VED fine advice
Discussion
Right where to start...
I finished uni in june last year and moved out of my uni house in the September. Like n idiot I forgot to change the address on my V5 straight away. As a result I didn't receive a VED reminder (I know its my own fault for not remembering) and the tax expired. The car got clamped. I paid the fine to remove the clamp, renewed my VED and changed the address on the V5 to the correct address. This all happened in December 2014. I thought that was the end of it.
Today after work I get a message from the new tenants of my old house informing me a bailiff had been around and I owed £638.34. They were out when the bailiff called round but they opened a letter addressed to me. I got the as soon as I could after work and it turns out there were a few more letters dating back to March.
I rang the bailiff immediately and explained the situation. He was a really nice guy and informed me there was nothing he could do and i needed to talk to the Magistrates Court. He also said that this all originates from an £80 fine for the expired VED. The Court closes at 5pm so I can'tget through to them until Monday.
So I am asking for advice.
Do I have any chance of fighting this?
I received none of the letters requesting payment of the fine from the Courts but as far as I am aware I paid all fines owed. I paid the £80 fine to the DVLA for the VED expiring and I paid the fine to the clamping company to get the clamp removed. I was unaware of any other fines.
What can I do next?
I know it's my own fault for the initial fine and clamping but I don't understand how it has escalated to this level.
All advice is welcome
I finished uni in june last year and moved out of my uni house in the September. Like n idiot I forgot to change the address on my V5 straight away. As a result I didn't receive a VED reminder (I know its my own fault for not remembering) and the tax expired. The car got clamped. I paid the fine to remove the clamp, renewed my VED and changed the address on the V5 to the correct address. This all happened in December 2014. I thought that was the end of it.
Today after work I get a message from the new tenants of my old house informing me a bailiff had been around and I owed £638.34. They were out when the bailiff called round but they opened a letter addressed to me. I got the as soon as I could after work and it turns out there were a few more letters dating back to March.
I rang the bailiff immediately and explained the situation. He was a really nice guy and informed me there was nothing he could do and i needed to talk to the Magistrates Court. He also said that this all originates from an £80 fine for the expired VED. The Court closes at 5pm so I can'tget through to them until Monday.
So I am asking for advice.
Do I have any chance of fighting this?
I received none of the letters requesting payment of the fine from the Courts but as far as I am aware I paid all fines owed. I paid the £80 fine to the DVLA for the VED expiring and I paid the fine to the clamping company to get the clamp removed. I was unaware of any other fines.
What can I do next?
I know it's my own fault for the initial fine and clamping but I don't understand how it has escalated to this level.
All advice is welcome
The thing is the letters I have go back to March but they refer to earlier letters (no dates), I guess the tenants just chucked them in the bin.
According to the bailiff the clamping fine was not part of the fine for late VED. But I did pay another £80 fine to the DVLA when renewing the VED. And I think it is this £80 fine which is causing the issue. They appear to think I did not pay it and costs have escalated to the £600+ level due to me being unaware of what was going on!
According to the bailiff the clamping fine was not part of the fine for late VED. But I did pay another £80 fine to the DVLA when renewing the VED. And I think it is this £80 fine which is causing the issue. They appear to think I did not pay it and costs have escalated to the £600+ level due to me being unaware of what was going on!
As far as I am/was aware that was the full amount but obviously I will check with the DVLA.
If it turns out there was an additional charge I didn't know about I guess there's nothing I can do, or should Ibe able to get the amount owed reduced due to not being aware of what was going on?
I am 100% certain that I paid all fines I knew about but I'm just trying to work out my options.
If it turns out there was an additional charge I didn't know about I guess there's nothing I can do, or should Ibe able to get the amount owed reduced due to not being aware of what was going on?
I am 100% certain that I paid all fines I knew about but I'm just trying to work out my options.
Cyberprog said:
Did you update your address at that point also?
Yes I updated my address and V5 at the same time but they still sent all letters to my old address for some reason.I have looked back through my bank statement and it appears they never took the £80 even though I authorized them to do so over the phone at the same time as taxing the car and paying the outstanding tax. I am an idiot for not checking they took the money at the time I know but is there anything I can do now?
I will happily pay the £80 that is owed and i would have at the time if they sent the letters to the correct address. But because I was unaware of all of the letters is there some way I can get the extra costs written off?
A lesson has definitely been learnt here.
I have letters from a debt collector, both referring to previous letters which I do not have (guessing the new tenant threw them away) claiming I owe £80 for 'Late Licence Penalty'
I then have a letter from the Magistrates Court dated in between the 2 letters form the debt collector, stating i now owe £328.34. All of these letters are from the end of March.
