Are NSL above the law? - fine for SORN parked on road

victorian12

The keeper was not notified either. Car just disappeared.

tboo

Not sure this is best place to post given how busy this board is but I would like to get some opinion on whether NSL (contracted by DVLA enforcement) is operating above the law and if not who I should take this up with? Here is my story...

My friend's car was recently towed whilst under my care. Whilst I recognise that the car was illegally parked whilst SORN on a public road I have a number of serious concerns about how this case was handled. Here is a summary of what happened:

-The car was temporarily rolled off my driveway so that repair work could be safely carried out on a gas pipe which was next to the car 

- The car was taken to North Woolwich which is very far from my house (30 miles +) and this was in the middle of the fuel crisis. The only way I could retrieve the car was via a recovery company who charged £370. They could basically charge what they liked as virtually no-one was able to find the fuel to drive this far. 

- I was not notified that the car had been impounded (how is this legal?) and therefore I was unable to retrieve the car within 24h so incurred an additional £100 fee.

- It took over 24h for the car pound to answer the phone for me to arrange collection so another £21 fee incurred (legal?). I had to go back and forth to the main switchboard and incurred significant charges for the numerous phone calls. 

- The pound is closed over the weekend from Sat noon until Monday morning so it was impossible to collect the car yet I was charged additional storage fees (legal?).

- On arriving at the pound (which has no address and is not signposted) it transpired that the information I was given about which documents were required was incorrect. Also the quote for release price was incorrect as the surety fee was not mentioned. Fortunately I had additional documents and cash with me which I could use to release the car. 

- Attempting to request a refund for the surety fee was another stressful and frustrating process. It took another 48h for the car pound to answer the phone causing me a significant amount of stress given the proximity of the 15 day deadline. They eventually answered the phone literally 2 hours before the deadline. At this point the operator rejected my payment card as the last 4 digits did not match what was written on their form. I pointed out the form was incorrect. Another stressful wait after which I was called back and issued the refund. No apology was made for their mistake on the form.

So all in all a very stressful experience dealing with a company who basically do not communicate and a £633 bill for temporarily moving a car due to safety concerns over a gas pipe? Shocking. I think of many other 'crimes' with a less severe punishment.

I have already complained directly to NSL and also to DVLA. Anywhere else I can go with this? 

It's your *friend's* car so why are you so concerned about it.

Half_way

Were you aware that the vehicle was SORN'd when it was moved to the public highway?

Who moved the vehicle onto the road?

Road tax and insurance is a black and white issue and the DVLA  will clamp/or remove with not much - if anything  in the way of wiggle room to get out of it

theoretica

If you had left something else large out on the road without arranging permission - a bed for instance - it might have been removed to the dump and you charged with fly tipping.