I say help because I really think something untoward has happened here.
Background ? apologies for length and twists and turns?
I was handing my car back to the finance company as it was now 50% way through the agreement. The finance company were delayed in sending the forms to the correct address causing the road tax to expire. The car was therefore rightfully placed in the impound.
So far everything is as normal. A pain perhaps but nothing out of the ordinary.
I contact the DVLA impound where an employee ensures me that if I am handing the car back to the finance company they would deal with it, contact the finance company and sort the whole matter out. I had paid the impound fee and the tax expiration fee also and therefore the only question I repetitively asked was ?so you won?t crush my car? You?re sure you won?t crush my car? to which as already stated the reply was ?no no I takes ages before we go down that route, crushing is a last resort?.
Two weeks later I called the impound as I had hear nothing.
The lady who then answered confirmed that my car had actually been destroyed; after the silence having asked her to repeat that I told her about my previous conversation which stated my car would not be crushed. She replied that there was no log of me calling and therefore she did not believe I called. I restated that I did in which she pretty much said there was nothing on the computer and therefore it was my word against theirs.
Now I?ve played corporate pink fluffy dice games before?.get it in writing!
I know have an email confirming that I made mo phone call, there was no log of me calling and as such with no contact they were in their rights to crush my car?I have emails stating this.
On informing them that I have phone records proving a lengthy phone call to their number they again disputed it before eventually confirming that not only did they suddenly remember the phone call but they could recount exactly what they said to me! Their version was that they told me they were going to crush my car?.but in far more detailed response which I found amusing AND amazing to have gone from no memory to the most amazing recount of a phone call ever!!!
Where does this leave me:
In reality the DVLA are no longer replying to my emails that ask for a resolution.
They cannot explain why someone with a reasonably healthy bank account would hear that his car was going to be scrapped and it?s worth of £3000+ would be lost, not to mention the remaining balance owed to the finance company of £3000+ and simply let it happen.
The finance company continue to damage my credit history, add charges and contact me politely (as I have been very apologetic to them) whilst DVLA have stopped sending contradictive emails, offering inept work ethic and are now simply saying nothing.
Any advice? I really need this sorted ASAP as my lady and I would like to buy our first house this year!
Thanks,
Ryan
{some editing taken place in accordance with the forum T's & C's and no swearing policies}
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 04/02/2010 at 13:06
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So you drove your car with no tax, it got impounded by the police and then crushed.
You can't prove that you were assurred by the compound that it wouldn't be crushed.
Was the handover complete before the car was destroyed?
If so the car belonged to the finance company and not you.
Why didn't you just tax the car for another 6 months and cash the remainder in when you handed back the car?
This probably doesn't help sorry.
I would suggest phoning the DVLA not emailing and seeing how this can be resolved.
Conatct the CAB as well.
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I'd take a punt (it's only £10) on a data protection act request for a copy of the recording of that phone call (normally comes on CD) & print outs of any computerised records including all, unedited, comment fields. Do it sooner rather than later, i think bazomis on here found DVLA only keep records for 3 months!!!
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I didn't know I could do that CraigP so thanks for that, I'll give that a shot as it coud be the one thing that sorts it out once and for all.
I wasn't driving the car without tax, it was parked off the road waiting to be picked up by the finance company when it was, as I said, rightfully picked up by DVLA but then wrongfully crushed.
Anyhooo....I'll chase up the recording of the phone call.
Thanks!
Ryan
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If you had an actual off road parking place then you should have declared SORN when the tax ran out.
What was the date that the finance company said they would pick up the car? If it is after the tax ran out then you should have declared SORN or re-taxed it. If it was more than a few days before the tax ran out then I think the finance company are also at fault for failing to collect their property and keep it properly taxed/sorned etc.
I'm a bit miffed that the DVLA can effectively steal your vehicle from private property for being untaxed as you could have easily SORNd it and found it had been lost in the post so you lose the car though no fault of your own. Clearly everyone needs to keep untaxed and sorned vehicles hidden in garages or under disguise so the DVLA can't find them until they have the appropriate paperwork as I woudn't trust this lot as far as I could throw them any more.
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Ryan,
One of the few things that ring true from your DVLA conversation is: "It takes ages to scrap a car - that's the last resort."
If the elapsed time from lifting to crushing is usually, say, three months, and yours has been crushed in three weeks, that is fairly sound evidence of a balls-up on the DVLA's part.
There may be a published procedure/protocol for crushing which might shed some light on this aspect.
Too much to hope for some helpful leaflet/online document: "Will the DVLA crush my car?"
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For cars with resale value (like yours) then they sell them and don't scrap them.
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it was parked off the road waiting to be picked up by the finance company when it was, as I said, rightfully picked up by DVLA but then wrongfully crushed. >>
How did DVLA "rightfully" get to the car if it was off the road?
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what day did you "officially" agree to hand the car back?
what day did the DVLA impound it?
was it not the property of the leasing company when it was impounded?
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Thanks for the replies guys!
Ok the vehicle was rightly taken from private parking as I did not do the whole SORN thing...hence why I was happy to pay for this charge.
When I say the car was parked off the road, it was in a private car park for residents who live in a block of flats in Edinburgh. So yes off the road but, still in an area that traffic wardens check for cars that shouldnt be there.
The advice that it really should take months not a matter of weeks is interesting. I'll have to look into this closer too.
The debt collecting person from the finance company contacted me before Christmas obviously looking for a clean cut 'I owe him money-he will get money' scenario. After the conversation had calmed down, we found a calmer tone and he realised what had happened his words were "oh, I see...yes I've seen this many time before" and then told me a story of a £36,000 carthat they were about to dispose of.
Which brings me to the other post above saying that they resell cars that have residual value...is this the case.
I genuinelly wanted to ask for my lump of metal at the time as prrof that they actually disposed of it.
The other issue is that there was a range of camera lenses in it. Not my expensive ones but still the best part of £700 worth.
Ok...off to try to retrace the phone call now.
Thanks again,
Ryan
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 05/02/2010 at 10:28
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Which brings me to the other post above saying that they resell cars that have residual value...is this the case.
Yes. I believe so. They auction them - they used to apparently scrap them but now auction them.
See:
www.newportauctions.co.uk/about/news.php
www.newportauctions.co.uk/veh_stock.aspx?AType=3
But it's irrelevant if crushed or auctioned in your case. The car is gone. And you had to reclaim it within 14 days. Maybe it sometimes takes longer to dispose of cars but that's probably a logistics problem. You have to claim a car within 14 days with proof of tax/insurance and pay any other fees.
Edited by rtj70 on 05/02/2010 at 10:39
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Yours wasn't a 2004 Plate Ghia 1.8 SCi or a 2002 Ghia TDCi was it :-)
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