My car has been scrapped - but it hasn't!?

Nawanooh

P3d said:

Hi. Just happened to me. Renewed my insurance this month and payed the full tax amount last month.
Last Friday got a check for 11months refund of my tax. Called dvla to find out why they have refunded me only to be told that my car was sold for scrap. Well the car is at my door I said.
Now have sent them photos of the car and vin number as well as log book. Called them today and got told that it can be 6 weeks before they get back to me. Problem is I need the car in the road and I can't. All I need to know is, if I hire a car while I wait for dvla to correct the obvious mistake who can I Seend the bill to? This is crazy that now a days with all the tech we have  I have to wait as lond they are going to take to sort it  with no fault of mine whatsoever. Anyone else resolved theirs. Thanks 

Hi, do you have email address for the right dvla department for this matter? Im in the same situation. Cheers

jimjames

This sounds like quite a common issue that is impacting DVLA. One of those affected might want to report to their MP as it could need further investigation as to whether it is fraud or jus inept processing by DVLA. 

I'd probably carry on using the vehicle if DVLA won't allow me to tax it. They'll have difficulty issuing a fine for a vehicle they claim has been scrapped.

nathbaldwin

Hi guys, we have just been through this situation and it was eventually resolved after just over 9 weeks.

I bought a car from a friend I'd known for a few years, who’s brother had the car prior to him. The car come with a full logbook but when we tried to tax the car online it didn’t work, we went to a local post office, it didn’t work and we were told to contact DVLA. We found that the car had been marked as scrapped. The car had been in every day use, had valid MOT and was no way shape or form scrapped!

The process is a bit long winded, in some cases I didn’t have a reply for weeks, and I received no confirmation that they had even received my email despite the instructions saying it would be acknowledged within 48 hours. But I have the contact details for the team and a person within it which “helped” me.

The car has now been un-scrapped, is now out of mot and I have been told that I need to tax it ASAP.

Send me a PM if you need any help, the details or guidance. I cant post the email on a public forum but I can share it with those in need.

gloverboiii

Hello,

I’ve had the same problem. 2 weeks ago my car was marked as category b. Even though I’ve been driving it for 2 years. 

Insurance have cancelled on me. Not heard much from dvla… police filed a report. If anyone who knows how to solve this has info or contact details for who can help. Please message me. 

DanViner

Im in the exact same boat at the moment 
turns out the car was registered as a cat B 2 years ago by an insurance company 
I’ve spoke to the insurance company and DVLA and they have both said it’s impossible for the car to be on the road as they have confirmation of it being in a major collision and the insurance company disposed of it 

have messaged Nathan but if there is anyone else that can help please feel free to contact me 

nicksexecute

A friend gave me a link to this thread. I’ve had a quick flick through and feel there is a huge anomaly not mentioned. When your car has been scrapped, someone has taken a fee. It’s a fraud. My battle with the DVLA is ongoing – this is the story. Any tips are very welcome : 

Last year I tried to sell my old car, worth £1000. I had to buy it back form the buyer who had been told the car had been scrapped by the DVLA. I’m the registered owner but the DVLA told me the car had been destroyed by ‘one of the big boys’. They refused to name the scrappage company. They also refused to investigate, despite me sending them numerous stills and videos showing I still had the car with newspapers dating it in the present. I had to put in a subject access request to find out the scrappage firm but the DVLA redacted much of the information for some bizarre reason. I contacted the scrappage firm, who confirmed that the VIN of the alleged scrapped car matched mine (impossible) and indeed someone had taken a fee for this. In essence then, someone (probably at the DVLA) had created a dual copy of my car, scrapped it and taken a fee for it. In the meantime I have a car that I can’t drive or sell.

