Bloody Car Tax & The DVLA

[chrispy]

I foolishly drove my car for two days without tax (due to not having the time to get it basically) and got caught by the DVLA, no probs I broke the law and deserved to be punished. They fined me £80 and I happily sent them a cheque on the 10th Feb which got cashed on 6th March. I thought everything was fine until this morning I get a letter from some bloody debt collection agency claiming £80 on behalf of the DVLA B*****ds, don't they have enough cash coming in that now they try to screw you twice? I phoned the debt recovery company who now say I have to send them proof that I paid it even though I wrote my name, address and registration number on the back of the cheque. Surely this should be up to the DVLA to investigate and not me. It's their error not mine so why should I be inconvenienced for their lack of decent staff who can process a simple cheque?

 

[Dieselman]

Why not tell them to send you proof that you haven't paid.

 

[kth286]

chrispy

You need to get your credit files from Experian and Equifax asap at a cost of £2 each agency, to see if anything bad has been recorded about you.

Otherwise, if there is, it could prevent you obtaining credit/mortgage facilities in the future.

Records will stay on your files for the next 6 years.

 

[andy_k]

the debt recovery agency won't have access to the DVLA bank statements and will be acting on "old" information.

These collection agencies are only doing a job and your argument isn't with them.

Phone them again and offer to send a copy of your bank statement showing the cheque was paid then take the matter up with the DVLA

Write to them asking why the matter was referred to a collection agency and tell them quite clearly that you want some form of compensation for the inconvenience, time and out of pocket expenses.

Whether they pay out or not is another matter but it's worth a try. you could always send them a bill (which you can guarantee they won't pay) and refer that to a debt collection agency

Andy

 

[Benzowner]

chrispy

You need to get your credit files from Experian and Equifax asap at a cost of £2 each agency, to see if anything bad has been recorded about you.

Otherwise, if there is, it could prevent you obtaining credit/mortgage facilities in the future.

Records will stay on your files for the next 6 years.

As far as I am aware, debt collectors are not recorded, you only get bad credit from CCJ's. I had a debt collector call at my house for someone who does not even live there, but was using my surname. Checked my name and address with the agencies and all was ok.

 

[C240Sport97]

A debt collection agency does not have any more right or power to collect money than the DVLA. DVLA has merely outsourced its collection functions.

Debt collection agencies are notorious for making their demands look official or like court documents to panic the public into thinking that they are in trouble and/or to give the impression that the debt collection agency has some form of official or semi official status.

 

[kth286]

You do not need a Court for a default, such as on a credit card.

All official defaults ARE recorded and WILL affect your credit score.

I do not know how the DVLA treats perceived non payment and what authority they have to send info to credit agencies, but working in financial services and having an understanding of credit agencies I would not want to be risking it.

 

[Dryce]

you only get bad credit from CCJ's.

You can fail a credit check pretty much at random.

I believe that the information quality of the databases held by the credit rating agencies is rather poorer than they would have the world believe.

The problem is compounded by the (often big and respectable) customers of these agencies whose business processes and systems can introduce further errors and mistakes.

 

[BTB 500]

You can fail a credit check pretty much at random.

I believe that the information quality of the databases held by the credit rating agencies is rather poorer than they would have the world believe.

The problem is compounded by the (often big and respectable) customers of these agencies whose business processes and systems can introduce further errors and mistakes.

Absolutely.

I re-mortgaged some years ago, from Citibank to Alliance & Leicester. After it had all gone through, I closed the direct debit to Citibank ... just in case.

Guess what - a month later they tried to take the normal mortgage payment. It bounced (because I'd killed the DD), so I was flagged as having a mortgage account in arrears

Took a long time to get it sorted/cleared, with hindsight it would have been better to let them take the money then claim it back!

 

[esox]

I foolishly drove my car for two days without tax (due to not having the time to get it basically) and got caught by the DVLA, no probs I broke the law and deserved to be punished.

How did you get caught?

I didn`t renew my tax (did it online) for a week or so,because the MOT ran out.

 

[MBManInKen]

You can fail a credit check pretty much at random.

One of my members of staff tried to get his first credit card recently.

He has worked for me for 6 years, earns well over 40K/year and has no other commitments and in fact quite a few savings.

He has never borrowed any money, never had an overdraft, never even had a student loan.

He was refused.

Reason? Since he has never used credit, he has no history, so no way to generate a "good credit" status...

By contrast, a while ago there was some programme on tv showing people on 12K/year and already heavily in debt without problems getting another loan for 5 grand and receiving a "free" visa credit card with a 2.5K limit automatically when signing up for the loan.

 

[High-Lo]

How did you get caught?

I didn`t renew my tax (did it online) for a week or so,because the MOT ran out.

Did you drive your car during that week?

 

[esox]

Did you drive your car during that week?

Only to the MOT station for the pre-booked appointment.........

 

[Dryce]

One of my members of staff tried to get his first credit card recently.

He has worked for me for 6 years, earns well over 40K/year and has no other commitments and in fact quite a few savings.

He was refused.

I've been with my current bank for over 12 years and they have ample evidence of my net worth given how much we hold with them. I was declined a new account with them not long ago. Politely pointing out the absurdity of the situation failed to resolve matters. A firmer approach asking if they'd like to appeal our decision to decline undertaking any further business with them did resolve it.