lack of road tax question- ticke

[petercam]

Got the TVR MOT'd on Friday, and on the way home I decided to get tax for it too. It had been sorn'd and the tax and mot had expired while it was laid up, so it was showing an out of date tax disc. I was going to leave the car at the MOT place and walk to the PO, but decided that the chances of a traffic warden catching me were minimal, as I would be in and out in 5 minutes. I also reasoned that I was allowed to take my car to and from an MOT station legally, and also that a supermarket car park is not the public road, so they could not legally put a ticket on my car while it was sat in the car park.

How wrong was I Got to the PO and it must've been pension day or something. There were about 30 people in the queue. I got my tax after about 30 minutes, and got back to the car to find a request from Strathclydes finest for the princely sum of £30.

Now I know its not a lot of money, but its the principle involved, that i was not trying to defraud the government out of my hard earned cash, as I had the current disk in my sweaty palm when the ticket was issued.

So my question is this : is this worth appealing against? I know they will hit me with failing to display, but surely a car park is not a public road, and I had a legal right to drive it there untaxed. Anyone care to comment on the legality of my interpretation? Or should I just put this down to a lesson learned?

[petercam]

Dwight VanDriver said:

Can you confirm that you took a licence out for the vehicle on Friday 30th April, 2004. If the Licence became valid from the 1st April, 2004, then there is no offence of using without a current Licence. There is as you say the offence of failing to display on a Road on the journey to Car Park from MOT Station. If this is the case then, on the premis that nothing ventured nothing gained, write back to the issuing authority pointing out on the return from the Test Station you relicenced the vehicle to make matters legal. Also point out (if this is the case)a Supermarket Car Park, where the ticket was issued, for the purposes of Vehicle Excise & Registration Act 1994 is not a public road i.e. repaired at the public expense (Supermarket responsible for repairs and upkeep.) It is only an offence to keep/use a vehicle, display Licence on a PUBLIC ROAD. A Supermarket Car Park not maintained by public expense then no offences committed as it is not a Public Road under the Act What worries me is the fact as your coming off SORN and the close proximity of change of one month to another when you relicensed, that if you obtained the licence to commence on Saturday 1st May, 2004 (thus saving 29 days tax in April) you may have made a false declaration to obtain the Licence by failing to declare the use of the vehicle on 30.4.04 ??????? There would be this question on your application form i.e. Date last Licence expired, Date new Licence commences. If dates not consecutive has vehicle been used on a Public Road? This is considered to be a serious offence &5,000 fine and or 2 years imprisonment (Sect 45 VE & Reg Act 1994). As what to do on this later scenario if it applies? More information needed. Who issued Ticket, Police or Local Authority Warden?. If the later do you know if they follow up on submitted form to DVLA re No Licence shown on vehicle? Casual enquiry of authority without disclosing too much you might get the answer. Confirm Ticket issued to your vehicle whilst parked on Supermarket car park. Confirm Supermarket responsible for repair/upkeep of Car park and not Local Authority. DVD

Thanks for the reply. I had sorn'd the car when the tax expired in Nov 2003 and the car has been laid up ever since. I booked the MOT for Friday, as that had expired too, by a few weeks.I just decided to get tax while on the way home. You can get tax 2 days before the end of the month according to the rear of the V10 form, so it is valid on the 30th April, although it starts from the 1st of May.

I saw the traffic warden about 5 mins afer he had issued the ticket,(local authority) and spoke to him about it. He suggested I should appeal it in writing, though he was not sure about the law. Just wondered if anyone on here knew any better than he did.

[petercam]

thanks for the detailed replies DVD. I only got time to digest them last night, and realised that the DVLA will probably be after a piece of me too.
So I have drafted an appeal letter against the ticket initially, thanks to your input. If I get somewhere with that, it should give me something to go on if the the DVLA decide to come next.

I did not use the car on the Friday, other than just driving it straight home after getting the MOT and ticket.
I shall keep you posted of events, but its a lesson to anyone in the same position - go home first, then get your tax with your daily driver, or walk!

[petercam]

Thanks for your input DVD, I got a nice letter from Strathclyde Police last week, stating that there is no case to answer in this instance. Result