View Full Version : Legal advice
I'm hoping someone can point me in the right decision as government red tape is cutting away at my will to live.....
2 months ago I wrote to the DVLA requesting a refund of car tax. It took a bit longer than I thought it would so I called them up. They reckoned the cheque had already been sent out and cashed.
I knew for a fact it hadn't arrived and certainly didn't go in to my account.
They told me it went to the wrong address - the right building but a different flat number (the flat has been empty for a few weeks) and they'd send me a copy of the cheque "just in case I'd forgotten that I'd cashed it myself" :rolleyes: .
When it arrived I could see it had been paid in to a different bank to my own and my signature had been forged on the back.
The DVLA said I'd need to go the police, report the incident, get a crime reference number and they'd send me a cheque for the full amount.
I went to the police who told me the DVLA have to report it for them to instigate an investigation.
I then called the DVLA who told me they won't do that as they don't get involved - they say all they can do is a bank trace to get the money back and then send it out to me.
Well that's just fine but someone has forged my signature and no-one seems to want to help me prosecute him/her!
Anyone know which way to turn? The police won't act without the DVLA and the DVLA say they don't get involved.
Graham M
06-07-2007, 11:44
Have you tried your bank?
It's nothing to do with my bank.
I don't know where you stand legally but as I read it, both you and the DVLA have been victims of fraud. As a victim of fraud, you have the right to pursue a criminal investigation.
Maybe the DVLA don't want to get involved as it's a case of costs - very sad that they would let someone get away with this, but I would have thought the Police need to get involved in your complaint.
Question niggles though, if the cheque was in your name, how did the cheque get cashed in an account not in your name?
JediMaster
06-07-2007, 11:55
Anyone know which way to turn? The police won't act without the DVLA and the DVLA say they don't get involved.
Russ give http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/ a ring. They are amazing (well what I've needed has ben Top Notch service) They can assist & point you in the correct way.
Hope you get it sorted soon. Cant belive Police wont do a thing. Does not matter who issued Cheque, as long as someone comitted Fraud (faking your signiture) then that is a crime.
Wicked_and_Crazy
06-07-2007, 11:56
My understanding is that the DVLA dont need to report the crime. You should report the crime as the crime is against you and not the DVLA. As far as the DVLA are concerned, they have paid out, they now know its to the wrong person. However its you that has lost out and its you that has had your identity forged and therefore its your right to have this investigated by the police.
You could always approach the bank where the cheque was cashed.
Mr Angry
06-07-2007, 12:03
Email Ian Broom csm.dvla@gtnet.gov.uk telling him about this - not forgetting to point out the irony of his colleagues' apparent disinterest given the link on his Department's website front page under "External links" which brings you to the Government's Identity Theft site.
Good luck.
My understanding is that the DVLA dont need to report the crime. You should report the crime as the crime is against you and not the DVLA. As far as the DVLA are concerned, they have paid out, they now know its to the wrong person. However its you that has lost out and its you that has had your identity forged and therefore its your right to have this investigated by the police.
But they won't start an investigation unless it's instigated by the DVLA.
You could always approach the bank where the cheque was cashed.
I tried - they stopped short of laughing me out of the building.
Wicked_and_Crazy
06-07-2007, 12:06
But they won't start an investigation unless it's instigated by the DVLA.
I dont understand that as the crime has been commited against you:confused:
You could make a complaint against the DVLA for not instigating the investigation. LAst time i got a tax disc refund they paid it directly into my bank which avoids this issue ;)
This is what I don't understand either.
Anyway I've notified a solicitor mate about this and he'll get on to it next week. In the meantime I'll try Mr Angry's good idea.
etccarmageddon
06-07-2007, 12:17
put in a complaint to the police complaints authority or whoever you complain to when the police fail you.
OK an email has been sent to Ian Broom - let's see what happens.
