V5 never sent off after change of ownership - advice?
V5 never sent off after change of ownership - advice?
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Discussion

hornetrider

Original Poster:

63,161 posts

235 months

Wednesday 14th March 2007
quotequote all
Howdy peeps, could do with a heads up for a.... friend who is in an awkward situation and is not sure how he should deal with it.

He bought a bike a few years ago, but it appears he forgot to send off the V5 so has never had the change of ownership details through, never had a tax demand etc. The machine has been on and off the road over the years, but always MOT'd and always insured. I think he just stuck his head in the sand over the change of ownership when he realised he had forgotten to send it off and has been putting off dealing with it.

He realises the previous owner could possibly have been hounded by the DVLA and feels bad about it, but now wants to make amends.

Would it be possible for him to pop into the post office with an updated change of ownership date on the V5, claim he's only just bought the bike, get it registered, pay his tax and everyone lives happily ever after? In this scenario he can claim he bought the bike recently through an advert from the "rogue owner" who didn't register the bike?

He realises he's done wrong, I've told him he's a naughty boy but he's a good sort really, just a little lazy in relation to his documents...

Any (non-judgemental, preferably) advice received

Many thanks

Dwight VanDriver

6,583 posts

274 months

Thursday 15th March 2007
quotequote all
Seems there are two ways of addressing this problem.

Action 1. Game pie it ( larger porkie) that he had just acquired the vehicle as a new owner.

Action 2. Simply notify DVLA that he is the owner.

Both are not without some risk as one never knows just what markers/intelligence DVLA have on the file for the vehicle. Previous use/fines outstanding etc etc.
One would assume, if the old owner has been hassled with SORN/Fines etc, then he should have shouted and informed who new owner was, but perhaps has ignored mail?

Where things are complicated my experience (of others) is that when deviating from the truth one digs an ever deeper hole. The truth, conversley, is only a pot hole with firm sides.

dvd

leosayer

7,842 posts

274 months

Thursday 15th March 2007
quotequote all
Won't his details be on the V5 portion sent to the DVLA by the previous owner?

hornetrider

Original Poster:

63,161 posts

235 months

Thursday 15th March 2007
quotequote all
Thanks for the feedback. As far as I'm aware, the old owner wasn't exactly clued up on these things and just handed the entire V5 to the current owner for him to deal with. The previous owner also doesn't have the name/address details of the current owner

On another issue, the current owner is completely confident that there are no outstanding legal issues with the vehicle in his ownership, in terms of being pulled/ticketed etc.

Perhaps option 1 is the way to go...

John Laverick

2,002 posts

244 months

Thursday 15th March 2007
quotequote all
leosayer said:
Won't his details be on the V5 portion sent to the DVLA by the previous owner?


I believe with the old V5 format it was the new keepers job to send off the V5 for change of ownership?

Don

28,378 posts

314 months

Thursday 15th March 2007
quotequote all
I cocked up and didn't inform the DVLA about a car I sold. Admittedly I didn't wait years to fix things - but I simply wrote to the DVLA apologising for my incompetence and giving them the information as best I could as a letter. They updated their records and I heard no more about it.

Technically I think I committed an offence - but since it wasn't malicious and I admitted it and corrected it as best I could - they obviously decided I was trying to be a good citizen and weren't overly bothered about it.

sjtscott

4,215 posts

261 months

Thursday 15th March 2007
quotequote all
hornetrider said:
Thanks for the feedback. As far as I'm aware, the old owner wasn't exactly clued up on these things and just handed the entire V5 to the current owner for him to deal with. The previous owner also doesn't have the name/address details of the current owner

On another issue, the current owner is completely confident that there are no outstanding legal issues with the vehicle in his ownership, in terms of being pulled/ticketed etc.

Perhaps option 1 is the way to go...


I've just sold a bike and bought a replacement so have had to do V5 stuff twice just a few weeks ago.

If your mate has the complete two pages of the V5 then he simply needs to fill in his details in the new keeper section on the left hand page and sign it. How its supposed to work is that the old owner is supposed to keep this left hand page once its filled in with the new owner details and send it off to the DVLA, the new owner retains the right hand side of the page that should be filled in with his details. Generally (well definitely from my point of view) its important for the old owner to ensure the V5 is returned since the old owner remains libable for things like taxing etc etc until the DVLA are notified. Once processed the old owner receives a nice letter from the DVLA saying thankyou for letting us know you are no longer the keeper please keep this letter safe.

Also obviously in order to technically complete the left page of the V5 before sending off to the DVLA your mate must 'obtain' the previous owners signature to countersign along with his!



Edited by sjtscott on Thursday 15th March 10:29


Err just thought.. if its the old style V5 your mate has (which are no longer valid) then hmmm time to fess up to the DVLA I'd say!

Edited by sjtscott on Thursday 15th March 10:34