FHP11

**** ACCIDENTALLY DUPLICATED THIS THREAD - REFER TO THE OTHER ONE *****

Hi Guys, A bit of advice, especially if anyone has been through the same issue. We received a penalty from the DVLA for driving an unlicenced vehicle from a roadside DVLA road tax van. Fair enough, the vehicle was not taxed, however, trade plates were on display. We wrote back stating as such. They wrote back stating that they would like us to pay £135. We wrote back again stating that we have paid up trade plates which were on display. They wrote back with a picture of the front section of the vehicle, basically just showing the grille and bumper (noway near the entire car) stating that no trade plate was on display. I called up telling them that you state trade plates cannot obscure the number plate. She told me that's right, they must be mounted next to the number plate!! When I asked how that was possible, she just said we cannot advise about that. Do they want us to drill or stick trade plates to each vehicle we drive? They just stated that they cannot be inside the vehicle and cannot obscure the front plate. So Frustrated that they waste my time and theirs on these things when we fully pay for the facility of trade plates and make every effort to abide by their use. Fair enough people who drive without tax but not business that pay their way. What an outdated piece of legislation that requires us to show these plates but gives no way for this to be reasonably possible and in many cases completely impossible. In any case, I'm half tempted to ask them to set a court date for the matter to be heard, but just wanted to hear if anyone else had any experience or luck with these issues.

I had this discussion recently with our insurer and was told I should take a copy of their photo card AND carry out a driving license check with the DVLA to ensure they are not currently banned (Same as when you rent a vehicle). To do this you need their NI number. When I said this was ridiculous and that nobody takes their NI number when going to look at cars, I was told "Thats not in our experience". A new one on me...

Not thought about it like that, must just be my innocent mind! I can understand why a short turnaround with a low margin could raise an eyebrow in the sense of wondering if cash was exchanged on top. I thought there was a suggestion that a low margin in itself was somehow a problem, as I know on a number of occasions where we have sold customer owned vehicles on we have taken quite a low margin on the basis that we never had any capital invested in it, and a couple of our staff have had trade ins at a little bit above what we paid for them. My logic has always been that if the company did make a profit, then nobody has benefitted illegitimately. Had an inspection surrounding PAYE etc but not one from the VAT man and been going about 8 years, so I'm not looking forward to one. Don't do anything wrong, but still, the idea of someone pouring over our records doesn't fill me with joy.

Why would a low margin cause you a problem? Surely you are free to decide what you want your margin to be, so long as you have physically made a profit on a car and aren't selling at a loss, I struggle to see why this could cause any problem?