Traffic violation after part ex-ing car

badgolfer

hi folks, two weeks after part ex-ing my car at a local dealer it ( the car) picked up a fine for entering a restricted zone, two years later a debt collection agency are hounding her for over £500. It seems the dealer didn't send the V5 off. We are having a really difficult time trying to fight this. CAB are advising she hides her car, surely this is madness,  any help would be appreciated thanks

badgolfer

my daughters car, not mine

neilmcl

Do you have any prove that the car was sold/part-ex'd prior to the traffic offence?

badgolfer

Hi, only proof of date of purchase,  change of insurance but not got a receipt, dealer will not help and DVLA are not able to help, debt agency are not interested, just want to collect the money

EssexExile

How has it got this far, didn't she get notice of the fine at the time?

badgolfer

No as DVLA never received V5 and she moved address due to violent relationship,  its been a massive disaster all round really, this was in 2018 and she only knew about it just as the country went in to lock down

nottsphil

You seem to imply it's the buyer's responsibility to send off the seller's section of the V5....

badgolfer

No, my daughter is sure she sent the V5 off but we have no proof of that unfortunately. Its frustrating because proof is difficult to obtain,  the dealer keeps promising to send a copy of the purchase receipt but I suppose that may implicate him so we have not received that and the debt collectors are due any day now

Homer_home

Hang on did you say debt collectors not bailiffs?

If so only engage with them to tell them the debt is denied and to refer it back to their client

They are not allowed to visit your home without making an appointment to see you first so don't make that appointment!

Bailiffs ? Its a different story however there's  a very good website I believe  its called bailiffadviceonline and they will be able to help you 

Manxman_in_exile

Are you sure the only advice CAB could give was to hide the car?  (Whilst that is probably good advice they could have been a lot more helpful!)      EDIT:  It's particularly poor advice as presumably the debt collectors/bailiffs don't know your daughter's current car anyway - only the old one(?) so no point in hiding the new one they don't know about(?).  Are you sure CAB said this?

The previous poster is correct.  You've mentioned "debt collectors"  and they basically can be ignored.  Are you sure you don't mean bailiffs or court enforcement officers?  They do have quite sharp teeth and you need to deal properly with them.  (You might be confused as you seemed to be confused as to whether it was your car or your daughter's originally).

If they're bailiffs they'll have a court warrant enabling them to seize goods etc.  But my understanding is they can only enforce that warrant at the address on the warrant.  How have they found your daughter's current address if this is the first she has heard of it, as half a dozen or so documents must have gone astray for it to get this far?  What's the address on the warrant (assuming there is one).

Your best bet is to go and ask on pepipoo, but be warned, they will ask you a lot of questions and you need to be well prepared.  Don't, for example, refer to "debt collectors" if you actually mean "bailiffs".  Be ready to post up all the documents she has received and be ready to answer many questions about why it has got to this stage.  (Prepare a timeline of events and changes of address and notifications to DVLA etc).  Don't register with a hotmail account.

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showforum=30

If bailiffs are already involved they may also refer you to another site that gives expert advice on dealing with bailiff issues.    EDIT:  it's the website referred to by Homer above.  But I think I'd try pepipoo first

If bailiffs are involved - get to pepipoo now and don't mess about...

molerat

I had confirmation from DVLA that I was not responsible for my old car about an hour after I traded it in.  Doing things properly saves a lot of aggro !