Statutory declaration - Help and advice

[Melman Giraffe]

Monday morning 7.30am I get a knock at the door. A bailiff from the High court is standing on my door step demanding £1045 for payment against a hearing that was conducted in my absence in November last year. You can imagine my surprise as I knew nothing of this. I asked him what the case in question was concerning and he explained that I had not been forthcoming with information in relation to a driving incident. They (the court) had been writing to my previous address which I moved out of in Sept 2012 and I had not responded hence the hearing and the fine.

So a quick Google reveals that I can go for a statutory declaration as I had no recollection of the event and that I was not at the address that they were trying to contact me at.

The problem is this...


The new hearing is tomorrow however I have spoken to the court and they can't tell me what the said incident is until I arrive at 9.30 in the morning. Has anyone else had a similar experience or have any advice.

I presume it will be a quick hearing to ask if I was the driver of the vehicle when the indecent happen which apparently was between certain dates in March 2012 and April 2012, so they can't even give me an actual date!!


Any advice would be great


Thanks

[agtlaw]

It's almost certainly failure to give information as to the identity of the driver - a.k.a. section 172. You appear to have been told this. The date aforementioned is the period in which you failed to give information - not the index offence.

Chronology likely to be something like this example:

1 March 2012 - speeding offence
7 March 2012 - NIP/172 to Registered Keeper ("RK")
7 April 2012 - Reminder to RK
21 April 2012 - Final reminder to RK
1 August 2012 - court summons to RK
1 September 2012 - Court hearing. Convicted in absence. 6pp. £600 fine/costs.
7 September 2012 - court letter to RK informing outcome. Court also notifies DVLA.
Various - letters, attendances by bailiffs

You've missed a lot of correspondence.

Contact DVLA to ask about endorsements on your licence - 0300 7906801, or do this online if you have a government gateway ID.

You'll have to attend court to explain, if you can, why the various letters etc didn't get to you. If they believe you then the case will be re-opened and either dealt with there and then or, more likely, adjourned or proceedings re-commenced at a later date. What won't happen is that the case is re-opened and that's the end of it.

[Melman Giraffe]

agtlaw said:

It's almost certainly failure to give information as to the identity of the driver - a.k.a. section 172. You appear to have been told this. The dates given is the period in which you failed to give information - not the index offence.

Chronology likely to be something like this example:

1 March 2012 - speeding offence
7 March 2012 - NIP/172 to Registered Keeper ("RK")
7 April 2012 - Reminder to RK
21 April 2012 - Final reminder to RK
1 August 2012 - court summons to RK
1 September 2012 - Court hearing. Convicted in absence. 6pp. £600 fine/costs.
7 September 2012 - court letter to RK informing outcome. Court also notifies DVLA.
Various - letters, attendances by bailiffs

You've missed a lot of correspondence.

Out of interest the car I had at the time was a company vehicle not registered in my name, what baffles me is my previous employer who had my new address didn't pass this on.

Contact DVLA to ask about endorsements on your licence - 0300 7906801, or do this online if you have a government gateway ID.

You'll have to attend court to explain, if you can, why the various letters etc didn't get to you. If they believe you then the case will be re-opened and either dealt with there and then or, more likely, adjourned or proceedings re-commenced at a later date. What won't happen is that the case is re-opened and that's the end of it.

Out of interest the car I had at the time was a company vehicle not registered in my name, what baffles me is my previous employer who had my new address didn't pass this on.

Edited by Melman Giraffe on Tuesday 25th March 17:38

[agtlaw]

Melman Giraffe said:

Out of interest the car I had at the time was a company vehicle not registered in my name, what baffles me is my previous employer who had my new address didn't pass this on.

This doesn't make much sense. Your first post mentioned that you moved in September. The case was November. Assuming they had the correct address in March / April (check this) then you may have a hard time explaining why various items of post didn't reach you in the period March - September.

Have you contacted DVLA yet?

[Melman Giraffe]

Just been told that I have 6 point and because they DVLA couldn't get hold of me my License was revoked Dec 13



As you can imagine this is a big shock

[Melman Giraffe]

agtlaw said:

Melman Giraffe said:

Out of interest the car I had at the time was a company vehicle not registered in my name, what baffles me is my previous employer who had my new address didn't pass this on.

