DVLA advice

[whippit]

Could any one advise me on what to do,

my dad bought me a new motor bike in 2001, 3 months later a little old granny decided to try and kill me and pulled out of her drive without looking,

she tee boned me, luckily I got off the bike before i hit the car and landed a long way down the road, nothing broken,
the bike came off worse, ever panel smashed to bits, my brother collected the bike and took it back to my house,

a insurance assessor looked at the bike and I was told it was beyond economical repair and received a cheque in the post less salvage ( which i didn't even ask for )
any way it sat in my garage for years smashed to bits, i got bored last year and bought panels for it and had it checked for alignment, which came back ok,

i had the garage open last week to air the elan, and a lad spotted my bike and asked if it was for sale, i thought why not as i'm past bikes,
i rang the dvla to check how to go about selling it as i only have the old style log book,

the dvla informed me that there is an outstanding fine on the bike but couldn't say why and i should contact the local office,
iv'e never received any communication from the dvla about the bike in ten years,
so what should i do, do i just sell the bike and argue with the dvla later,

i cannot see how there could be a fine when the bikes been a in my garage for the last 10 years,

any one got a clue

[andy123]

Is the bike registered SORN (Statutory Off Road Notice)? If not could be down to DVLA thinking you have been avoiding paying the licence fee for the last 10 years.

[whippit]

iv'e never had any letters off the dvla ,
i never received the tax renewal form, i didnt think you had to declare a a insurance loss as a SORN so as such never thought i had to inform them of a cat d insurance loss,
surely the insurance company would have informed the dvla of the loss,
i'm not paying a fine 10 years old,

[ailwyn]

Might have been written off by the insurance co, but all that means is they paid out for it. You are still the registered keeper and owner, and as such liable for not having it taxed or sorn'd.

Doubt you have a leg to stand on as they have been pretty plain in the advertisements etc that they published when all this came in. I would suggest accepting responsibility, blaming senility or ignorance and offering to make restitution. Depending on what size bike, offering to pay 10 years worth of tax might be cheaper than a fine (when I had a 125cc around '99 I think tax was about £15 a year, the 1300cc FJR I've got now is about £70).

[lotusles]

The Insurance company will have recorded the vehicle on MIAFTR but as a cat D it does not get notified to DVLA (only cat A, B & C do)

There are two offences now with total losses, continuous registration (as you retained V5 this will not be applicable) and SORN. As you retained the salvage they are both your responsibilty, plus now of course if you dont have a SORN, you are liable for Motor Insurance.

I suspect you will be fined for no RFL backdated, I think its £80 a year, as you did not complete a SORN.

[Stef]

WTF?

So frustrating when you get clobbered for a system that wasn't made clear.

Good luck, hope you don't get down trodden by the system

[inkitin]

I don't know for certain what the law is on this but I believe that the above posters are probably correct.

Assuming your bike is still registered as a vehicle, then I think the very first thing I would be doing is to immediately get it SORNed. Without an SORN, as I understand it, your bike legally has to be insured for the road and I think should also have a valid MoT certificate. Unforunately, these have the potential to be seen as additional offences to the RFL "offence".

The next thing I would do is ask GeoffSmith to draft out a grovelling letter to the DVLA for you. He's absolutely ACE at those sort of letters!

Good luck.

[whippit]

There must be some grounds for compromise,
logically i thought as it was a total loss, the insurance company told the dvla, i may be wrong about the category though, i hope its a C

as i didn't receive a RFL renewal after the first years RFL ran out, and as the bike was a box of bits, i never thought about it,
and as ive never had any demands for the bike, I CANNOT PAY A FINE IF I DONT KNOW IT EXISTS , ?????
surely its there failure to send out notification or demands that has caused the fine to be generated,

iv'e lived at the same address for the last 40 years, i assume ive not missed any post
as for ten years of fines at £80 a year, the dvla can go and !!!!!!!!!!! them self's ,

i'll stick it back in the garage and use it as a shelf again, never to be seen again ,

[rip]

& if it had been exported? What then?

[hatters]

That sounds totally crazy ,you cant be expected to pay a fine or 10 years tax ,surely you should have been notified when the incident occurred , or at least the next time the tax was due after the incident , I wouldnt have thought it was your responsibility to bring it to their attention .Put It back in the garage and forget about it

[lotusles]

There must be some grounds for compromise,
logically i thought as it was a total loss, the insurance company told the dvla, i may be wrong about the category though, i hope its a C

as i didn't receive a RFL renewal after the first years RFL ran out, and as the bike was a box of bits, i never thought about it,
and as ive never had any demands for the bike, I CANNOT PAY A FINE IF I DONT KNOW IT EXISTS , ?????
surely its there failure to send out notification or demands that has caused the fine to be generated,

iv'e lived at the same address for the last 40 years, i assume ive not missed any post
as for ten years of fines at £80 a year, the dvla can go and !!!!!!!!!!! them self's ,

i'll stick it back in the garage and use it as a shelf again, never to be seen again ,

The Insurance companies notify DVLA via MIAFTR for all category A, B & C salvage because it was a requirement for them and anybody else under the 2002 Road Traffic Act to advise of vehicles with damage. The notification advises DVLA of the requirements under VIC (Vehicle Identity Check) even though it is not relevant for motorcycles (yet). That is all that happens, and all other responsibilities for SORN Continuous Registration etc are down to you as DVLA will only allow the owner or registered keeper to notify them. Had the insurer taken your motorcycle as Salvage then responsibilty would have passed to them as "in trade". I also understand that in the small print about SORN, dvla will notify you annualy, however if they dont, its down to you.

[lotusles]

& if it had been exported? What then?

If the bike had been exported, then it is the current owners responsibilty under thev requirements of "Continuous Registration" to notify DVLA of the new ownre etc, so this would not have happened.

[chipp]

would be interesting to know if there was any enquiry made to the dvla or did you just leave it.

chipp