Displaying Tax Discs????

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Brian H
Joined: Tue 16 Dec, 2008 19:55
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Displaying Tax Discs????

Post by Brian H »

My question is if any one knows: -

Can a ticket be issued for not displaying a valid tax disc if parked on private ground/property?

I received a ticket the other day whilst parked in a short term airport car park, this is privately owned and operated. The ticket is a police fixed penalty ticket. £100.00 fine!

Any help appreciated.
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BladeRunner919
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Re: Displaying Tax Discs????

Post by BladeRunner919 »

I believe the law treats publicly-accessible private land differently to non-publicly accessible private land. For instance, traffic laws such as following one-way signs would apply in a car park, but not on your own private land. So I guess the answer in your case is 'yes'. If the car was on your driveway, I think the answer would be 'no'.
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Jet
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Re: Displaying Tax Discs????

Post by Jet »

Did you just not display the tax disc or you don't have any tax? When you say operated privately, is it restricted to a certain group of people or can anyone pay the owner to park there?
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Brian H
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Re: Displaying Tax Discs????

Post by Brian H »

BladeRunner919 wrote:I believe the law treats publicly-accessible private land differently to non-publicly accessible private land. For instance, traffic laws such as following one-way signs would apply in a car park, but not on your own private land. So I guess the answer in your case is 'yes'. If the car was on your driveway, I think the answer would be 'no'.
Thanks Blades
Jet wrote:Did you just not display the tax disc or you don't have any tax? When you say operated privately, is it restricted to a certain group of people or can anyone pay the owner to park there?
Hi Jet,

The vehicle was brand new the day before I went away, fully taxed but did not have the tax disc as this now comes from DVLA swansea. The vehicle was parked in an airport car park which is accessible to all who pay. I was delayed coming home so the 14 day grace period had run out.

Brian
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Gazza
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Re: Displaying Tax Discs????

Post by Gazza »

You could try chatting with the police officer concerned to explain the situation.
Gazza

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Boysie
Joined: Sat 23 Apr, 2005 14:24
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Re: Displaying Tax Discs????

Post by Boysie »

I was to understand you have to tax the car even on private land hence this sorned thingy introduced
I was told they even have the power to remove the vehicle from your land :roll:
There must be lots of cars under tarpaulins with no tax albeit the vehicle age date's well back
It could be up-to-date log books the set the ball rolling with the DVLA
I know of a few people with cars in the garage that are not sorned, but have been there a long time

I often forget to put new tax disc in holder, too many vehicles
I was told that I can get nicked for not displaying the tax disc in the sprite and it free ' no tax to pay'
Ray

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Robert T
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Re: Displaying Tax Discs????

Post by Robert T »

I would argue that the requirement is for a vehicle to display a tax disc when it is being driven on the public highway (you'd need to check the wording of this), but particularly with a roadster you may well wish to remove the tax disc whilst it is parked off the road to prevent it from being stolen (the tax disc, not the car!). The fact that they are about to abolish tax discs entirely ought to make this argument entirely academic, but there is nothing like a jobsworth. :evil:

Cheers R.
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pingu
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Re: Displaying Tax Discs????

Post by pingu »

Brian H wrote:The vehicle was brand new the day before I went away, fully taxed but did not have the tax disc as this now comes from DVLA swansea. The vehicle was parked in an airport car park which is accessible to all who pay. I was delayed coming home so the 14 day grace period had run out.

Brian
If the car was taxed for ALL the time it was in the car park, I would expect you to be let off, even if you have to go to court.

Once the ticket has been issued, the officer's job is done. He cannot rescind it.
Pingu
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Jet
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Re: Displaying Tax Discs????

Post by Jet »

Hi Jet,

The vehicle was brand new the day before I went away, fully taxed but did not have the tax disc as this now comes from DVLA swansea. The vehicle was parked in an airport car park which is accessible to all who pay. I was delayed coming home so the 14 day grace period had run out.

Brian
As stated above, if it is publicly accessible then the law applies, however if you do have mitigating circumstances, write the DVLA a very apologetic pleading letter, who the MET issue on behalf of, send proof of very plausible explanation for the delay in renewing your license and cross your fingers.

Good luck.
t-tony
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Re: Displaying Tax Discs????

