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I'm being fined by the DVLA for a company offence

number5shirt
Posts: 3 Newbie

in Motoring
Back in April I was driving a company van when it was pulled over and seized by the police. Turns out it was untaxed, which I knew nothing of. It made a right mess of my day, but I sorted out the release, returned it to work, and thought no more of it. That was until last week, when I recieved a penalty notice in my name, together (of course) with a tight payment deadline and threats of court action for non payment. I've spoken to my employers, who tell me that they, as the registered owner and keeper of the vehicle, were fined shortly after the incident. They have a receipt for the payment of the fine. Am I liable in any way here - or is this just a mistake?
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There are two different offences. The company will have been fined for keeping an unlicensed vehicle. You have been using it, so it seems there is no mistake.AFAIK there is no defence, but get over to pepipoo.com for better-qualified advice.The company is certainly morally responsible, and should pay the penalty for you.2
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I doubt you've got a leg to stand on, it's the driver's responsibility to make sure the vehicle they're driving is road legal.
That's why our drivers are given daily sheets to confirm they've checked tyres, lights etc.
Roadtax isn't quite so easy now that visible discs are defunkt, but it's still easy enough to check online.
I agree the employer should do the decent thing and pay the fine, there's not much you can do about any points (if applicable).
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I agree the employer should do the decent thing and pay the fine, there's not much you can do about any points (if applicable).
Offences involving Vehicle Excise Licences (Road Tax) are not endorseable.1 -
Appreciate your comments. I'll just crack on, pay the fine, and put it down to experience. It's a small company, and I'd be fairly confident they would stump up.
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number5shirt said:Appreciate your comments. I'll just crack on, pay the fine, and put it down to experience. It's a small company, and I'd be fairly confident they would stump up.
Do you check the tyres and lights when you drive their vehicles?
If they can forget road tax, it's not a stretch to suggest other stuff is lax.1 -
TooManyPoints said:I agree the employer should do the decent thing and pay the fine, there's not much you can do about any points (if applicable).
Offences involving Vehicle Excise Licences (Road Tax) are not endorseable.
I should have known that.0 -
Everything is usually done properly, and it was a fluke of circumstances that the tax was unpaid in the first instance. It was an oversight caused by the coincidence of a move of premises (with complications caused by lockdown), and office staff furlough.
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Car_54 said:There are two different offences. The company will have been fined for keeping an unlicensed vehicle. You have been using it, so it seems there is no mistake.AFAIK there is no defence, but get over to pepipoo.com for better-qualified advice.The company is certainly morally responsible, and should pay the penalty for you.
Fining the registered keeper for not taxing the car is just it should be, but fining someone for driving said vehicle, especially given the OP’s situation, seems rather harsh imo, but there it is.
If the driver was also the registered keeper they’d presumably face two fines???
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This is a conundrum with this offence.
As you suggest, two fines for one individual for the same transgression would be unjust. I've seen many people appear in court facing car tax charges and I've never seen anybody face such "double jeopardy". There is a specific exception under s143 of the RTA (which covers insurance) protecting drivers using a vehicle in the course of their employment:3)A person charged with using a motor vehicle in contravention of this section shall not be convicted if he proves—
(a)that the vehicle did not belong to him and was not in his possession under a contract of hiring or of loan,(b)that he was using the vehicle in the course of his employment, and(c)that he neither knew nor had reason to believe that there was not in force in relation to the vehicle such a policy of insurance . as is mentioned in subsection (1) above.
The OP could argue that a similar principle should be applied to vehicle tax. It would make an interesting argument.2 -
number5shirt said:Back in April I was driving a company van when it was pulled over and seized by the police. Turns out it was untaxed, which I knew nothing of. It made a right mess of my day, but I sorted out the release, returned it to work, and thought no more of it. That was until last week, when I recieved a penalty notice in my name, together (of course) with a tight payment deadline and threats of court action for non payment. I've spoken to my employers, who tell me that they, as the registered owner and keeper of the vehicle, were fined shortly after the incident. They have a receipt for the payment of the fine. Am I liable in any way here - or is this just a mistake?0
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