SORN car clamped

MobileSaver

An elderly relative unwittingly SORNed his car even though it was still parked on a public road outside his house. (The car had failed its MOT just as the relative became very unwell, a short while later they were admitted to hospital and sadly a few weeks later they passed away.)

While in hospital the car was clamped and I believe there's now a £280 fee to pay to release the clamp. If it's not paid then the car will be towed incurring more fees and ultimately crushed.

However the car isn't worth much more than the fees already due, we don't think it's a runner anyway and even if the clamp release fee was paid there's nowhere to store it.

The family aren't rich so I'm looking for the best MSE solution to get them out of a bad situation. The first checking question is are all the fines/fees still due (to the deceased's estate) if the car is crushed or does crushing wipe the slate clean in respect of the vehicle?

Mildly_Miffed

Phone them tomorrow, and engage with them. Explain the situation, and ask for some sympathy.

That's the route to the simplest and cheapest solution...

MobileSaver

Mildly_Miffed said:

Phone them tomorrow, and engage with them. Explain the situation, and ask for some sympathy.
That's the route to the simplest and cheapest solution...

Thanks, I did try that on Friday, the clampers were very sympathetic but ultimately advised they have no discretion even on compassionate grounds; they did forward a dvla email contact and I'm awaiting a response on that.

The family would be happy with the car being crushed if that meant any fines/fees were also extinguished but of course if crushing means even more fees become due then they're looking for a better way out if DVLA simply say the law is the law.

la531983

Is there money in the estate to actually pay for these fines? 

MobileSaver

la531983 said:

Is there money in the estate to actually pay for these fines? 

There isn't much in the estate but there will probably be enough to cover the fines after the funeral and other debts etc.are paid for.

An issue though is that even if the fine was paid today to release the clamp, there's nowhere off-road to store the vehicle so it would have to be taxed and insured which is more costs for a car that is probably only worth what the existing fines/fees are.

daveyjp

Get the car towed and crushed, worry about the debt afterwards.  The debt collector can only act against the relative and that can be stalled for months.

MobileSaver

daveyjp said:

Get the car towed and crushed, worry about the debt afterwards.  The debt collector can only act against the relative and that can be stalled for months.

The problem with that approach is that the clamper advised there'd be extra costs for towing and a £20 a day storage fee after that so the fees due would quickly escalate. 

The car just isn't worth that so I'm trying to work out if there's a better MSE approach to take. Does anyone know if fees are still due once a car has been crushed?

MattMattMattUK

Pay the fine to have the clamp removed, have a car recycling company collect it the same day, they will pay you £200-500 for the car.

MobileSaver

MattMattMattUK said:

Pay the fine to have the clamp removed, have a car recycling company collect it the same day, they will pay you £200-500 for the car.

Great idea, thanks. That sounds like a good backup plan if DVLA say the fines are due regardless of what happens to the vehicle.

Car_54

MattMattMattUK said:

Pay the fine to have the clamp removed, have a car recycling company collect it the same day, they will pay you £200-500 for the car.

As well as any clamping fees and penalties, the car will have to be taxed and insured.

prowla

I have no clue as to how the DVLA is geared up to dealing with a sad situation like your family's; the fact is that the SORN does declare that the car is off-road and so the DVLA are following their process for dealing with a car being on the road having been declared off-road.

I also don't know if there is a mechanism for paying the fine and then retrospectively going through steps to have it reversed and refunded.

There doesn't seem much humanity in some of these regulations and they may say once you've paid, the offence is admitted, and the matter is closed.

But on to the idea of getting the car taken away and scrapped, I may be able to add some input.

I had that done last year when my cheap clunker's timing belt went and a repair would've been well beyond its value.

We had it towed home and my son had the recovery park it on the street rather than off road where I'd told him to, so I could SORN it and reclaim the road tax; so I lost £25 having to let it run to the next month so it wouldn't be clamped.

We contacted a couple of scrappers and arranged for one to come but they didn't show up, so we contacted another (who offered slightly less money) and they turned up on time and took it away. The original one then turned up a couple of days later, so I had to tell them it had gone.

The point of that is it may be very difficult to coordinate paying the fine to one entity, them getting the car un-clamped by another entity, and having it taken away by yet another entity, without risking it being re-reported and flagged as a re-offender.

It'd be worth confirming what the leeway is with the DVLA after paying the fine and also finding out how promptly they do the un-clamping.

Also, the scrapper will need the V5C transfer of ownership section filled in before they can take it away; it looks like there's a process to be gone through with the DVLA for that (https://www.gov.uk/tell-dvla-about-bereavement/selling-the-vehicle) which doesn't seem too onerous.

And finally, the car insurance company needs to be informed.

Hope it gets sorted!