My daughter bought a second-hand car from a dealer just before Christmas, the deal included 12 months road tax.
Yesterday she received a letter from DVLC saying that the cheque for the road tax had not been honoured and that immediate payment of the tax was due and as she was the registered keeper it was up to her to pay it.
I spoke to the dealer who did not sound overly surprised and he offered to send her a cheque for the tax (£110) on the basis that she pay the DVLC herself (the DVLC say that the full amount must be paid within 7 days or they will rescind the tax disk and institute proceedings).
What is our best course of action, is it
a) pay the tax and hope that the dealer?s cheque to my daughter is OK?
b) send him the demand for the tax and get him to sort it out with DVLC?
c) start legal proceedings against him on the basis that she paid for the tax and he has not delivered it?
d) appeal to the DVLC to chase the dealer themselves?
Help!
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As the dealer has made the offer to compensate your daughter for her losses, there is little you can do other than accept option 1
You could try option 2, but he has probably made a reasonable offer with option 1. Whether or no the next check will bounce I don't know, but you can't speculate that he won't unfortunately.
OR you could insist that he pays cash. Hanging around and discussing it at length during normal trading hours whils he has punters coming and going, may prove effective. ;)
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his record with cheques says to me you insist he pays you cash.
PU might know, but is it still fraud to write a cheque you cant cover?
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Yes, if you do it dishonestly witht the intent to deceive. DVLA take no prisoners when you bounce cheques on them, they don't like it all.......
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oh....CPS are a bit weak on bouncy cheques. DVLA just cancel the tax so even if it's still on the screen they'll bump you large.
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One way or another the tax will be 'VOID' . Suggest DVLA are paid and attempt to recoup off the dealer.
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Fullchat
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I'm just surprised that a (reputable?) dealer would use such an old-fashioned method of payment as a cheque.
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L\'escargot.
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Pay DVLC
Then isn't there a breach of contract here?. Dealer saying car sold with 12 months VED which is turning out not to be true.
Civil Court action to resolve?
dvd
(Appreciate dealer may be man of straw)
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There is obviously a breach of contract as we paid for 12 months tax and a tax disk was supplied fitted to the car, but yesterday we got a letter from DVLA saying that the payment was not valid (cheque bounced) and that as the registered keeper my daughter was liable for the full £110.
What I want to know is can I just tell the DVLA and let them sort it out with the dealer, or is my daughter liable to pay(remember we did pay the dealer to buy the tax)
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Your daughter is now the legal vehicle keeper. If she wants to keep driving the car she needs to get it taxed, otherwise ANPR will pick her up. Your dispute is with the dealer, not the DVLA. Get the car taxed then continue your claim against the dealer.
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"What I want to know is can I just tell the DVLA and let them sort it out with the dealer, or is my daughter liable to pay(remember we did pay the dealer to buy the tax ?"
No and Yes in that order. As Davey says using the car now could cause you major grief.
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Unless you want to be prosecuted for using an untaxed vehicle then send DVLA a cheque ASAP Today. !! and ask the garage for 110 pounds in cash as TVM has said. Regards Peter
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Thanks to everyone for their contributions. I have gone with the main view, namely I have send the DVLA (actually The Post Office acting as their agent) a cheque for the £110 and am in the process of recovering the money from the dealer.
This has been a new one for me, as up to now when a car has come with a tax disk, that has been that. I have never ever been in the situation where a tax disk has been rescinded due to a cheque ?been returned unpaid?. I have, perhaps naively, assumed that when a dealer taxed a vehicle that there was no possibility of anything going wrong; well now I know it can!
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Glad you got tax sorted and kept daughter road legal.
But if dealer has a cheque bounced for £110 I honestly dont hold out much hope of getting money back.. Sounds like he is on his lastlegs?
£110 cheque on a site full of cars worth £ x ,000 s ?
But good luck .
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Ask him verbally and in writing. Small claims thereafter if the tax was part of the deal, it would have to be pretty specific though.
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The tax was part of the deal. We have a receipt from the dealer for the supply of the car and it itemises the 12 months road tax amongst other things.
In fact the more I think about this matter, the stranger it seems, because the dealer is now saying that his bank has not informed him of any problem and he is offering (verbal over the telephone) to refund my daughter the £110 if she pays the DVLC (she has, this morning by cheque). Perhaps he had a short-term cash flow problem before Christmas and this is the result?
Anyway thanks again to everyone for all the advice.
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The dealer's probably a bit careless with his money, or spent a few quid more than he should have done at the auction houses.
Whatever the reason, the dealer's still in the country, has confessed to the likelihood of the cheque bouncing, and has promised to pay your daughter the money.
Take the dealer at his word. Even if he doesn't pay up (I hope he does), you still have to tax the car, so I think you went the right way about it.
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Mike Farrow
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It could be a technical error on the cheque, something simple. He seems to be acting fairly though.
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If he doesn't play ball, speak to Trading Standards and your local newspaper. Newspapers work every time! If that does fail, take him to the small claims court - it's under £500 and you can claim expenses.
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Odd things can happen.I bought a car with a loan from a major bank;checked with the bank it had gone thro' and gave the dealer a cheque on a Monday.On Friday morning I collected the car-no problems.Midday,got a phonecall from the dealer to say my cheque had "bounced".Phoned the bank and found that the loan had gone thro' but had been paid into a different account from the one I had requested-I then said I will be in my local branch in 15 minutes and I want a bank draft waitng for me-it was and an offer to recompense any out-of pocket expenses.A relieved me and a relieved dealer.
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