Author Topic: Fixed Penalty Notice sent to wrong address?... any recourse?  (Read 1322 times)

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Fixed Penalty Notice sent to wrong address?... any recourse?
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I forgot to tax vehicle and got clamped as was parked on road. At the time of the incident I hadn't informed the DVLA that I had moved house, the FPN got sent to my old address (the address where vehicle was registered at time of incident) and I never received it.
However, the "notice under Section 46 of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994" (presume this is the FPN?) wasn't sent till 3 months after the incident, by which point I had contacted the DVLA and informed them that I had sold the car (given name and address of new owner) and I also renewed driving license with the correct address.
As I had informed the DVLA of my change of address before they issued the FPN, surely they should of sent the FPN to that address rather than the address of where the car was registered to at the time of the incident?

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Re: Fixed Penalty Notice sent to wrong address?... any recourse?
« Reply #1 on: »
It's a bit unclear what got clamped if you sold the vehicle.

It also appears you sold the vehicle and notified the dvla, at which point it was still registered to your old address.

You don't seem to have changed the V5c address at any point to your new address.

I appreciate that you changed the address on you DL. It explicitly tells you to change V5c adresses but nobody seems to read that bit.

It's unclear what state the penalty is at and what it is.

Exact dates may help.

I imagine it's an out of court settlement offer (£30 + tax x 1.5 - from expiry until sale - and £100 release fee).

Dod the DVLA confirm you were no longer the keeper and did the new keeper tax it (you can check online and it will also tell you the date the last V5c was issued which is potentially useful).
« Last Edit: April 11, 2024, 08:01:41 am by slapdash »

Re: Fixed Penalty Notice sent to wrong address?... any recourse?
« Reply #2 on: »
26/02/22 I committed the traffic violation. car got clamped. paid £250 to have clamp removed. put car in garage. car registered to old address.
11/07/22 I sold car and informed the DVLA of new driver and address on V5
10/08/22 I renewed driving license with MY correct address (don't have a car anymore)
12/09/22 "a notice under Section 46 of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 was sent to the defendant” presume this is the FPN?, which was sent to old address
« Last Edit: April 11, 2024, 08:01:10 am by Freshmilk313 »

Re: Fixed Penalty Notice sent to wrong address?... any recourse?
« Reply #3 on: »
A traffic violation has nothing to do with it. Any violations are a seperate matter.

I don't know why the release fee was £250.

You didn't change the V5c adress so everything was sent you your old address. Changing your DL is irrelevant.

Showing that you have received redacting personal information may help.

You description sounds as though you are now being prosecuted because you failed to settle the out of court settlement (which you apparently knew nothing about).



« Last Edit: April 11, 2024, 08:10:45 am by slapdash »

Re: Fixed Penalty Notice sent to wrong address?... any recourse?
« Reply #4 on: »
I couldnt change the V5 once I had sold the car, but surely should still be able to inform the DVLA of a change of address, which i did through the only means left to me i.e., up dating my driving license.

Yes I am now being prosecuted. and yes I didnt find out about the FPN till i received a notice of enforcement letter, the debt has increase to over £1,000 now. contacted HMCTS and they basically wouldnt respond to my claim that the FPN got sent to wrong address but just gave me a settlement figure with DVLA of £345
« Last Edit: April 11, 2024, 08:35:02 am by Freshmilk313 »

Re: Fixed Penalty Notice sent to wrong address?... any recourse?
« Reply #5 on: »
It doesn't sound like you are being prosecuted. It sounds like you have been.

You may have got a further steps notice and been traced.

Was it the car you sold 2 years ago clamped 2 years ago ? If so what did the sticker on the windscreen say ? I imagine it made mention of the penalty. (You knew at this point there was an issue but didn't resolve it.)

Or is it your current vehicle clamped now ?

You can "reset" a conviction that you were unaware of through a statutory declaration (there's a sticky). The most likely result is that DVLA simply prosecute again. This may result in a lower penalty. There is a very remote chance you may be able to persuade DVLA to settle out of court.


Re: Fixed Penalty Notice sent to wrong address?... any recourse?
« Reply #6 on: »
Yes it was car I sold 2 years ago that was clamped 2 years ago. I cant remember exactly what the note said on the windscreen, from what I remember it said something along the lines of... I have 7 days to pay £250 or my car would be towed away. I am pretty sure it didn't mention anything about further fines from the DVLA. I presumed it was issued from a company that worked on behalf of the DVLA and that fine was the total fine i.e., once i paid it that was the end of the matter. it certainly didnt give a numerical figure or instructions on how to pay further fine or i would have just done it there and then.

and yes you are right i have already been prosecuted. HMCTS already found me guilty. A friend told me to pay it just to stop the baillifs knocking on my door again, and then maybe take matter to small claims court. just seems like a lot of hassle for little to no reward
« Last Edit: April 11, 2024, 09:09:48 am by Freshmilk313 »

Re: Fixed Penalty Notice sent to wrong address?... any recourse?
« Reply #7 on: »
However unpalatable it is paying it resolves it.

It's not a matter for small claims court.

If you do a statutory declaration then you will (most likely) end up with the same fine, victim surcharge, costs and outstanding VED.

All you will save is the enforcement fee that HMCTS have added.

(The original clamping does sound odd, the release fee should have been £100, so the £250 sounds odd but it's ancient history really).

Make sure you comply with deadlines, but also check with HMCTS that you are paying them and ot is genuine. There are a lot of HMCTS enforcement scams. Costs escalate so don't sit on it.

Re: Fixed Penalty Notice sent to wrong address?... any recourse?
« Reply #8 on: »
No i completely agree with you about it being ancient history and just getting it paid and out of the way, and thanks for confirming what i deep down knew that it wasnt a case for small claims court. the bitterness mainly arose from not finding out about the FPN till over a year later and interest had been building on the debt without my knowledge, then when i challenged HMCTS over the matter i had to file the complaint 3 times before they eventually got back in touch which took a further 5 months, by which time baillifs had turned up at my door. I have just got off the phone with the DVLA and paid it off. Thanks again for the advice

Re: Fixed Penalty Notice sent to wrong address?... any recourse?
« Reply #9 on: »
I appreciate you have paid the DVLA.

It might help others who get into a similar situation if you provide a breakdown of what you ended up paying vs what was asked by the authorities. It will help others estimate what the minimum they would have to pay.