Double jeopardy?

[Druk]

Friends of mine re-taxed their second car earlier than necessary. Husband put tax disc in office drawer and forgot to change it on car. Wifie took car to station carpark with out of date disc and on return had fixed penalty notice (£60 from police) on windscreen. Paid fine. Fair enough.

They then get letter through post from DVLA demanding a further £57 for same offence. £117 for a simple oversight?

Surely the law in this country excludes you from being found guilty twice? Or are the DVLA now above the law?

 

[whitenemesis]

Is it not the case there are usually two offences?

1. Not displaying a valid tax disc

2. Not having paid the tax

Clearly this isn't the case here. Perhaps the system kicked in and the DVLA have not checked their records and simply issued the fine?

 

[GRAV888]

Is it not the case there are two offences here?

Not displaying a valid tax disc

Not having paid the tax to allow you to use / park on the road (i.e. not SORN'ed)

Only one offence I can see of not displaying.
Vehicle is actually taxed though.

They should have just said it had fallen on the floor and appealed.

 

[Druk]

Is it not the case there are two offences here?
Not having paid the tax to allow you to use / park on the road (i.e. not SORN'ed)

No, they had prepaid the tax (probably by a couple of weeks) and been issued with the continuation disc but had simply forgotten to replace the expired disc with the new one.

 

[whitenemesis]

Yes, sorry Druk, I corrected myself but not quickly enough!

 

[Druk]

They should have just said it had fallen on the floor and appealed.

But whether it had fallen to the floor or was still in a drawer is immaterial surely? DVLA must be aware from their records that the tax had been paid.

 

[grober]

How exactly was the tax disc paid for? On the net? post office? local tax office? Have you any receipt of payment ? Might help prove your case?

 

[stevesey]

Friends of mine re-taxed their second car earlier than necessary. Husband put tax disc in office drawer and forgot to change it on car. Wifie took car to station carpark with out of date disc and on return had fixed penalty notice (£60 from police) on windscreen. Paid fine. Fair enough.

Station Car Park - are the police entitiled to issue a fixed penalty there? Perhaps Robert can clarify. Also if it was the police they could have checked the tax situation (so exactly what was the offence - just failing to display?)

 

[flango]

If the tax was bought at the Post office it takes a while for it to catch up and get registered on the DVLA system. Simply write to the DVLA enclosing a copy of the tax disc you purchased along with the receipt and they will cancel the back tax they are trying to collect.

They say with computers linked to the DVLA these things update automatically but they don't, we had a similar issue to this and it was 6 weeks after the purchase of the disc that it updated at the DVLA

No way around the £60 fine for not displaying though.

 

[w124coupe]

Sounds weird as the DVLA fine for failure to display is £80 (not £57)?

Either way they are just about to experience the joy that is the DVLA admin system - all at 0845/0870 call charge rates.

DVLA botched my private plate retention paperwork and said I forfeited the right to use it. Over 4 hours on the phone and lots of letters later I have it back..

As above, the fine for faliure to display is absolute and they are stuck with it - even applied if yor tax disc is stolen - you can't use the car until the replacement arrives.

 

[whitenemesis]

The police only prosecute for failing to display, then report it to the DVLA how will then prosecute for non payment of the tax.

In this case the tax was paid, just not displayed. Apparently this is a 'strict liability' offence and so whether you are at fault or not is irrelavant (i.e. it fell of into the footwell is simply admitting the offence!)

 

[GordonTarling]

I would have thought that most station car parks are private property, where the police wouldn't have the power to fine for this sort of offence. Or, maybe it wasn't an 'official' station car park?

 

[Deleted member 6183]

I don't really think that the DVLA will persue this once they realise that the car was taxed.

It's a bit rich really. If you don't tax or declare SORN the DVLA fine you even if the car has been off-road they just assume that you've used it on the road untaxed. However, when the opposite occours - you tax but don't show it - they still fine you.

When I moved house last year I received an extremely aggressive letter from the TV licence people, I had forgotten to change address with them and my licence was connected to my old address, when I called to tackle the issue I was told that they are aggressive because a very small minority try to evade paying. Good eh? Treat us all poorly because of a small minority, like the DVLA's stance which appears to be fine first and see if the innocent party can be bothered to put it right.

 

[whitenemesis]

I must admit in this day and age where officers have instant access to databases and ANPR cameras everywhere it does seem a rather archaic law.

Hopefully it will be repealed and we can get rid of the clutter on the windschield

 

[GRAV888]

If the tax was bought at the Post office it takes a while for it to catch up and get registered on the DVLA system.
No way around the £60 fine for not displaying though.

Not true. When you buy your tax disc at a post office, they read the bar code from the disc with a scanner. It's instant.

They could have avoided the £60 by saying it had fallen on the floor.

 

[219]

I doubt the 'fallen on the floor' defence would work .

However , if the station car park is on railway property , and thus not part of the highway , the car would have been off-road .

Your friend could claim it had been parked there since before the tax disc expired ( away on a rail trip and car left in station car park , new disc not valid until date of commencement so could not change beforehand ) and thus no case to answer (as long as station don't have CCTV to disprove this ) . They would have to catch you on the road without a valid disc on display to make the charge stick . Might have been worth going up before the beak on this one .

 

[whitenemesis]

I doubt the 'fallen on the floor' defence would work .... .

As posted before the 'fallen on the floor' argument is tantamount to admission of the offence!

 

[PXW]

Might have been worth going up before the beak on this one .

AFAIK the penalties for perjury are rather higher than £60...

 

[oldcro]

I doubt the 'fallen on the floor' defence would work .

However , if the station car park is on railway property , and thus not part of the highway , the car would have been off-road .

Y.

I thought the law covered any area accessible to the public, not just the highway. Not sure, but worth checking.

 

[CE230]

I thought the law covered any area accessible to the public, not just the highway. Not sure, but worth checking.

Quite correct, any road used by members of the public that isn't closed at least once in 24 hours is deemed part of the public highway for enforcement purposes.

Be aware also that local authorities now have the power to remove a car off your front drive after sticking the appropriate notice on it so don't leave that project where it can be seen.