Need Help

[mahbub]

Hi,
Back in February 2010 my car was clapmped by dvla as I had not taxed it. The day it was clamped I was out of the city where i live, so i phoned them and paid the penalty charges to get the vehicle unclamped. By the time i got back to my home just after two days local council towed my vehicle to the pound for the same reason and again I had to pay the fine to get it released.

I moved to a new address in July 2010.

In november 2010 I received a letter from a company called marston group to pay 750 pound stating a reference number. I phone them to find out what was it for, they said it was for Failure to provide the driver details. I asked them what the offence was, they said keeping the vehicle wihout licence(tax).

I told them i never received letter requesting driver details. and also I had been fined twice for the offence they were mentioining. They asked me to provide proof of payment. I gave them. They are still saying that I still owe the fine and if i dont my vehilce will be clamped or may be taken to the pound.

[welshlibranr]

Sorry! but you could have just taxed your car like the rest of us do!...........then you would not have a problem!...............

[douglas9401]

Would I be correct in assuming that you live in England where extortion is still legal in many motoring matters?

[4getmenot]

have you taxed it yet?

[Buenchico]

Marston Group appears to be a legitimate business:
http://www.marstongroup.co.uk/

They can only work from the information which has provided to them. So you need to challenge the source of that information, rather than Marston Group. If they've been notified of an unpaid fine it means that a court must have issued that fine. (i.e. Marston Group are not only assuming that you failed to respond to a demand relating to driver details, but also that you ignored a subsequent summons to appear before a court, and the notification of the fine issued by that court in your absence). You need to insist that Marston Group tell you the name of the court that fined you, and the date upon which that fine was issued.

When you know the name of the court you can get the contact details from this link:
http://www.hmcourts-s...v.uk/HMCSCourtFinder/
(NB: The HMCS web server is terrible. It frequently seems to stop working outside of office hours. If that link doesn't work, just google the name of the magistrates court for contact details).

The court officials should be able to provide you with information relating to how you can challenge the fine on the grounds that you never received a summons.

Chris

[mahbub]

Many thanks Buenchico for your infomative reply. I have the court name and the contact no and I am going to speak to them tomorrow.

@ all others, it was just a mistake, I was busy with some personal problems and was not even at home or driving the vehicle.

[Dodger666]

It's not only untaxed car owners that should be concerned about their cars being clamped/fined etc. The Government is expected to announce plans to fine all registered owners of uninsured cars too, even if the car is off the road. The vehicle may even be crushed To escape a fine you will need to obtain a SORN for you car. This, maybe, should go some way to removing all the uninsured cars off the road.

http://www.telegraph....ed-cars-off-road.html

[nmonline]

When your car is clamped for no road tax, you are then reported for not DISPLAYING road tax, which is a seperate offence. Often, the forms from the courts can be confusing. The £750 will probably have come from an initial fine of £70, which when unpaid will have incurred court costs, and now recovery costs.I think it's unlikely you can win with this one, although I hear www.pepipoo.com is the place for advice on this. If your car does get clamped again, and you can't pay the fine, try <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/clampresc
ue">Clamp
Rescue</a>

[nmonline]

Sorry, link didn't work! https://sites.google.com/site/clamprescue