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Just an update, the debt collection company who I spoke with one the phone went back to the council and they have dropped all the fines. It’s looks like when push comes to shove you NEED to the be the registered keeper to be liable for any fines etc. it begs the question why the council went to these lengths, the registered keeper was never me, they had no case the letter from the DVLA cemented this point.

I still have not recived any official correspondence from the council and I don’t know if I will it was the debt recovery agency who told me the fines had been quashed, and correctly so! It pays you to stick buy your guns if your are in the right!

Thanks Anderson, I’ve attached the last letter I received from them.

There last letter really didn’t give much detail to go on to be honest I think I need to ask more questions tbh.

On point 2 of the road traffic act, I never kept the vehicle, unsure how I would prove this though or how they could disprove it more to the point.

On point 3, which I think is the main point here the “owner” is the person who’s name the vehicle was registered to (I presume that to be the registered keeper) I already have the letter from the dvla attached the the previous replies to this thread proving that I have never been the registered keeper (ever) for the vehicle I’m question, so surely that in its self should be proof enough that I have never been the owner and the owner is presumed the registered keeper?

Thanks


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Hi all,

Back in 2021 I started to receive PCN letters for a vehicle I did not recognize (at first) in total there where 5 separate fines, 4 for parking and 1 for a bus lane, total I think all combine are sitting around the £600 mark. Knowing that I have never driven this car or had the car registered in my name, I contacted the council back when I got my first letter to explain this to them, they where not interested and just palmed me off and told me to pay or it would go up, etc.

Annoyed I ignored them and the letters.

Fast forward to August 2024 I started to receive letters from a debt collection agency threating bank arrestment, I thought now I really better start digging as to what was going on.

My first port of call was the DVLA, I wrote to them for proof that I had never been the registered keeper in question, over the phone they confirmed this right away but I had to wait for them to reply in writing so I had written evidence to show the council that I have never been the registered keeper of the vehicle in question. I also contacted the debt collection company who said they could put a hold for a month on any proceedings (bank arrestment etc).

I scanned the letter I got from the DVLA and send the council an email showing this, this was about a month ago, they got back to me yesterday.

What they are saying is that they contacted the DVLA who then passed them over to an insurance company who then passed them over to a car salvage auction company (the car in question was an insurance write off and sold via a car auction site). This car auction site had a record of my self purchasing the car, in all honesty I thought even this was wrong, but it turns out I did indeed bid on a vehicle (on someone else's behalf) and won it, this is going back 5 years or so ago a few months before the first PCN's.

I also transpires the person who was driving the car never bothered to apply for the V5 in their name (which us why I think the DVLA pointed the council to wards to insurance company and in turn ended up getting my name off the back of the sale of the vehicle).

My question is this, am I liable to pay for these fines? I was and never have been the registered keeper, I was not driving the car and never have driven the car. The person driving the car I also presume would have had insurance tying him to that vehicle at the time of the contraventions? I seems like the council are using a bill of sale for the vehicle to pin these fines on to me.

Unsure where I go from here, I have purposely not included street names, pcn codes and other details as to not shoot my self in the foot, even though I truly have nothing to hide, I've had fines before and always pay council PCNs if I know I am in the wrong, but in this case I was not the owner or the registered keeper of the vehicle.

Any help at all at this stage is much apricate, also I'm in Scotland as I am sure you know so unsure how the laws work a bit differently up here to down south etc.

-Aton