Road tax fine con!!!!

johnthebuilder

darich wrote: »

I don't think you've been fined anything twice.
£100 to release from clamp
£160 in lieu of road tax - effectively this is road tax backdated because you had none - not a fine
£80 fine for having no road tax....which was ignored

£350 fine at court for not paying the original £80
£46.50 could be additional road tax working on the assumption you've not bought a tax disc for the van - effectively "in lieu of road tax" as before
£60 court costs.

I don't think anything has been double charged.

I do think that with hindsight you could have done things differently and perhaps avoided the situation but hindsight is a wonderful thing.
I would have been inclined to write with the state of the van and confirmation that garage was uplifting a non roadworthy/undriveable vehicle. It seems you've already done that so I'm not sure what the next step would be.

Okay, I just need to clarify one thing as everybody seems to think that the £160 is to cover the period the vehicle was not taxed. This is incorrect. DVLA state the £160 is as they state in 'lieu of road tax' meaning exactly as the words state. The £160 is instead of having road tax. The £46.50 is to cover the vehicle from the old road tax disc to when the vehicle was clamped. They've stated this already.

daveyjp

IIRC DVLA have lost in court over the postal rules and the need for you to check that whatever you posted has been received. Check the Watchdog website.

Bottom line is you lost the case and if you want to appeal you'll need a lawyer and time to actually attend court.

johnthebuilder

Bob_the_Saver wrote: »

Why didn't you query it when you didn't receive confirmation that the vehicle was SORN from DVLA?

You should receive your acknowledgement letter within four weeks. If you do not receive this you should contact DVLA on 0300 790 6802 immediately.

You can declare Statutory Off Road Notification, known as SORN, directly over the internet (and print it out), or at a Post Office and get a receipt (Where you tax the vehicle).

Unless you send something recorded delivery and then check, just assume it might not get there.

You may well be right. I've never declared a vehicle sorn before. There's lots of things I've found out after the fact. I'm a builder and to me it was simple logic. Fill out the form send it off. I didn't even know they wrote back. I fill out dozens of warranties, reports and surveys every week and truthfully not once have I ever doubted they would reach their destination. I know everybody knocks royal mail but to be honest I don't think I've ever had an issue with them. Thanks anyway.

Bob_the_Saver

johnthebuilder wrote: »

You may well be right. I've never declared a vehicle sorn before. There's lots of things I've found out after the fact. I'm a builder and to me it was simple logic. Fill out the form send it off. I didn't even know they wrote back. I fill out dozens of warranties, reports and surveys every week and truthfully not once have I ever doubted they would reach their destination. I know everybody knocks royal mail but to be honest I don't think I've ever had an issue with them. Thanks anyway.

It's not me, most of this is direct quotes from the web-site
http://www.taxdisc.direct.gov.uk/EvlPortalApp/

darich

johnthebuilder wrote: »

Okay, I just need to clarify one thing as everybody seems to think that the £160 is to cover the period the vehicle was not taxed. This is incorrect. DVLA state the £160 is as they state in 'lieu of road tax' meaning exactly as the words state. The £160 is instead of having road tax. The £46.50 is to cover the vehicle from the old road tax disc to when the vehicle was clamped. They've stated this already.

But using your thinking, you've had several months of not paying tax. I appreciate that the van was off the road, but to DVLA it wasn't. So you need to pay the tax that is missing. That unpaid tax is due, otherwise everyone would pay no tax and wait a few months for a simple £80 fine - for many cars that would be cheaper than actually paying the tax. So the gap in road tax from your last tax disc to the car being clamped is still due.

Hence many posters thinking the £160 is road tax that is due.

You said your van sat in your drive "for months"
What is the normal annual road tax?
Can't you work out how much back dated tax you're due to pay and then it might give you a clue as to what some of the numbers mmight be?
As an example - £200 a year? 9months in the drive? That's £150 in tax you're required to pay.....on top of the fine.

vikingaero

I thought the £160 was a surety or bond in lieu of road tax? You pay the bond which is normally equal to a years tax for your class of vehicle, so that the vehicle can be released. If you tax the vehicle then the bond should be returned to you. The £80 is the correct fine for no tax. Or am I missing something?

It sounds like you didn't buy road tax before the court case, and so may have forfeited the bond.

johnthebuilder

darich wrote: »

But using your thinking, you've had several months of not paying tax. I appreciate that the van was off the road, but to DVLA it wasn't. So you need to pay the tax that is missing. That unpaid tax is due, otherwise everyone would pay no tax and wait a few months for a simple £80 fine - for many cars that would be cheaper than actually paying the tax. So the gap in road tax from your last tax disc to the car being clamped is still due.

Hence many posters thinking the £160 is road tax that is due.

You said your van sat in your drive "for months"
What is the normal annual road tax?
Can't you work out how much back dated tax you're due to pay and then it might give you a clue as to what some of the numbers mmight be?
As an example - £200 a year? 9months in the drive? That's £150 in tax you're required to pay.....on top of the fine.

To clarify, the vehicle was off the road for a few months but did have tax. The tax ran out and sent of sorn declaration. After got van back had it taxed. The total time of untaxed period amounts to £46.50.

johnthebuilder

vikingaero wrote: »

I thought the £160 was a surety or bond in lieu of road tax? You pay the bond which is normally equal to a years tax for your class of vehicle, so that the vehicle can be released. If you tax the vehicle then the bond should be returned to you. The £80 is the correct fine for no tax. Or am I missing something?

It sounds like you didn't buy road tax before the court case, and so may have forfeited the bond.

Thanks! I taxed the vehicle as soon as I got it back so it was taxed immediately. The £46.50 is for the period that covers any gaps.

Strider590

DVLA, they're slimey barstewards aren't they?

Oh and Mrs P Wooley...... Not a real person, if she was she'd be 6ft under by now.


In every correspondence with the DVLA I now either call them on speaker phone and record it OR send mail by recorded signed for post......