Dealer sold car on after PCP ended. 6 m later it got parking charge. Court case chasing prior keeper

dadsma

Hi all, please could you advise on this for a friend who only contacted me about it today after the parking company issued a county court claim. I’ll try to keep it succinct.

In Feb 2021 at the end of a PCP agreement the vehicle was collected by the finance company and sold at auction.
Last October my friend received a notice to keeper from a private parking company chasing an unpaid parking charge issued in August 2021.

He informed the parking company that he was no longer responsible for the car and he contacted DVLA who confirmed they still had him down as the registered keeper. He provided both with the finance company details and the date they collected the car.

Debt collector letters followed until 1st July this year when he received a county court claim. He has notified the court that he denies any debt and intends to defend on the basis that he was not the keeper on the date of the alleged parking breach, had no legal interest in the vehicle after the pcp contract ended and the car was returned and cannot know the driver’s details.

The ppc say they have considered his defence but will continue with the claim.

It is clear that neither my friend or the finance company or any subsequent owner notified DVLA of a change of keeper until my friend did after the parking episode. Does that mean he might be held legally liable if the parking company is able to transfer liability under the Protection of Freedoms act?

Mouse007

The ppc say they have considered his defence but will continue with the claim.

They always say that, regardless of what you tell them. It is a fundament component of their business model - a roboclaim process abusing the Court system.

There is no option other than to fight this properly. Has your friend filed the AoS and/or a defence yet? and if so on what dates?

It will be an easy win, but your friend must follow the rules to avoid a default CCJ.

patient_dream

Who is the PPC and legal who are pestering you ?

A PCP agreement is no different to the "never never" in that you do not own the car until the loan is fully paid whereby you can pass the car back to the lender. OR YOU CAN PAY A LUMP sum called a balloon payment to keep the car

Until the payment agreement is satisfied the finance company owns the car

I am sure a judge will have great fun with this. No doubt your friend has the final signed off paperwork which is dated

Trainerman

I am not a lawyer, but it seems to me that the as it was the finance company that sold the car, it was their responsibility to update the details with DVLA. I think you would have a very solid defence , if it ever got to court.

@Mouse007 is right. The PPC will always say they are proceeding and try to intimidate you into paying. They do not make money by being sensible and reasonable ! I very much doubt they would take this one all the way to court

KeithP

dadsma said:

Debt collector letters followed until 1st July this year when he received a county court claim. He has notified the court that he denies any debt and intends to defend...

From that it looks like your friend has already filed a Defence. Is that right?
Can you please show us exactly what was in that Defence?

dadsma

Thanks for the input.
This defence was filed with the court on 2nd July 2022:

”The parking charge was issued on 15/8/21. The lease on the car expired in February 2021, and the car was collected by an agent of BMW on 5/2/21 from my son's house.

I have proof of this, and confirmation of the end of the lease. This information was passed to the parking company.

I had assumed that the DVLA had been advised by BMW to the effect that they had taken back ownership. I was not aware that the car was still registered in my name. When I discovered this I informed the DVLA and they acknowledged in Nov 2021.”

I’ve asked for further details.

patient_dream

I stand to be corrected on this but as it was finance albiet a PCP agreement, the finance company owned the car until the last payment was made.  At that point there were 3 options ..
1: A balloon agreement where you pay an amount to own the car
2: Hand the car back after the final payment and walk away
3: If there was a residual balance to the market price you could put it towards a new car

You chose option #2.

I assume the V5 showed you as the registered keeper, do you still have that V5 or did you give it back to them at the time ?

Within the V5 there is section 4 " Selling, transferring or part exchanging to a motor trader". Because a trader and BMW are a trader, they do not want the V5 to show extra owners such as themselves or an auction or the buyer at the auction. Normally a trader will complete section 4 and give you a copy.

This is another major flaw in the operations of the DVLA, It means a car could have a few owners which are never seen on a V5

"We buy any car" do this, the car is sent to an auction and whilst they paid you meaning they purchased the car, "We buy any car" will never appear on the V5

It is the final selling trader who will advise the DVLA that you are the registered keeper

dadsma

patient_dream said:

“It is the final selling trader who will advise the DVLA that you are the registered keeper”

I’m confused and may be getting the wrong end of the stick.  In this case BMW auctioned it via British Car Auctions.  That could have been to a private owner or to a trader who then sold the car to a private buyer. In that case why would that final selling trader advise DVLA that my friend was the registered keeper and not register the car in the name of their customer?  

By the way, my friend found he still has the V5.

Trainerman

I do not suppose that that final trader said anything about your friend. Having bought/sold a few at auction, I suspect that the final trader either forgot or could not be bothered, OR the auction 'forgot', and the 'new owner' decided not to spend £25 on a V5. They may have seen advantage in not being traceable !

As @patient_dream says, this is yet another major flaw with DVLA and the system, as your friend has now found.

Coupon-mad

I think he should get his MP involved to write to the Claimant and point out that they already know he was not the keeper and clearly this is the wrong Defendant.

This is a terrible situation, but defendable even based on that sparse defence.  Under the POFA, it is rebuttable that he was the 'keeper' of the car because the wording of Sch4 says the keeper is assumed to be the registered keeper UNLESS the contrary is proved.  Well, he already told the Claimant that he hadn't been the keeper since Feb 2021 and can prove that with evidence, at WS stage.

dadsma

Yes that seems logical. 

So, for the court defence we will show that in Feb 2021
1. BMW collected and auctioned off the car via BCA
and
2. BMW confirmed the pcp agreement had ended.

I don’t understand the full legal position here. Does the fact that seven months later my friend was still shown as the registered keeper expose him to any liability for the parking charge as alleged by the ppc, despite what POFA says?

The PPC say that it is my friend’s responsibility, as the “keeper” to provide them with details for the subsequent keeper as at the date of parking. Unless he does that they continue to hold him liable and will not withdraw the claim.