This doesn't make much sense. Your first post mentioned that you moved in September. The case was November. Assuming they had the correct address in March / April (check this) then you may have a hard time explaining why various items of post didn't reach you in the period March - September.

Have you contacted DVLA yet?

Moved sept 2012 case heard nov 2013

[agtlaw]

Melman Giraffe said:

Just been told that I have 6 point and because they DVLA couldn't get hold of me my Licence was revoked Dec 13

As you can imagine this is a big shock

As expected.

[Melman Giraffe]

agtlaw said:

Melman Giraffe said:

Just been told that I have 6 point and because they DVLA couldn't get hold of me my Licence was revoked Dec 13

As you can imagine this is a big shock

As expected.

Is that why you told me to call DVLA? You knew this would be the outcome

[agtlaw]

Melman Giraffe said:

Is that why you told me to call DVLA? You knew this would be the outcome

No, I was hoping that you could obtain some dates, offence details etc. revocation tends to be a natural consequence of being convicted in absence.

Were DVLA any help revealing any details?

I understand the move was September but that doesn't explain the missing correspondence between March and September.

[voyds9]

Have you updated your licence to your new address

[agtlaw]

voyds9 said:

Have you updated your licence to your new address?

Until today, he didn't know his licence was revoked - so I'm guessing no.

On more practical note, attending court tomorrow is the first step in sorting out this mess. A 'stat dec' is a reasonably straightforward process. Good luck.

[Melman Giraffe]

Thanks for all your help.
Just to clarify, we moved out in Sept 2012, the offence didn't happen until 2013.

[anonymous-user]

Apparently the DVLA didn't tell you they had revoked your license. Did you notify them of address change?

[mebe]

Can't offer any useful advice but I hope it goes well. Let us know what happens.

[agtlaw]

Melman Giraffe said:

Thanks for all your help.
Just to clarify, we moved out in Sept 2012, the offence didn't happen until 2013.

Ok, understood - not what you said in your first post.

Melman Giraffe said:

I presume it will be a quick hearing to ask if I was the driver of the vehicle when the [incident] happened which apparently was between certain dates in March 2012 and April 2012, so they can't even give me an actual date

It's an intriguing case. Let us know what happens.

[GC8]

Ive only skimmed and that was on the train, but surely a Stat Dec will only be to swear that you didn't receive anything or know anything about it.

At this point all convictions, points, fines, fees and consequences will evaporate. The police, SCP , CPS or whoever still have the option to prosecute if it isn't out of time.

I suppose that this is likely where theyre able, but I don't think that ti will happen tomorrow morning or whenever you go. Stat Decs seem to be dealt with in consultation rooms now, so you probably wont even have to go into a proper court.

[Melman Giraffe]

REALIST123 said:

. Did you notify them of address change?

No

Edited by Melman Giraffe on Wednesday 26th March 08:41

[Melman Giraffe]

Hearing is at 9.30 this morning. I will update on my return.


Thanks again everyone

[Red Devil]

Melman Giraffe said:

REALIST123 said:

. Did you notify them of address change?

No

Them being the DVLA. Therein lies the root of the problem you are now having to deal with.

Melman Giraffe said:

Out of interest the car I had at the time was a company vehicle not registered in my name, what baffles me is my previous employer who had my new address didn't pass this on.

The question is which one did they have on record at the time the information was requested by the police/SCP/whoever.

I used the Royal Mail's forwarding service for a year after I moved house. Despite being a reasonably diligent individual you might be surprised how many organisations I had omitted to notify. It was well worth it as the cost of my time which would have been needed to deal with any consquences was far less than what RM charged me.

Hope you can get things straightened out now without too much pain.

[Melman Giraffe]

Update..


Stat Dec signed and sealed. I then called DVLA who have removed the revoke from my license.


I now wait to here from Oxfordshire police to see if they want to pursue the matter.


The original offense was speeding apparently.


Thanks for all your help guy's