fined £548 for not having road tax, !!!!!!? Need advice

aquilerian

Just received a letter from South West Devon Magistrates Court Code 1302 telling me I have 2 weeks to pay £548.34 (£400 fine, £58.34 back duty and £90 'costs') and the offence says "1 / Keep a vehicle without a valid vehicle license"

I have a peugeot 106 and was stopped last year in November by police who found I had no tax disc since June. I asked them what the fine was likely to be and they said it would be around £80 with back duty, so around £140. I was told to expect to receive a court summons letter in the next 6 months but I have since not received such a letter, and this just came through my door this morning. What on earth?

There is just no way I have this kind of money lying around, and why is the offence listed as "keep a vehicle without a valid vehicle license"?

This is the only driving conviction I have received in 7 years of driving. I feel like something is not right and don't know what to do, any advice would be much appreciated.

Edit: Sorry if this is in the wrong topic/forum, I just was not sure where else to post it.

tberry6686

Something isn't right here. I had a ticket on my car a couple of months ago from the police for failing to display - small fine. I then got a letter from DVLA fining me again for no tax - was either £80 or £100 may have had a reduction for prompt payment, can't remember.

For it to have gone to court you would have had to have either not recieved the letter/s that DVLA sent or not responded. Have you changed address recently ?

Bantex_2

They can fine up to £1,000.

HappyMJ

aquilerian wrote: »

Just received a letter from South West Devon Magistrates Court Code 1302 telling me I have 2 weeks to pay £548.34 (£400 fine, £58.34 back duty and £90 'costs') and the offence says "1 / Keep a vehicle without a valid vehicle license"

I have a peugeot 106 and was stopped last year in November by police who found I had no tax disc since June. I asked them what the fine was likely to be and they said it would be around £80 with back duty, so around £140. I was told to expect to receive a court summons letter in the next 6 months but I have since not received such a letter, and this just came through my door this morning. What on earth?

There is just no way I have this kind of money lying around, and why is the offence listed as "keep a vehicle without a valid vehicle license"?

This is the only driving conviction I have received in 7 years of driving. I feel like something is not right and don't know what to do, any advice would be much appreciated.

Edit: Sorry if this is in the wrong topic/forum, I just was not sure where else to post it.

If you've not been to court then contact the court and tell them you didn't know the hearing had been scheduled. They can relist it and then you can attend court. However, if you are just going to plead guilty anyway the judge won't be happy. If you notify the court of your income then the fine can be reduced.

If you don't have the cash then ask the court to pay in instalments.

Foxy-Stoat_3

Seems to be about right, failure to display is far less serious than failure to tax your car. The policeperson probably told you the wrong information at the roadside.

If you don’t tax or SORN your vehicle

You could face an automatic penalty of £80 as well as a fine of £1,000. Your vehicle could be clamped, impounded or even crushed.

Beenie

The offence is listed that way because that is 'officialese' for the actual offence of driving without a tax disc.

If the paperwork was sent to you and somehow not delivered, the post goes back to the sender (police, DVLA, whoever) and is marked as not being received. Otherwise, it is assumed that the person DID receive the fine/warning/court details, but chose to ignore them.

Your best bet now is to get in touch with the court and come to some arrangement. They can get very harsh if you continue to ignore - people have been sent to prison in the past.

aquilerian

tberry6686 - I haven't moved address in 15 years, and have received absolutely zero contact from the DVLA or any Court in reference to this conviction.

If I had received what i believe I was supposed to receive, with the fine I had anticipated i would of paid without question, it is not a matter of trying to avoid paying the fine or anything. All i have since the incident is this single letter I have in front of me now - I'm getting the feeling I'm being punished for failing to respond to an invisible letter.

Bantex yes, 'upto', but given how frequent the conviction is I would deem what I have been told to pay completely unreasonable, as well as multiple sources informing me it wouldn't be anything over £200 as standard. Something just isn't adding up.

custardy

aquilerian wrote: »

tberry6686 - I haven't moved address in 15 years, and have received absolutely zero contact from the DVLA or any Court in reference to this conviction.

If I had received what i believe I was supposed to receive, with the fine I had anticipated i would of paid without question, it is not a matter of trying to avoid paying the fine or anything. All i have since the incident is this single letter I have in front of me now - I'm getting the feeling I'm being punished for failing to respond to an invisible letter.

Bantex yes, 'upto', but given how frequent the conviction is I would deem what I have been told to pay completely unreasonable, as well as multiple sources informing me it wouldn't be anything over £200 as standard. Something just isn't adding up.

No road tax reminders?

tberry6686

Sounds like some of your mail has been going missing as you would have been sent at least 1 letter from DVLA and another from the court. Has your postman changed recently, wouldn't be the first time mail has been re-routed.

aquilerian

custardy - I was caught in November last year and subsequently taxed my vehicle the following day with 12 months tax. As of then til now I've not heard anything from DVLA referring to my conviction.

HappyMJ

aquilerian wrote: »

custardy - I was caught in November last year and subsequently taxed my vehicle the following day with 12 months tax. As of then til now I've not heard anything from DVLA referring to my conviction.

The DVLA is different to the court. The DVLA can give you a penalty but you said the court sent you a fine and you even named the court. The DVLA won't penalize you again and won't care about what the court has done with you.