DVLA court summons for no insurance

KickerKicker

Hey all,
Would be very grateful for any insight into how I should proceed with the following.

I bought my current car in August 2016. I live in the Republic of Ireland and bought the car for export.
I purchased a seven day insurance policy through the dealer and the car was taken back to Ireland to Ireland within 3 days.
Upon arrival in Ireland it was immediately subject to VRT which was paid and issued with new plates.
I fulfilled all the relevant paperwork and the car has never been in the UK since.
I used the address of a friend in the UK for administrative purposes regarding the insurance policy and have been shocked to receive a court summons regarding non-insurance for this vehicle. Since I do not live in the UK and the car was purchased for Ireland, and was never without full insurance throughout the duration of my ownership.

I have no means of returning to the UK for any court appointed date. The charge simply does not apply as I live and work in Ireland and have never been without insurance.

Do you know how I should proceed, and whether or not they can actually go ahead with the court date?


Thanks

DoaM

Surely there must have been notifications prior to the court one? Were these ignored? Were they not passed on to you?

You should proceed by contacting the court/whoever issued the proceedings to state your case and see if they'll cancel the proceedings. Also contact the insurer that provided the initial insurance.

See if there's anything here that may help.

https://www.gov.uk/browse/driving/vehicle-tax-mot-insurance

waamo

Did you notify the DVLA that you were exporting the car?

agrinnall

KickerKicker wrote: »

I have no means of returning to the UK for any court appointed date.

There are many planes and ferries between the Republic and the UK, get one of them.

AdrianC

waamo wrote: »

Did you notify the DVLA that you were exporting the car?

This.

Once you notified DVLA, they'd have closed the record on the car. Instead, they've got it down as being "live", registered to you, without SORN or insurance. And that's illegal. So they're taking enforcement action on that...

DVLA are many things. Psychic is not one of them. You export a car, you notify them of export - else things like this happen... This is not rocket science.

jbainbridge

That's what's happened. The DVLA still have a record of the car - but there is no insurance linked to it.

Contact the DVLA directly - sounds like you've got proof it was exported etc.

pappa_golf

DVLA , no insurance? , thought that was a charge instigated by the police

Rover_Driver

pappa_golf wrote: »

DVLA , no insurance? , thought that was a charge instigated by the police

The police deal with the offence of using a vehicle without insurance - s.143, Road Traffic Act 1988.

The DVLA deal with the offence of being the registered keeper of a registered vehicle that does not meet the insurance requirement - s.144A of the same act.