Who is responsible when car is towed by DVLA?

s_b

it will all be in the terms and conditions at the garage
if ever a customer leaves their car with me they are under strict instructions i will do everything to look after it but i wont be held responsible for third party actions
if garage spoke to owner and advised its ready for collection and owner was aware space was tight then i dont see the problem
if dvla have it then it will be in the localish dvla holding area

fees go up daily

fivetide

missile wrote: »

How does your partner know it was clamped and towed by the DVLA?

Clamped and towed within two days, seems far too efficient for DVLA?

Why did they not contact owner as soon as they were aware it was being clamped?

I have never heard of a random check by DVLA. If it was my car, I might suspect it was the garage owner reported the car.

Because for no tax the DVLA and their agents are the only ones who can lift a car (certainly used to be the case).

The Police/traffic used to only be able to fine you for it. My mate used to work for Vinci who had the DVLA contract in Scotland and he would regularly join Police operations to take cars off drug dealers. Essential premise being no assigned assets or big wedges of cash about = nothing to seize so they'd end up in proper sink hole estates lifting M3 BMWs etc that people had swapped for drugs. Trouble is, not being registered to anyone means no tax so the DVLA came in to authorise the lifting of the car as the Police could only issue a fine which would be ignored.

They also used to do regular prowls round certain areas where they knew there were a lot of un-taxed cars.

Trouble is, there aren't that many of them so chances of seeign one is very small. His team was "Scotland" but to be honest they never had to venture further than the capital to get enough cars for the day.

If the DVLA have lifted it then the owner will know exactly where it is, they used to call it in to the Police to head off the "my car has been nicked" phone calls.

5t.

s_b

vax2002 wrote: »

The Vehicle was left in the duty of care of the garage.
Hope they dont sue.

terms and conditions dear boy
we arent free parking for the great unwashed

mildred1978

I doubt that the owner/registered keeper's responsibilities are passed to the garage just because they MOTd it.

I still say it's the owner's problem.

dacouch

If it was in London you can normally find if it was towed through this website http://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/services/trace_towedvehicletracing.htm

[Deleted User]

Thanks for the comments. I'll check the website ref given above although I doubt our area will be included (not quite in Greater London).

I have been reminded that recent changes to legislation mean that the DVLA can now come after a car (as long as its not been Sorned) with no tax regardless of where its parked. So whether it was parked on Garage premises or on a public road, the DVLA would have been able to clamp it. I believe that that means the garage aren't responsible for the fact that the car was clamped.

Also as its 18th June, not 1st June.., I believe the owner should have been a bit more pro-active with taxing the car. I assume it wasn't taxable due to no MOT cert.., but nothing stopping the owner taking it in for an MOT before the tax ran out etc. As far as I know, as the car was clamped and towed because it wasn't taxed, even if the owner takes the garage to court for costs.., I doubt a court will see it as their job to 'reward' the car owner for breaking the law (i.e. neither paying for tax nor sorning the car).

However, it is an interesting problem.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

i doubt the DVLA would encroach on garages private compound (open to the public or not) and take a vehicle, this would not sit well the garage owner losing buisiness because as sooon as people catch wind that a certain garage is open to their cars being taken by the DVLA theyre not going to want to use him especially if they left it late to tax and MOT they just wont run the risk of having it towed.

as farr as i see it, this is 50/50 blame. the owner for not sorning and the garage for not noticeing it wasnt taxed and placing it in the public domain and not informing it was clamped. a simple call to say hey you havent picked your car up yet and the DVLA have clamped it may have been the prompting he needed to pay and the sort that mess out before he incurred a tow fee and storage fee's.

lil.smartie

Unless the garage was told it had no tax why would they need to check? Taking it to a pre-booked MOT is legal without tax but as soon as that is done (and the owner had been notified of this) then they could tax it on line so just because they couldn't collect the car didn't stop them taxing it!
Problem is the garage still had the keys so were liable for the car, if it had been damaged then they would be liable but not so sure about the towing due to no tax as that was not their responsibility.

Kate

[Deleted User]

The garage didn't know the car had been clamped. The owner was informed by DVLA and then had a go at the garage (although by this time it was a week after the car should have been collected). Obviously this is me enquiring on behalf of my partner who works at the garage.

The fact is that the DVLA CAN now go on private or public land to pursue an untaxed car. Whether they would or should is not the point. They can.

missile

The fact is that the DVLA CAN now go on private or public land to pursue an untaxed car. Whether they would or should is not the point. They can.

An interesting post.
I know one can drive to an MOT testing station for a pre-booked appointment. Presumably the car could have been clamped and towed if it was outside the garage waiting for it's MOT? I do not believe one can drive home (or to the DVLA office) from that appointment?