Today I recieved a summons for my S2000 which I took of the road on the 1st December and took the sorn in to my local post office to be sent to the dvla..what a suprise it did not get there and now they have sent the fine of

 

Hi Shawn
What does the summons say the offence is?
It will have to say.
You're most unlikely to find a defence to a charge in any "British Constitution."
If the charge is using or keeping a vehicle without an excise licence, you have a defence, namely that you were not using the vehicle (I assume you were not keeping it on the road either) and you sent off your SORN. A court is bound at least to listen to your defence, and the mere fact that DVLA haven't got a record of your SORN won't stop them listening to you. Whether they convict you is another matter, but if you have a clean record and a good case, I dont see why they should not acquit you.
Regards
Simon

 

Just ring them up ,as they are very understanding,the same has happened to me twice before ,no problem they just re -sorned it and dropped the fine, I think they understand that the post/post office isn't perfect.

 

Hi Simon thanks for a quick response.
The summons says that according to our records that since the date that the car was last taxed that it has not been relicensed and neither have I notified them that it is not being used or kept on a public road by declaring it sorn and that this is an offence.
The car is on the driveway of my house and has not moved at all since the tax and mot have run out.
the sorn was sent on the 17th and they say that they have no record.
There is no initial process of court action just that failure to pay the

 

Don't believe anything you read on the net. Just phone them up and tell them the situation. You may not need to go into any fight yet, given what rallycol says

 

Do not do what i did today!

Registered SORN November, Got the car out of the garage today to retax it in Portsmouth on the way to my sons 18th. Forgot and got pulled on the M27 on the way home. Showed the nice officier paperwork still

 

I would walk to the post office to tax the car and thats about a 3mile away ...no way would I even try driving that far to go and tax it when it's needed. I have a friend who is or has set the vehicle recognition system up in the south Yorkshire area...bet he has either gained a few friends or lost them.. depends how you look at it.
I am not against it at all especially if it catches the ones that try dodging the system all the time with no insurance mot or tax ...and there are plenty out there that try, but if a situation like this pops up then I hope they have a symathetic ear instead of the draconian government that can be.
It seems from again what I have read on the internet so far...and I know not to believe all ...that the sytem is a little flawed or needs a bit of tweeking ...especially if you sell your car and then the next owner does not send the paperwork in or tax the car straight away after it runs out ...and you get clobbered for his misdoing ...this paper says that even if I did not own the car I still would still have to pay the back tax...that sucks. How many people sell a car with only a month or so of tax left...

Well I have written a letter to explain all information that can be given by myself and sealed the envelope ready to be posted RECORDED DELIVERY this time and hope it is an outcome which is in my favour ..I wait to see..

Thanks for all that have put my mind at rest for now.....but still does anyone know about this Bill of Rights thing and what it means for the common man of today...would be interesting to know just for future reference..
cheers all
shawn

 

Just got a reply back from some one from the BMW forum that has been through the same problem and here is what he has to say about the constitution part of it ..again I hope the legal boffins out there can clarify if this is a true act but it seems to have worked for him.
Shawn

qoute>>>>Simply advise them that under the British Constitution of 1689 it is unlawful for any body or company to impose a fine on a private citizen and member of the public.
Under the above constitution which is still in-force, the only body which is legally able to impose a fine for whatever reason is a court.
A court cannot imposed a fine for more than the original amount claimed, in this case

 

When I've laid my cars up I've always left them taxed and MOT'd (and even insured them for a day to retax in a years time) just to avoid hassle like this. Sometimes I've thought its been a waste of money but reading your post maybe its not....

 

I seem to remember that the last time I declared SORN that I got a receipt from the Post Office !?