay up. This was your mistake, not the parking firms. You'll have to go to court and show them the proof of the sale and explain the situation with not updating DVLA until now.

Comefromaway · 07/06/2021 19:23

I’m assuming this happened because the DVLA virtually shut down in March 2020. (My dd passed her test just before lockdown & they lost her application to make her licence a full one).

Comefromaway · 07/06/2021 19:24

The OP did notify them. The notification went missing which I can completely believe.

Librariesmakeshhhhappen · 07/06/2021 19:27

Does OP have proof of postage from when she says she sent the form?

I would totally believe that it went missing, had the OP given all the facts in her first post, but twisting things to get the replies you want makes it less likely that people will believe you.

iklboo · 07/06/2021 19:30

The OP isn't twisting anything. She posted the V5 off last year and thought that was the end of it.

AyyMacarena · 07/06/2021 19:34

@iklboo but if you didn't receive acknowledgment from DvLa, you would chase?

iklboo · 07/06/2021 19:35

That's still not 'twisting things to get the replies you want' though, is it?

Librariesmakeshhhhappen · 07/06/2021 19:36

@iklboo

No, she said she contacted the DVLA when she saw these letters and the confirmed that the registered owner had been changed. That's not what happened. They didnt confirm that the owner had been changed at the time the car was sold, so at the time of the parking offence she was not the registered owner (this is how the OP made it sound). What they actually did was make the change now, which means the parking firm were using the correct details and going after the correct person. The OP made it sound like they were totally wrong here. They werent.

Aprilwasverywet · 07/06/2021 19:38

Ime of a similar thing. Attend court.. Dvla rep will be there. You sign a form to say you weren't the legal owner. The case is thrown out and nothing is recorded against you. Do not ignore a court summons..

Elieza · 07/06/2021 19:40

You should have some kind of proof of sale from the auction house. A bill for the costs they charged you or whatever?

Comefromaway · 07/06/2021 19:44

[quote AyyMacarena]@iklboo but if you didn't receive acknowledgment from DvLa, you would chase? [/quote]
Believe me, trying to chase anything with the DVLA last year was impossible. They didn’t answer the phones or respond to emails. The website said NOT to contact them unless you were an essential worker with a work related driving matter.

Original poster
Smile03 · 07/06/2021 20:38

Sorry if I wasn’t clear in my original post. Following the sale I notified DVLA by posting the V5; I also gave the new owner the little green slip. It was my first time selling a car and I thought that is all you needed to do in all honesty.

I sent the V5 via first class recorded and am searching for the receipt I paid on card and it shows on my bank statement it’s just a matter of finding the physical receipt with tracking number. I would also like to remind everyone it was the start of the pandemic so I think DVLA either lost the V5 of never received it.

I have got a receipt of sale with the vehicle details, date of sale, new owner details and signature from me and the new owner. I have provided a scanned copy of this to the parking firm.

OP posts:
Original poster
Smile03 · 07/06/2021 20:40

Also does anyone know how to get the hearing moved nearer to me. I live in Bradford and have a 5 week old baby who I can’t leave with anyone and don’t want to travel to Newcastle with.

OP posts:
EatingAllThePies · 07/06/2021 20:45

I believe once you put in your formal defence you should get chance to put where you want the hearing in your directions questionnaire. The process may be more automated now with The online claims in which case you could apply to the court but there is likely to be a cost. What stage are you at?