Speeding ticket/road tax payments on car I sold months ago

Mildly_Miffed

Badger36 said:

We filled out the V5, I gave him the new keepers slip and put the rest of the V5 in an envelope, couple of first class stamps and sent it off to Swansea. Job done as far as I was concerned.

I presume you never received the reply from DVLA saying they'd processed the keeper change, and you were no longer responsible for the vehicle?

The time to have chased it would have been a month or so after the change, when you didn't receive that.

That would have fitted nicely with your four weeks offshore. Back home? No confirmation? Chase.

(Or just wait until you did have an internet connection later the day of sale, and do the change online then.)

It's your legal requirement as registered keeper of a vehicle to ensure that the V5C address is one at which you can be contacted in a timely manner. If you're away for extended periods, you need to make sure it's one where your post can be dealt with, either a trusted friend or relative to open it, or a forwarder. There are commercial services available.

Right now, you have two problems.
One is making sure that the keeper change is belatedly notified.
The other is dealing with the legal consequences of your tardy personal admin.

TooManyPoints

As said after posting the V5C, I feel I've fulfilled my obligations - everything else is a time consuming hassle.

Unfortunately you have not fulfilled your obligations regarding the speeding allegation. You had a duty to respond to the request for driver's details regardless of your relationship to the vehicle. The police can send a notice to whoever they choose. You were obviously still shown as the Registered Keeper (and probably still are) and that's where they begin.

By all means post this on FTLA if you wish but there really is no alternative. You must contact the police force who issued the notice. Even if you cannot immediately give them all the details you need to tell them your current position in an attempt to stall them beginning court proceedings (which, with the offence committed on 8th August, they will begin soon).

You have no defence to the "Fail to provide" charge. You received the notice and simply ignored it. You are in urgent damage limitation territory because if you are convicted it will almost certainly cost you more than £1k, not to mention the insurance implications.

Nasqueron

They probably got confused when you wrote to them about road tax which hasn't existed since 1933

Okell

@Badger36 -  you said you received the NIP on the 11 July, but is that when it was actually delivered to you or is it only when you discovered it on your return home from working away?

What was the issue date of the NIP?

Are you away at work at the moment?

Betterthanlife

Nasqueron said:

They probably got confused when you wrote to them about road tax which hasn't existed since 1933

1937 I think you mean 

Herzlos

Badger36 said:
I don't really have a lot of details about the new owner. I remember his first name (which is probably the most common first name in the UK) and the town he came from.

If you sold via Facebook or Gumtree, the messages would be kept unless you deleted them, which may provide a full name.

Car_54

Herzlos said:

Badger36 said:
I don't really have a lot of details about the new owner. I remember his first name (which is probably the most common first name in the UK) and the town he came from.

If you sold via Facebook or Gumtree, the messages would be kept unless you deleted them, which may provide a full name.

At this stage, the police may not even be interested. They would have to send a NIP to the buyer, and he'd have 28 days to reply, which would be perilously close to a time-out.

Meanwhile, they have the OP red-handed for FTF, with no defence.

Mutton_Geoff

Even if your phone had no signal, why didn't you take a pic of the reg document before you posted it? You are only supposed to send the new keeper part, not the whole thing. Instructions are written on the document on how to record a transfer/sale.

TooManyPoints

Mutton_Geoff said:

Even if your phone had no signal, why didn't you take a pic of the reg document before you posted it? You are only supposed to send the new keeper part, not the whole thing. Instructions are written on the document on how to record a transfer/sale.

What's done (or not done) is done. The OP needs to extricate himself from what is quite a serious position. 

Hoenir

The change of ownership could have been submitted online.