 

I reported it to the police. Everytime I would phone up I would get sympathy but no action. It got comical. I asked them if I was to drive my car which apparently no longer existed through the front window of a police station in the style of Hannibal Smith from the A Team, what would happen? Surely they couldn’t arrest me since I would have done it in a car that doesn’t exist ? I began to make various complaints of the police. More absurdity – I asked if I was to scrap the cars of the police force, take a fee for it and set up a charity called Scrappage for the Homeless and the Turtles, could the police confirm I would not be arrested and indeed that I hadn’t committed an offence. After all someone had done it to me and apparently it wasn’t an offence. They were backed into a corner on this one and demanded I cease contact. I didn’t I escalated it further and apparently a detective has now conceded I am the victim of fraud, but I have been referred back to the DVLA, but with a crime reference.

 

I put a formal complaint to the DVLA but they ignored me. More anomalies – an MOT was performed on the car post scrappage (shouldn’t be possible), I bought a file on the history of the car post scrappage and the DVLA wasn’t showing it as scrapped. I asked the DVLA how all of this could be and they just continued to ignore me. I tried to put them in court and get my MP involved. The MP initially said as I was taking them to court, he couldn’t get involved.

 

Subsequently, the court service (HMCTS) refused to issue the claim saying the DVLA address was not long enough. I pointed out it was used by 39 million drivers and was long enough for them. They then wrote back citing Practice Direction 16.4 (2.5). I looked on their website. The Practice Directions only went up to 2.4!! I put in an official complaint about the HMCTS. Like the DVLA they have a statutory obligation to respond with 10 working days. Like the DVLA they totally ignored me. I wrote every week for a couple of months and was ignored. The court service making up false practice directions remains the most worrying aspect of this case for me, so far.

 

Given that the police and the court service seemed to be protecting the DVLA I tried again with the MP. More success this time as I door-stepped his office. He has written to the CEO of the DVLA and Alex Chalk the justice secretary on my behalf regarding the conduct of the HMCTS.

 

The DVLA have conceded they have made an error but are denying that a fraud has occurred preferring to call it a ‘genuine administrative error’ at the scrappage company. I remind you a detective now disagrees with this. They have refused to apologise but reinstated the car. Alex Chalk has now replied saying another genuine administrative error has occurred and in due course someone will contact me and enable to claim to proceed (I’m not holding my breath).

 

I’ve had to pay for storage of this vehicle for nine months and when it emerged from storage it no longer ran. I had to sell it for £200 instead of the £1000 it was worth when I sold it originally. If I had left it on the road with no tax, it would eventually have been seized and as the last registered keeper, I would no doubt have been sent a large bill for said seizure, hence I have had to pay for storage. The DVLA are the agency that withdrew my license to drive or sell the car and then have refused to engage or answer any pertinent questions. They don’t accept any liability in this comedy of errors.

 

At one point my various complaints against the police lack of action caused them to send two police officers to view the car. They clearly thought the problem was me and had egg on their face when I opened the garage where it was being stored and they confirmed I was telling the truth as they checked the VIN on the car. Unbelievably the police then refused to supply me with their report and I had to first put in a Freedom of Information request and then a subject access request to get hold of the police call log confirming they had identified the car as being legit and still in existence. The DVLA were then supplied with this but refused to accept the word of 2 police officers.

 

This feels a mini post office scandal! I suspect there is a rogue operator somewhere in the DVLA, possibly aligned with someone at a scrappage firm. I’d urge you all to ask whether a fee has been taken by someone for the scrappage of your vehicle. If so, we should be co-ordinating and trying to align law enforcement to investigate as a collective case, not disparate individual cases. I’ve spent over 100hrs on this now and gone through various complaint levels with the police, DVLA, court service. In theory, the police force I’ve complained about have now acknowledged that it requires to be investigated but all they have said is that Action Fraud need to allocate it to the appropriate police force to investigate (as the perp is not in my area but that is all they have said). If this starts to be investigated and there are others out there who have had their car’s identity stolen for a fee, perhaps we should be joining forces and asking for a wider investigation ?