Speeding tickets from France - advice needed

[chrishew]

Last October an old friend turned up from France where he had been living for 20 years. He is 83 and not in the best of health and decided to remain for good. As a pal I have been helping him get settled. He came back in his French Renault but soon discovered that he wasn't up to driving anymore. He asked me to sell the car for him. This is where the problem started!
I advertised the car on ebay and eventually sold it to a guy from Portsmouth area who supposedly wanted it to use in France where he had a holiday home. I suspect that he is actually a dealer. He knew how to transfer ownership of a French car and I trusted him to complete the transfer properly. First mistake.
My pal is now receiving speeding tickets from France. These are being forwarded by the people who own the house in Provence where he used to live not from the French authorities.
I can't remember at the moment who I sold the car to. I don't think that I have kept any records.
Can anyone offer some advice as to how to deal with this?
Chris

[big trousers]

simply send the proof you sold the vehicle to the french authorites, possesion is 9/10s of the law.

[chrishew]

Unfortunately I haven't retained any records.

[big trousers]

chrishew said:

Unfortunately I haven't retained any records.

any emails you can recover? did you sell the car through a website?

[crossy67]

Without the certificat de session you and the new owner are a bit in the poo, you can't prove he bought it so are still liable and he can't prove he bought it so can't register it in France (officially, you can always make paperwork up ). I know it's just bureaucracy but we all know how much the French love it.

[rossub]

What exactly are they going to do? Extradite an 83 year old man for not paying speeding fines when he can presumably prove he wasn't even in the country?

I'd bin them myself and forget it.

[The Mad Monk]

chrishew said:

Unfortunately I haven't retained any records.

And the moral of this story is?

[chrishew]

If I retained all the records that have gone through my hands I would have to buy another house to keep them in.
The car was picked up by a third party and the documents properly signed were given to him.
I have now found the name of the purchaser, Matt Auty from Carbase in Portsmouth. I have emailed him but not received a reply so far. I will give him a bit more time.

[The Mad Monk]

chrishew said:

If I retained all the records that have gone through my hands I would have to buy another house to keep them in.
The car was picked up by a third party and the documents properly signed were given to him.
I have now found the name of the purchaser, Matt Auty from Carbase in Portsmouth. I have emailed him but not received a reply so far. I will give him a bit more time.

But this only ocurred last October.

[chrishew]

I appreciate all constructive advise.

[AndrewEH1]

rossub said:

What exactly are they going to do? Extradite an 83 year old man for not paying speeding fines when he can presumably prove he wasn't even in the country?

I'd bin them myself and forget it.

Yeah, I'd do this honestly.

Maybe write a letter to the new owner of the French house telling them to return any further letters to the police telling them that the man no longer lives at that address?

[The Mad Monk]

chrishew said:

I appreciate all constructive advise.

To avoid this happening again in the future, change your attitude and change your methods.

There, that's constructive advice, and it's advice, by the way not advise.

HTH.

[Osinjak]

The Mad Monk said:

chrishew said:

Unfortunately I haven't retained any records.

And the moral of this story is?

Sanctimonious much? Jesus, some people.

[The Mad Monk]

Osinjak said:

The Mad Monk said:

chrishew said:

Unfortunately I haven't retained any records.

And the moral of this story is?

Sanctimonious much? Jesus, some people.

I say!

If that is aimed at me, well, I find it a bit hurtful.

If carrying out a financial transaction on behalf of a third party, it would be prudent to retain the documentation for a period of time - seven years, say.

If, on the other one is buying a portion of chips to consume on the way home from the pub on a Friday evening then the receipt can be discarded almost immediately.

Do you feel that no blame at all lies with the OP?

[Gary C]

chrishew said:

I appreciate all constructive advise.

Talk to the dvla immediately.

I had something similariish. Sold a car, got the new keeper supplement completed, took the money waved bye, then noticed the address was in Poland !

Talked to dvla as I had not got the permanent export part (can't quite remember why) but the dvla helped me sort it, and I got a letter confirming I was no longer the registered keeper.

They were surprisingly helpful.