Untaxed vehicle clampers
Discussion
Another example of this countries over-zealous attention to revenue recovery.
This weekend I bought a car in France. It was originally registered here, with a personal plate, and then exported some years ago. During it’s stay in France it was never registered over there and had been running around on it’s UK plates but with no MoT or tax. The DVLA website showed it as having the plate (and no tax) but with an exported marker. As the owner was asking more for the car to take account of the value of the plate, I went into my local DVLA office and check that it would keep the plate when a new V5 was issued. They told me I would need to register it again as it was shown as having been exported, but confirmed that the plate would remain on the car. To do this I would need to take it to them, with a valid MoT, for them to inspect it and confirm it was the same car.
Having got insurance on it, I flew to France and picked the car up. I drove it back arriving home late Monday evening. It was booked in for an MoT on Tuesday so off I went. Sailed through the MoT (which isn’t bad for a 31 year old Daimler!) and called in at the DVLA office on my way home from the test. Fortunately, there was a parking space right outside the front of the building. Wandered in there and saw the same woman I had spoken to before agreeing to buy the car who checked my documents were all in order and went off to find a vehicle examiner. She came back and told me to go outside, wait with the car and the examiner would be out in a couple of minutes.
Got outside to find a big yellow and red sticker in the middle of the windscreen, stating ‘UNTAXED VEHICLE’ and a bloody wheel clamp! Talk about cheek, I’d been clamped by the DVLA for having no tax disc while parked outside the DVLA office, waiting for the car to be inspected, at their request, so they could supply me with a tax disc. The examiner couldn’t believe I had been clamped in the few minutes I had been waiting in the office. Admittedly, once I phoned them and told them why it was there and they had confirmed this with the office, they came and removed the clamp with no charge. It’s a shame it had to take them the best part of 2 hours to get there though!
This weekend I bought a car in France. It was originally registered here, with a personal plate, and then exported some years ago. During it’s stay in France it was never registered over there and had been running around on it’s UK plates but with no MoT or tax. The DVLA website showed it as having the plate (and no tax) but with an exported marker. As the owner was asking more for the car to take account of the value of the plate, I went into my local DVLA office and check that it would keep the plate when a new V5 was issued. They told me I would need to register it again as it was shown as having been exported, but confirmed that the plate would remain on the car. To do this I would need to take it to them, with a valid MoT, for them to inspect it and confirm it was the same car.
Having got insurance on it, I flew to France and picked the car up. I drove it back arriving home late Monday evening. It was booked in for an MoT on Tuesday so off I went. Sailed through the MoT (which isn’t bad for a 31 year old Daimler!) and called in at the DVLA office on my way home from the test. Fortunately, there was a parking space right outside the front of the building. Wandered in there and saw the same woman I had spoken to before agreeing to buy the car who checked my documents were all in order and went off to find a vehicle examiner. She came back and told me to go outside, wait with the car and the examiner would be out in a couple of minutes.
Got outside to find a big yellow and red sticker in the middle of the windscreen, stating ‘UNTAXED VEHICLE’ and a bloody wheel clamp! Talk about cheek, I’d been clamped by the DVLA for having no tax disc while parked outside the DVLA office, waiting for the car to be inspected, at their request, so they could supply me with a tax disc. The examiner couldn’t believe I had been clamped in the few minutes I had been waiting in the office. Admittedly, once I phoned them and told them why it was there and they had confirmed this with the office, they came and removed the clamp with no charge. It’s a shame it had to take them the best part of 2 hours to get there though!
Been through this with a kit car recently. Could drive to prearranged MOT and SVA with insurance cover note on chassis number. Then had to take it to DVLA office so they can read the chassis number(which had been done at SVA). Could not drive it there, had to be trailered. The alternative was them coming to the car, but expect a long wait.
Phew, may I never see that picture again. 
kenp said:
Don't think you are liable. DVD will confirm or rebut. You only need to tax a REGISTERED vehicle. Strictly speaking you didn't even need a number plate.
This is the slightly odd thing about the car. It was registered in the UK but went to France in 1985. DVLA were officially notified it had been exported when the tax ran out in May 1990 but it was never registered in France. When I bought it, I was given a V5 dated 1982. As I had a V5, an MoT certificate and insurance cover note, I could have simply filled in the new keeper details and gone to the Post Office to tax it. However, as DVLA had already told me I would need to do a V55/5 to re-register it, I figured that doing anything else would be likely to cause me a bit of grief further down the line.
But are they false plates? Maybe, or maybe not. A check on the DVLA site shows the plates that are on it relate to a 1975 Daimler Double Six Coupe (in the correct colour) with a liability date of 1/6/90 but an exported marker. As I have bought a 1975 Daimler Double Six Coupe (of which they only ever made 407 anyway) with a tax disc in the glovebox that expired on 31/5/90, I think I've got the same car so the plates aren't false, it just shouldn't be in the country.....
kenp said:
Don't think you are liable. DVD will confirm or rebut. You only need to tax a REGISTERED vehicle. Strictly speaking you didn't even need a number plate.
Interesting ...... but the car was originally correctly registered in UK. Don't recall reading in VERA and her sisters that export cancels the original registration as such?????????
dvd
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