Car clamped due to DVLA mistake

dragon47

My partner has had her car clamped on our own drive. When she phoned the number, she was told by the people at Harrow council that she was fined for a bus lane offense committed over a year ago but the DVLA gave them the wrong address so all the correspondance went to the wrong house (a few doors away).

They are now trying to seize the car for the unpaid fine. I assume it's been clamped by bailiffs working for the council who must have spotted it on our drive when searching the general area of the address they had.

She has filled out a form to have the case overturned but has been told the original bus lane fine will still need to be paid before the clamp will be removed.

Has anyone else been through something similar to this?

We have no idea how long this is going to take to sort out and it seems to me that as a result of a DVLA mistake we are left without a car. What are our legal rights in a situation like this?

Can anyone provide any useful advice?

Thanks.

Alias_Omega

google 'peipoo' and post it there.

Keith

What made the DVLA send the fine for the bus lane offence to the wrong address, was it your partners failure to update the information held by them?

Or an error by the postal service?

flutterbyuk25

Check the address on your V5C/logbook, if it's incorrect on there then it's not DVLA's fault the wrong address was given out as you should have returned it for amendment on receipt if it's incorrect.

Conor_3

Basically she is liable for the fine and needs to pay it. If she can prove the correspondance was sent to the wrong address, she can get Harrow Council to instruct the bailiffs to release the car but the fine is still due HOWEVER if it's been a fine issued by a Magistrates Court, that option has long gone and the only way is to pay the fine and get it released then pursue it.

Either way, she will have to pay the fine as she committed the offence - it's just a case of trying to get the car unclamped.

vaio

Conor wrote: »

……... If she can prove the correspondence was sent to the wrong address, she can get Harrow Council to instruct the bailiffs to release the car but the fine is still due HOWEVER if it's been a fine issued by a Magistrates Court, that option has long gone and the only way is to pay the fine and get it released then pursue it.

Either way, she will have to pay the fine as she committed the offence - it's just a case of trying to get the car unclamped.

I would have thought that if she can prove the correspondence was sent to the wrong address AND it’s no fault of hers then she could well not be liable for the fine as there are time limits on this sort of thing.

cyclonebri1

Can someone comment on the legality of clamping a car on private property?

I'm not questioning the ownership or address info the DVLA had, or that the fine should not be paid because I feel it should be, but to render a vehicle immovable in what could be anyones drive seems a bit suspect to me

In this situation I'm sure I would feel justified in removing the clamp.

dragon47

To clear up the address issue, I should say it's correct on the log book and on her licence. The DVLA definately have the correct address but the council claim the DVLA provided them with the wrong one.

We have not seen any evidence regarding the original offense so I don't know at this stage if we would want to contest it or not.

The forms she has filled out and sent off are;

Statutory Declaration unpaid penalty charge - form PE3

and

Application to file a statutory declaration out of time - form PE2

Thanks for the comments so far!

tomstickland

Angle grinders are £15 at Wickes.