Fined £270 Even Though I Had Car Insurance - Fighting Since June 2009!

jkdd77

I sympthsiase greatly with the OP.

This topic was discussed recently on another well-known motoring forum, and the conclusions were:
-the impound charge was lawfully made
-there is no recourse whatsoever under English law, notwithstanding that the OP did nothing wrong
-the above is most probably a human rights breach [by imposing a de facto fine on an innocent person, without any trial or proof of wrongdoing, and without any remedy whatsoever]. However, taking a case to the European Court of Human Rights would take several years and cost hundred of thousands of pounds, with no 100% guarantee of success.

This appalls me too. :mad:

Marv02

Well, I was on the phone to a bunch of depts in the police the other day, and they told me that the charges of driving without insurance had been dropped just weeks after the incedent, and that the case was closed last year (without me even knowning a case had started) ... This is all very screwed... I wasn't even told about this up until recently over the phone.

Marv02

bigbulldog wrote: »

Its probably been suggested to you,but here goes anyway.....Can you not get Churchill to write you a letter (send to the police) confirming that you did have insurance and the date it started

Hi, thanks but as of yesturday, I just found out that the police already knew that I DID have insurance not so long after I paid the fee to release the car, yet told me nothing of it, and dropped the charges against me, again, without even letting me know.

So they've known as of last year that I was fully insured at the time... I even have a copy of the CoMI that proves I was insured.

Marv02

jkdd77 wrote: »

I sympthsiase greatly with the OP.

This topic was discussed recently on another well-known motoring forum, and the conclusions were:
-the impound charge was lawfully made
-there is no recourse whatsoever under English law, notwithstanding that the OP did nothing wrong
-the above is most probably a human rights breach [by imposing a de facto fine on an innocent person, without any trial or proof of wrongdoing, and without any remedy whatsoever]. However, taking a case to the European Court of Human Rights would take several years and cost hundred of thousands of pounds, with no 100% guarantee of success.

This appalls me too. :mad:

Thanks. To be honest, if it was £50, I would have huffed and puffed for a few weeks, and then gotten over it. But it was nearly £300 which is WAY over my weekly income. I worked a good 1 1/2 weeks to get that cash and it was taken away from me and never returned, this is what is ticking me off.

As I mentioned, I got an address for some sort of an appeals/complaints department I spoke with over the phone, and as I pointed out before, I am terrible at writing letters to people, let alone a legally threatening one to a government department, and that's where I need help from you guys.

Marv02

help help help help! ^^ letter advice

cyclonebri1

Citizens advice bureaux? Might be worth a shot and at least you will be able to talk to someone in the flesh, unlike on a forum ;)

Marv02

Hi,

I have finnally written out something to the best of my abbility. Can someone please read and review the letter I will be sending out today to the DSP and tell me if I've missed anything out, or if I've gone to far and need to remove or change a few things.

Thank you!

INPORTANT: PLEASE READ THOROUGHLY

Dear XXXX, or to whom it may concern,

I am writing to you today to dispute an incident that took place on the 24th of April, 2009. [24/04/09]

I was pulled over by officer XXXX on the evening of the 24th with the claim that I was not insured. I disputed this with the officer that I had purchased my insurance over the phone that same morning just hours ago and had double checked with the insurer whilst over the phone when my insurance would take effect, for which I was assured by my insurer (Privilege) that my insurance had taken effect immediately.

He then proceeded to ask me to produce my Certificate of Motor Insurance (CoMI) for which I couldn’t produce on the road side, as I had just purchased the insurance over the phone that same morning, and for the CoMI to arrive by mail, would have taken 5-10 working days.

After some time passing, we finally found some grounds to settle on for which he told me that if I agreed to let him tow the car, and if I could prove before the 14 days given to me that I was fully insured, he assured me that NO towing/impound or storage fees would be charged, and that all charges would be dropped. I agreed to this, and the vehicle was then towed away.

Within the 10 day period I was given to me by my insurer, I finally received my CoMI by mail, for which it clearly stated that I was fully insured at the time of the incident (See a copy of the CoMI below.) I proceeded to fill out the yellow fixed penalty notice given to my to drop the 6 point fine on my license, for which had been cleared and all fines where dropped.

Regardless of this, when I attended the impound where my vehicle was stored, I told the staff that I was assured that I DID NOT have to pay to release my vehicle as all charges where dropped. To my surprise they told me that no such thing existed, and proceeded to tell me that no car leaves the pound without being paid for and began threatening me that I HAD to pay or my vehicle would be crushed, which at the current time, the fine had [FONT=&quot]totalled [/FONT] to £270 including all towing & storage fees.

Out of sheer hopelessness and fear for my vehicle being crushed, I was forced to pay the £270 release fee for which impacted my financial status greatly due to me being on benefits, and suffered for many months until I recovered from the crisis I was left in. I was told by the impound staff that if I wanted to dispute the charges, I had to go to my local police station, for where the officer in question resides, and dispute any charges made to me through them.

