help, DVLA impounded car, can i appeal?

redpetunia

Hi,

Would appreciate any advice on the below.

I've just received a letter (Friday) from DVLA to say that they have impounded my vehicle due to non payment of tax.

I did not receive a notification letter from the DVLA that tax was due. Normally I rely on receiving this paperwork in order to gather together the various bits of paperwork that I need and trotting off to the post office to renew my disc.

Can I appeal this in any way if I did not receive the standard DVLA letter?

From memory my tax expired at end of June - the car was seized 1st July so they were obviously lying in wait for it.

Is there any standard procedure that they should be following before taking a vehicle i.e. a second letter or notification that the vehicle will be seized if tax not paid?

I am absolutely furious about this as I not a tax dodger. The car is MOT'd, insured and has valid parking permit. I feel very victimised as there has been no opportunity for me to be the model citizen that I am.

Now it will cost me nearly £400 to get the car released.

Apparently it would have been half that if I had got the car today - but as the letter only came today, and was received by me on my return from work that was impossible. the fees increase as I now have to pay for storage over the weekend while they are not open.

This does not feel like a very fair system and there must be a way around it.


Please help.

Thanks

RP.

Horace

Well, you know when your car tax expires so to say that you didn't get notification of its renewal is odd. Have you moved house and not told them? Anyway, you can always renew your car tax online - I do and never have a problem.

Personally, I think it is perfectly ok for the DVLA to sieze untaxed cars, they should do it more often:D

The DVLA don't lie in wait for people, it could be that you left your car on a public highway and it was spotted by either a traffic warden or the police who reported it to the DVLA.

Be thankful, that you weren't stopped by the police whilst driving it because they would have siezed your car immediately (they have this lovely number plate recognition system that tells them that your car has no tax, MOT or insurance).

redpetunia

my car does have an MOT and insurance and it is likely that the tax only just ran out. i don't know exacly when it was, that date is just a result of racking my brain to try to remember.

but that's not the point.

i rely on that letter from the DVLA to let me know my tax is due (as I;m sure do most people in this country). I didn't even know paying online was an option.

What I want to know is if they can just seize your car without any notification?

And what right they then have to charge you on a daily basis when a letter only arrives 4 days later? Surely there must be a minimum notification period to enable this? It seems to me to be unlawful to do otherwise.

I'm sure you'll agree that a fee of nearly £400 is beyond excessive. This is no way to treat law abiding citizens.

dollydoodah

redpetunia wrote: »

my car does have an MOT and insurance and it is likely that the tax only just ran out. i don't know exacly when it was, that date is just a result of racking my brain to try to remember.

but that's not the point.

i rely on that letter from the DVLA to let me know my tax is due (as I;m sure do most people in this country). I didn't even know paying online was an option.

What I want to know is if they can just seize your car without any notification?

And what right they then have to charge you on a daily basis when a letter only arrives 4 days later? Surely there must be a minimum notification period to enable this? It seems to me to be unlawful to do otherwise.

I'm sure you'll agree that a fee of nearly £400 is beyond excessive. This is no way to treat law abiding citizens.

But you weren't a law abiding citizen. Having a valid tax disc is a legal requirement if you want to drive a car.

And how did you not know that your car had been impounded before you got the letter? When they impounded one near me for out of date tax, they clamped it for a week with a bigger sticker on before towing it away.

Mikeyorks

Your post doesn't make sense.

Why would you need a letter to tell you the car was impounded? Isn't the fact it is missing the first sign something is not right?

And a letter received by you 4th July, for tax you allege only expired 4 days ago ..... gives a credit for administrative haste to DVLA that they certainly don't deserve. There is no way they can act that quickly.

If it's been impounded and the tax didn't expire until 30th June ....... then it hasn't been impounded because it's not taxed. And if it's been impounded because it's untaxed ... then the tax did not expire 30th June (at least not 30th June 2008).

olly300

OP I've found this story: http://www.dvla.gov.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/archive2006/20061107_38.aspx

Yes the DVLA can seize your car without notification.

In addition even if the DVLA don't send you the notification it's legally your duty as the car owner to ensure your vehicle is taxed, MOTed and insured so stating you didn't receive the letter is not going to be considered a reasonable excuse. Even being out of the country is not a reasonable excuse as you should have renewed it earlier or got someone else to do it for you.

