Removal of goods notice from Newlyn re traffic violation

[AnthonyP]

Hi everyone,

I'm hoping someone can help me.

Nearly a year ago I committed a very minor traffic offence but I didn't receive a penalty notice. The reason being I had sold our home and moved in with parents whilst we were looking for another place. During this time I'm pretty sure I changed the V5 accordingly.

I called Enfield council this morning and they said they had sent a fine through the post to our old address, where the address was taken from the DVLA. I have to call Northampton court and get a PE2 and PE3 form to explain that I didn't receive the fine and I also have to prove that the address was current, so I have to fill our a V888 (information about a car) form with the DVLA.

Now my worry is that during the time i'm waiting for these enquiries to be completed someone from Newlyn is going to come and try and get the wife's car. The car in which I committed the offence was sold late last year.

The wife is in a bad way. She has a fractured foot and her mother has Alzheimers. We also have 2 very young children so any kind of visit by bailiff (of which we have never had before due to this mistake) would almost certainly cause them all great stress.

I'm hoping that someone can give me some advice on what to do. The fine is a huge £512 which I don't have, and which I don't really feel is fair at all. I am happy to pay the original fine whatever it was but I assume it's not possible to pay the original amount.

Any information would be appreciated

Thanks

Anthony

[R0b]

Re: Removal of goods notice from Newlyn re traffic violation

Is the car on any finance at all or does she have a blue badge displayed on it? Is the car owned by her, can she prove she paid for it?

If the details were changed at the DVLA then you might be able to argue that they have issued it to the wrong address knowingly.

Can you break down this £512? how much is the fine and is there any bailiff fees which have been added to it. Have you received any notice from the bailiffs and if so what date was that? Did they give you 7 days to pay up?

You may also wish to look at the Citizens Advice Bureau for more information.

The main thing to do is not to let them into your house for whatever reason - they might try any trick in the book to do so but as soon as they are let in, they won't leave.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/de...take/bailiffs/

[AnthonyP]

Re: Removal of goods notice from Newlyn re traffic violation

Hi R0b

Thanks for your prompt reply.

We have 2 cars, my wife's and my current car that is in the garage so out of sight. The offence happened in a car that I sold last year. Whilst my current car is in the garage, the wife's sits in the driveway so I'm worried they'd take that in case they can't get entry to the house. No finance on any of them and no blue badge. We can prove we paid for it as we bought it from new from the dealership in 2009. Again, the car that I committed the offence in has been sold so is no longer at the property.

My wife has since messaged me to say that the V5 was registered to our new address on the 28th August and the offence occurred on the 15th August. So it looks as though it was in the process of being changed.

I haven't spoken to Newlyn yet to get a breakdown of the charges. Having read some of the comments on this forum, some say not to call them to confirm who you are, so I wasn't sure whether to speak to them or not. I'm pretty sure the vast majority of it is bailiff 'fees' as the fine would only be maybe 100-150 at the most which I don't have a problem paying. The only thing I got through the post was the Removal of Goods Notice, this is the first I've heard about this fine. The letter states that the removal unit is in the area and will be looking to remove my car and household possessions. They have managed to send the fine to my current address however.

It's really worrying

Anthony

[R0b]

Re: Removal of goods notice from Newlyn re traffic violation

Well they cannot take third party goods so if its in your name then you might want to give proof that she owns the vehicle, either copies of receipts that proves it was paid. If they then continue to insist on taking it then they will have committed an offence which you can take against them in court.

Take a look at the following links which might help on your next steps, it appears that the suggestion is to pay online direct to the council or in person and get a receipt to prevent any further action being taken by the bailiffs.

http://www.dealingwithbailiffs.co.uk...et-bailiff.htm

The law - Paragraph 58 of Schedule 12 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 says when the debtor pays the sum then no further enforcement steps can be taken and paragraph 31 of the Taking Control of Goods: National Standards 2014 says when enforcement action has ceased, the bailiff cannot enforce the recovery of fees.

http://www.dealingwithbailiffs.co.uk...e-doorstep.htm


It sounds like you should have also received a notice of enforcement too from looking at the CAB website, which the Notice of removal sounds like the enforcement step.

Compliance	Writing to inform you of the debt, requesting payment, issuing an enforcement notice	£75	0 per cent
Enforcement	Visiting your home or business premises to take control of goods, including everything involved in identifying, valuing and taking control of your belongings	£235	7.5 per cent
Sale	Removing and selling the belongings that were taken control of in the previous stage	£110	7.5 per cent

[AnthonyP]

Re: Removal of goods notice from Newlyn re traffic violation

Hi Rob, no I didn't receive any Notice of Enforcement from them previously.

The car is in her name as we traded in her car under the scrappage scheme so it is hers, not mine.

I'll take a look at the links, thanks very much.

Anthony

[R0b]

Re: Removal of goods notice from Newlyn re traffic violation

Okay well she ought to have some kind of paperwork as to the sale of the car. If the bailiff has not been given any proof then he could have reasonable belief that it might be yours. So if they do turn up just be prepared to show evidence of ownership.