DVLA - Failure to Notify Fine!!!!

JellyIcecream

hi all.

am hoping for some advice on best way forward, and wanted to rant.

my father owned a car for one week before it was sold - he filled in the little slip thing (what is that called again?!) to notify dvla it was sold. this was in the summer, around june/july time.
he received a failure to notify letter around the end of summer time saying they hadnt received this slip. so he wrote back a letter to explain he had.
we didnt hear anything more from them so thought that was that.
come jan 2010 (great start to the new year!) we received another letter saying the same thing - pay up £35 now or go to court.

so i ring up DVLA ENFORCEMENT in sidcup who have sent this letter. i get a disinterested (here are the facts, i cant help u) response from a lady who basically says that:
1) DVLA swansea sent me the original failure letter (which triggered off an enforcement action)
2) DVLA swansea cant have received my original repsonse letter (by this time, i realise there is a common theme here of not receiving post) as if they HAD, they would have notified DVLA enforcement to cease action
3) she cant help me, i have to write in (AGAIN!) to explain circs - and they would review the case.

by this point im like '!!!!!!'!!! i explained to the woman on the phone that:
1) we DID send back the slip thing
2) we DID send a letter in response to the original fine notification
3) we DID NOT receive anything after that (since summer 09!!!) regarding this matter so considered it closed.
4) i mentioned to the woman that my father is (and has been) ill and this was the last thing we needed - SHE SAID THAT IF I COULD PROVIDE PROOF OF THIS THEN THEY WOULD TAKE THIS INTO ACCOUNT WHEN CONSIDERING THE CASE!!!!

i am like really angry at this now - surely if i went to court with this, the burden of proof is on DVLA to prove we didnt send the form to them etc and not for us to provide proof we did and certainly not for us to disclose personal info that is none of their business to support our case?!?!

my question is this - what should i do now? given my fathers condition, i was originally in a mindframe to pay up so they'd leave us alone. but now im like really angry. if i write back, what sort of letter should i write? my dads memory of the actual dates/timeframe etc are a bit hazy so i cant quote exact 'sold' date/'letter received' date/'letter sent' date etc - would that be a problem?

please can someone help?

neilmcl

Given your fathers condition, which unfortunately has no bearing on this, is it really worth him being dragged into court over this. You do say what can you do, but in the end the responsibility to sort this lies with your father.

Ultimately it was his responsibility to ensure that the V5 slip was received by the DVLA, if he'd taken steps such as getting proof of postage or sending it by recorded delivery perhaps things might have been different.

Rather than simply stating that you had sent the form in when he first recieved the failure to notify letter why didn't he/you ask what can be done to sort it then and there rather than wait until now?

LandyAndy

When you send in the slip the DVLA send an ackowledgement letter almost straight away. Their advice is that if you don't receive this within, I think, 28 days then it is your responsibility to follow it up.

From what I read you didn't follow up non-receipt of the acknowledgement on either occasion and are, therefore, at fault.

Edit: For 'you' read 'your father'.

JellyIcecream

neilmcl wrote: »

Given your fathers condition, which unfortunately has no bearing on this, is it really worth him being dragged into court over this. You do say what can you do, but in the end the responsibility to sort this lies with your father.

Ultimately it was his responsibility to ensure that the V5 slip was received by the DVLA, if he'd taken steps such as getting proof of postage or sending it by recorded delivery perhaps things might have been different.

Rather than simply stating that you had sent the form in when he first recieved the failure to notify letter why didn't he/you ask what can be done to sort it?

thank u for the reply, however:
1) "his responsiblity to ensure that the V5 slip was recieved" was done the minute he sent it off
2) there is no legal requirement to make him/us pay more for recorded or special delivery just to ensure the letter has actually been sorted by post office or received
3) when he first received the original failure to notify letter, he didnt need to ask me what could be done as he reacted as any normal person does when they have not commited an offence - he wrote back saying he was innocent! - having had no response from them for such a long time, a normal person would assume that the matter was over with!

im sorry if i sound angry, but i am!

JellyIcecream

LandyAndy wrote: »

When you send in the slip the DVLA send an ackowledgement letter almost straight away. Their advice is that if you don't receive this within, I think, 28 days then it is your responsibility to follow it up.

From what I read you didn't follow up non-receipt of the acknoledgement on either occasion and are, therefore, at fault.

Section 7 of the interpretations act 1978:
Where an Act authorises or requires any document to be served by post (whether the expression “serve” or the expression “give” or “send” or any other expression is used) then, unless the contrary intention appears, the service is deemed to be effected by properly addressing, pre-paying and posting a letter containing the document and, unless the contrary is proved, to have been effected at the time at which the letter would be delivered in the ordinary course of post.

ie you filled out their required form and followed their required process and stuck it in the post box, which is the stated method of communication!

They is no legal requirement for anyone to receive one of their famous acknowledgments.

LandyAndy

JellyIcecream wrote: »

Section 7 of the interpretations act 1978:
Where an Act authorises or requires any document to be served by post (whether the expression “serve” or the expression “give” or “send” or any other expression is used) then, unless the contrary intention appears, the service is deemed to be effected by properly addressing, pre-paying and posting a letter containing the document and, unless the contrary is proved, to have been effected at the time at which the letter would be delivered in the ordinary course of post.

ie you filled out their required form and followed their required process and stuck it in the post box, which is the stated method of communication!

They is no legal requirement for anyone to receive one of their famous acknowledgments.

Hey! I'm just telling you what they advise you to do.

Best of luck quoting that Act in your defence.:rolleyes:

To be honest I don't give a stuff whether you get fined or not.

JellyIcecream

LandyAndy wrote: »

Hey! I'm just telling you what they advise you to do.

Best of luck quoting that Act in your defence.:rolleyes:

To be honest I don't give a stuff whether you get fined or not.

thanks for the good luck - having done some more digging, have found others who had similar situation and were successful at disputing the fine.

i understand that u may not give a stuff about whether i get fined or not but could u give a stuff about the fact that we now live in a country whose government depts seem hell bent on making money out of us no matter whether if they are able to or not?

LandyAndy

JellyIcecream wrote: »

thanks for the good luck - having done some more digging, have found others who had similar situation and were successful at disputing the fine.

i understand that u may not give a stuff about whether i get fined or not but could u give a stuff about the fact that we now live in a country whose government depts seem hell bent on making money out of us no matter whether if they are able to or not?

I hope that works.

If nothing else it is a lesson to everyone else that the DVLA give the advice about the acknowledgement letter for a reason and following their advice may save you a lot of hassle.

hartcjhart

go here and read the posts
http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/dvla/234620-dvla-court-summons-help.html

neilmcl

They already has as they copied one of their posts into her earlier post #5. Makes you wonder if the OP already knew the answer why come on here with such a terse attitude towards others trying to offer some advice.

rev_henry

OP, yes the DVLA cannot be trusted to receive things sent to them in the normal post (or at least acknowledge such letters), yes they do try to make money out of you however they can. Unfortunately that's just the way it is atm, not much can be done.