And your not law abiding otherwise you wouldn't have had your car seized.

PsychoPrincess

Stating the obvious I know, but the expiration date is in big numbers on the tax disk. You can see it every time you walk past your car.

mymatebob

redpetunia wrote: »

Hi,

Would appreciate any advice on the below.

I've just received a letter (Friday) from DVLA to say that they have impounded my vehicle due to non payment of tax.

I did not receive a notification letter from the DVLA that tax was due. Normally I rely on receiving this paperwork in order to gather together the various bits of paperwork that I need and trotting off to the post office to renew my disc.

Can I appeal this in any way if I did not receive the standard DVLA letter? NO

From memory my tax expired at end of June - the car was seized 1st July so they were obviously lying in wait for it. I very much doubt it

Is there any standard procedure that they should be following before taking a vehicle i.e. a second letter or notification that the vehicle will be seized if tax not paid? Often vehicle is clamped first with a big notice regarding unpaid tax on the windscreen

I am absolutely furious about this as I not a tax dodger. The car is MOT'd, insured and has valid parking permit. I feel very victimised as there has been no opportunity for me to be the model citizen that I am. You are not being victimised you just missed a deadline

Now it will cost me nearly £400 to get the car released.

Apparently it would have been half that if I had got the car today - but as the letter only came today, and was received by me on my return from work that was impossible. the fees increase as I now have to pay for storage over the weekend while they are not open. If this is the first letter you have had from the DVLA then you may be able to appeal a lower fee - possibly

This does not feel like a very fair system and there must be a way around it.
In what way is it not fair?


Please help.

Thanks

RP.

I know you will not want to hear why iIand other posters have said but I doubt very much if the tax ran out on Monday all this can have happened by Friday.

For next year you may want to put a reminder in your diary, so that you remember without the state having to remind you

redpetunia

thanks for your replies.

perhaps i haven't made myself clear.

I do not use my car everyday. It is parked in a busy street so it is not right in front of my house. therefore it is easy not to notice it. I have no idea if there was any sticker on it. It would be useful to know if they have to sticker it for a determined period of time before they can impound it. Does anybody know?

my first knowledge that the car was gone was a letter that i received today - 4th July - but dated 1st July so I presume they took the car then.

I have been doing some research since posting this and apparently they have automatic number plate recognition cameras mounted on vans and they drive them around looking for untaxed vehicles so it is very possible for them to have seized my car immediately after the tax expired.

i take your point that having a taxed vehicle is the lawful thing to do but there has to be a better and fairer system than this. Or some form of process for both the DVLA and citizens to follow.

I'm afraid that it feels like a money grabbing exercise on the part of the DVLA - i do not belive that a charge of nearly £400 is a fair and just fine for a delay (of just a few days) to getting a car retaxed.

And that's why i'd like help on whether i can fight this is any way.

noh

Go here
http://www.vehiclelicence.gov.uk/EvlPortalApp/

Select Vehicle Enquiry on the left hand side enter the reg number and make of your car.
The information returned will tell you when the Road Tax was due. (Date of liability)

Nigel

PsychoPrincess

redpetunia wrote: »

i take your point that having a taxed vehicle is the lawful thing to do but there has to be a better and fairer system than this. Or some form of process for both the DVLA and citizens to follow.

I'm afraid that it feels like a money grabbing exercise on the part of the DVLA - i do not belive that a charge of nearly £400 is a fair and just fine for a delay (of just a few days) to getting a car retaxed.

And that's why i'd like help on whether i can fight this is any way.

There isn't really anything to fight. You say that there should be some form of process for the DVLA and citizens to follow. There is:

You get a car, it must be taxed.
As a car owner you are responsible for making sure the tax is always up to date.
If you are unsure, the expiration date of the tax disk is written on it in quite large numbers.
The process is that before the tax runs out you must buy a new disk.
The DVLA must keep a check on this and remove any cars that are untaxed.

That is the process. It is pretty clear and easy to follow. I know it's annoying to encounter an unexpected bill, but you really don'y have a valid argument.