[CONTINUED: PAGE 2/4]

INPORTANT: PLEASE READ THOROUGHLY

Here, the problems began to immerge. When I first attended the police station, not days after the fine being paid, the lady at the counter was extremely confused at the whole situation and claims she’s never heard of anything like this ever taking place before, and proceeded to search for a department to contact that could help me futher. After 45 minutes of trying countless old outdated numbers (which where all disconnected) and going through countless amount of departments to find me some sort of an address that may be of help to me.

She then gave me the first address she could get her hands on and apologized that she could not of been of any greater help and told me to write out a detailed cover letter, covering the whole incident, along side all the documents deemed necessary, which included the original CoMI, and the original copy of the receipt of payment to release the vehicle, and she said that they would at least point me in the right direction, for which I proceeded to do. I sent out the letter, and was told I had to wait up to 28 days for a reply, and if I hadn’t of heard anything by then, I should return back to the local police station to follow up on the dispute. I waited a whole month for a reply for which I never received and the original documents I sent in with the letter was never returned to me.

After noticing that the due amount of time given to me had passed, I went back to the police station, for which I explained everything all over again to the best of my ability for which again, another confused response was made. The lady just like before, proceeded to weave through all the outdated and disconnected telephone numbers she had until she, again, found an address that may be a use to me. She again told me to provide a copy of my CoMI along with a detailed cover letter and all other documents I could get a hold of that could help me in my dispute, for which again, I proceeded to do but sadly never received a reply with the due amount of time given to me. (28 days.)

On the 25th of June 2009 I had to make a trip abroad to XXXXX, where my parents reside due to my mother’s old age, and her general illness. I returned back to the U.K and upon return I was really upset due to personal reasons and the dispute regarding the fines had slipped my mind.

After some months passing, in January 2010 I went back to the police station to follow up on the dispute. Not to my surprise, I was given several different contact numbers (if working) and several different address in the course of six months, all which I had to wait up to 28 days to receive a response, for which to this day, I never have.


I have visited the police station countless times since April of 2009, in the hopes to resolve this issue, but all that has been done is me being sent on a wild goose chases, and information that lead to nothing but dead ends. Every time I visit, I spend a good 45 minutes at the local station trying to explain the situation and even after the police attempting to find some sort of a department to get me through to, and countless numbers they try even themselves, which evidently... are either automatic answering machines or out of service. Every attempt at going, I'm always given a different address to send a cover letter too, for which I never get a reply.

£270 was a lot of money then, and it still is now. It has dawned on me the fact that this system was set up in a fashion where it would make it impossible for people to get refunded. But I refuse to give up.

At a last attempt to reach someone that could help me before filing for a small claims court, I landed the contact number for the DPS – Customer Service Team. I spoke to a lady staff member there, her name was “Hema.” She advised me to write a full detailed cover letter and send it to address she’s going to provide me, for them to review and that she would help me clear up this whole mess once and for all and entitle me the refund of the £270 for which I was unfairly forced to pay.

[CONTINUED PAGE 3/4]

Attached to this letter are the following:

1) Copy of the Certificate of Motor Insurance (CoMI) which clearly proves that I was insured at the time of the traffic stop.
2) A copy of the Barclays bank statement dated May 2009 proving payment to the Metropolitan police of £270.
3) A list of all the departments I have contact over the last 6 months.
4) A copy of the original Fixed Penalty Notice that was handed to me on the road side.


Thank you,
Mr. XXXXX XXXXX

10 XXXXXXX
XXXX XXX
London
XXXX XXX

[EMAIL="XXXXXXX@gmail.com"]XXXXXXX@gmail.com[/EMAIL]
Tel: 0207 XXX XXXX

Tel: 0795 XXX XXXX


Vechile Registration Number: XXXXXX

---

[CONTINUED: PAGE 4/4]

Departments contacted / sent cover letters too over the period of six months:

- Empress State Building (Ms. Albena Campbell) two letters sent, no replies.
- Traffic Criminal Justice Unit, Marlo House.
- Driver Reported Offences. (D.R.O)
- Complaints Department. – [Ref: XXXXXX]
- Professional Standards Department. [may be the linked to the above.]
- HMCS Fixed Penalty Courts, Central Accounting Office.
- Vehicle B.R.E.S.
- Motor Insurers' Bureau.
-
- 0207 230 0565
- 0300 123 1212
- 0845 400 1119
- 0207 230 0205
- 0207 230 1096
- 0207 230 1090
- 0208 269 2869
- 0844 400 4811

Marv02

Can anyone please help me with reviewing the letter I have written out above, becuase I think I went soft during the last half ot the letter, and I don't want to give them the wrong impression.

Thank you.

molerat

I have only skimmed but have you contacted :

Duty Inspector at the station concerned.
Chief Inspector " "
Met Police Commisioners Office
Met Police Authority http://www.mpa.gov.uk/yourviews/comment/
Your MP
CAB

The letter is too long with several irrelevant items and duplicated statements.

oscardog

As an aside, why not report your car as stolen then the Rozzers can sort it out for you!

Best of luck getting your money back BTW.