Post by t-tony »

Always try the grovelling letter. I did a good few years ago with the predecessors of the Environment Agency over fishing license. My friend couldn't be bothered. He went to court and was fined I didn't and never heard any more about it. Got to be worth a try?
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Boysie
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Re: Displaying Tax Discs????

Post by Boysie »

t-tony wrote:Always try the grovelling letter. I did a good few years ago with the predecessors of the Environment Agency over fishing license. My friend couldn't be bothered. He went to court and was fined I didn't and never heard any
more about it. Got to be worth a try?
In my matching fishing days I overlooked my license, the first of the season, I sent over 10 years of licenses to prove my innocence as an oversight, I got a £80 fine that was over 12 +years ago. the bailiff sat next to me all friendly and asked had I caught anything then asked to see my license, everybody scattered lol, they all phoned their wife's /friends and got them dated and back timed, that was the day of post offices issuing them




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t-tony
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Re: Displaying Tax Discs????

Post by t-tony »

Similar thing that happened to us Ray, we were deadbaiting for pike my mate had 2 rods out and me 1. He says why don't you chuck one out on your spinning rod? So I did ona partially frozen lake near Lincoln and round the lake comes the bailiffs van. we both only had one Severn-Trent and one Anglian region license each so we got ticketed. I went to the tackle shop in Gainsborough bought 2 new ones photo copied them posted the copies off with afore mentioned grovelling letter and said really very sorry it won't happen again etc. And that was that.
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Brian H
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Re: Displaying Tax Discs????

Post by Brian H »

Thanks for all the replies guys, I have gone down the grovelling/pleading route so hopefully I will hear soon. I will let you know.
t-tony
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Re: Displaying Tax Discs????

Post by t-tony »

Wishing you luck Brian.
"Knowledge and experience are not always the same"
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Robert T
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Re: Displaying Tax Discs????

Post by Robert T »

Thought I'd have a look for the legislation for this and have opened a whole can of worms...

This is what Jet2extra quote in their terms and conditions (see their website):
jet2extras.com wrote:Your vehicle must have a valid tax disc and comply with the Road Traffic Act 1988. The car park reserves the right to refuse entry to any vehicles that:
  • Do not display a valid tax disc
  • Display a tax disc that will expire while the car is parked at the car park
  • Have illegal tyre tread depth
  • Are deemed by the car park to be unfit for driving
This strikes me as a load of crap. You normally only display your current tax disc - this will expire at the end of a month - your new tax disc (assuming you have it) is not valid until the start of the next month - so unless you display BOTH tax discs, then you run the risk of breaking their rules and/or being fined.

I would assume that the Ts & Cs are the same for most car parks, and I would also assume that there is a reason that this clause in included, though this may relate to insurance and not traffic laws.

Everything I have read so far implies that you must display a tax disc whilst "using or keeping a vehicle on a public road". There is a bit more info on the 14 day waiver on gov.uk here.

I think you are probably right to go with the grovelling letter. Your vehicle was taxed, and it was impossible for you to have displayed the disc on it at the time. If the ticket was issued before the 14 day waiver had elapsed, I guess it may be deemed invalid. If it was after, then the legality rests upon whether the car was on a "public road". Good luck.

Cheers R.
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t-tony
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Re: Displaying Tax Discs????

Post by t-tony »

That could certainly be very interesting if, say, you turn up without a valid tax disc and they refuse to let you park and you may well have booked a night stay at a hotel before your flight out possibly including a dinner as well. If it's not in the small print, what then ? I think we shall be checking the small print now as previously we have left a car with current road tax which expired while we were away with the new one hidden in the car to put on the screen before driving home. Not at Jet2Extra but do others operate similar rules? And do they have someone qualified enough to discern if a vehicle is fit for driving? If a car park has public access does that make it a public road?
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Brian H
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Re: Displaying Tax Discs????

Post by Brian H »

Result, I had to email a copy of my tax disc to the central ticket office as proof I had a tax disc, they reviewed the case and cancelled the ticket. :)
t-tony
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Re: Displaying Tax Discs????

Post by t-tony »

Common sense prevails. We'll done Brian.
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BladeRunner919
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Re: Displaying Tax Discs????

Post by BladeRunner919 »

I imagine that the terms on Jet2Extras website is probably more to do with potentially abandoned vehicles than anything more sinister.
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Boysie
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Re: Displaying Tax Discs????

Post by Boysie »

With no tax disc looming
What is dumped ??
Ray

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