I then have a letter from a High Court Enforcement Officer dated 29th May (yesterday) that I owe the £638.34 previously mentioned.
I know it is my fault in the first place but I would have paid the fine straight away if i knew about it. Surely the extra costs are the DVLA's fault for giving them my the correct address?
I then have a letter from the Magistrates Court dated in between the 2 letters form the debt collector, stating i now owe £328.34. All of these letters are from the end of March.
I then have a letter from a High Court Enforcement Officer dated 29th May (yesterday) that I owe the £638.34 previously mentioned.
I know it is my fault in the first place but I would have paid the fine straight away if i knew about it. Surely the extra costs are the DVLA's fault for giving them my the correct address?
Thanks all for the advice so far.
A bit of an update:
I rang the DVLA and they were utter useless. The only repeated response I got was to send a letter to one of their departments and it will take 4 to 6 weeks to get a reply!
I have spoken to the general Magistrate Court enforcement enquires. They have advised I should complete a Stat. Dec. from since I received no correspondence and was unaware of the court case. This will set a new court date which I can attend to defend my case.
Is it worth it? Will end up paying more in costs than the sum they say I owe? If I lose the case (even though I shouldn't) will I end up owing even more?
They also said to do this I need to speak to my local Magistrate Court (Brighton) I have attempted to call them over 20 times, either getting a message saying no one available to take the call or left ringing with no answer (for a number of minutes!!!!). They also close at 4:30pm so I can't call them/go talk to them after work. Useless!
I also (maybe stupidly?) rang up the original debt collector for the DVLA. The guy from the company was trying to get me to pay the original £80 fine. He was stating that the company do not go through the court/bailiff route (despite threatening removal of goods in the final letter). I didn't pay.
Is he just trying to get money out of me or will I have to end up paying that company too?
He goes on to say that the DVLA also do not go down the court/bailiff route as they use his company to collect all debts. And if I pay the bailiff I will still owe his company/DVLA money. So why does the letter from the Magistrates say the fine is for Late Vehicle Licence Penalty?
I am in a bit of mess at the moment with this on top of some personal and work related stuff and unsure what to do. I really do not need the additional stress of a court appearance on top of it all.
I know the next step is to speak to my local Magistrate and find out exactly what is going on and I will keep trying to contact them. But what would you guys do?
A bit of an update:
I rang the DVLA and they were utter useless. The only repeated response I got was to send a letter to one of their departments and it will take 4 to 6 weeks to get a reply!
I have spoken to the general Magistrate Court enforcement enquires. They have advised I should complete a Stat. Dec. from since I received no correspondence and was unaware of the court case. This will set a new court date which I can attend to defend my case.
Is it worth it? Will end up paying more in costs than the sum they say I owe? If I lose the case (even though I shouldn't) will I end up owing even more?
They also said to do this I need to speak to my local Magistrate Court (Brighton) I have attempted to call them over 20 times, either getting a message saying no one available to take the call or left ringing with no answer (for a number of minutes!!!!). They also close at 4:30pm so I can't call them/go talk to them after work. Useless!
I also (maybe stupidly?) rang up the original debt collector for the DVLA. The guy from the company was trying to get me to pay the original £80 fine. He was stating that the company do not go through the court/bailiff route (despite threatening removal of goods in the final letter). I didn't pay.
Is he just trying to get money out of me or will I have to end up paying that company too?
He goes on to say that the DVLA also do not go down the court/bailiff route as they use his company to collect all debts. And if I pay the bailiff I will still owe his company/DVLA money. So why does the letter from the Magistrates say the fine is for Late Vehicle Licence Penalty?
I am in a bit of mess at the moment with this on top of some personal and work related stuff and unsure what to do. I really do not need the additional stress of a court appearance on top of it all.
I know the next step is to speak to my local Magistrate and find out exactly what is going on and I will keep trying to contact them. But what would you guys do?
I feel I would be fighting a losing battle and may end up worse off than I am now. I will wait until I have spoken to the local Magistrates but if I were to pay the bailiff that would surely settle all payment, no?
It's just that the debt collectors seemed adamant that even if I pay the bailiff I would still owe them money. That can't be right can it?
Unfortunately I can't get any time off. I am going on holiday next week and have a lot of client project work I need to finish before I go. Let's hope they answer the phone to me tomorrow
It's just that the debt collectors seemed adamant that even if I pay the bailiff I would still owe them money. That can't be right can it?
Unfortunately I can't get any time off. I am going on holiday next week and have a lot of client project work I need to finish before I go. Let's hope they answer the phone to me tomorrow
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