Saaf_laandon_mo
06-07-2007, 12:25
I still dont understand how a cheque named to you can be banked into someone else's account even if you have genuinely signed the back of it. I was under the impression this cannot be done anymore, as I have had occassions when my bank has refused to do this for me, saying its illegal.
I was under a similar impression but all I can assume is the cheque didn't have "account payee only" on it.
superbiatch
06-07-2007, 12:44
Question niggles though, if the cheque was in your name, how did the cheque get cashed in an account not in your name?
Possibly through one of these dodgy cheque cashing companies who charge a fee for it? All's it would take is some fake ID :erm:
DocDutch
06-07-2007, 13:00
Russ, this was on the news a couple of weeks ago (cant find the link anymore) but it said that banks and other financial institutions have to file the complaint with the police and that it then gets sorted out (this was to do with lowering the crime numbers so the company sends in a bulk file and it only counts as 1 crime number)
Ultimately it's the DVLA who have been defrauded not Russ.
Yes someone forged a signature (is it yours Russ or just a squiggle) on that may look like it belongs to Russ but the money stolen belongs to the DVLA until it enters a bank account belonging to Russ.
Personally I'd expect the DVLA to issue you another cheque immediately (as long as you can provide bank statements showing the copy cheque has a different account number printed on the back) and then raise this with their fraud team for investigation by the police.
Why should Russ be out of pocket because some thing's happened to the cheque before he got it?
As for the cheque being paid into another account - it's human error, sounds like the cashier didn't check the account names. Or it was paid in at a machine and again it wasn't checked.
Sounds like a simple fraud case to crack - it's just about man power I guess. :rolleyes:
cookie_365
06-07-2007, 17:59
My understanding is that the DVLA dont need to report the crime. You should report the crime as the crime is against you and not the DVLA. As far as the DVLA are concerned, they have paid out, they now know its to the wrong person. However its you that has lost out and its you that has had your identity forged and therefore its your right to have this investigated by the police.
You could always approach the bank where the cheque was cashed.
My understanding is the opposite - it's the DVLA that's been defrauded, not you. So it's down to them to report it.
Though it's a few years since I got involved in this kind of thing - working out what happened to cheques, I mean, not defrauding the DVLA ;) - so things may have changed.
Oh, and those of you wondering how it could possibly happen - happens all the time. Don't know why people bother writing payees names on cheques the amount of attention the banks pay to them :rolleyes:
The DVLA have NOT SENT YOU YOUR REFUND yet. Sending a cheque to someone else is NOT sending it to you. If it was me I would write personally to the chief executive giving them 21 days to provide the refund or you'll escalate it to the Parliamentary Ombudsman
I've had a stock reply from them telling me I'll get a personal reply within 10 days as per their charter.
MovedGoalPosts
06-07-2007, 23:03
A few years ago I had a similar thing with a posted cheque to me being delivered to someone else with a very similar name. They paid it in to their own account. When I got a copy of the cheque and the numbers on the back showed it had been paid in at a local building society. Went down their and demanded to see the manager. They swiftly admitted a mistake and from their it was sorted. Never needed to bother with the police.
Well surprise surprise it's been 10 days and I've heard nothing.
cookie_365
20-07-2007, 20:41
Well surprise surprise it's been 10 days and I've heard nothing.
OK - you've tried their complaints procedure, and that hasn't solved the problem.
Complain to the Parliamentary Ombudsman asap.
I'm hoping someone can point me in the right decision as government red tape is cutting away at my will to live.....
2 months ago I wrote to the DVLA requesting a refund of car tax. It took a bit longer than I thought it would so I called them up. They reckoned the cheque had already been sent out and cashed.
I knew for a fact it hadn't arrived and certainly didn't go in to my account.
They told me it went to the wrong address - the right building but a different flat number (the flat has been empty for a few weeks) and they'd send me a copy of the cheque "just in case I'd forgotten that I'd cashed it myself" :rolleyes: .
When it arrived I could see it had been paid in to a different bank to my own and my signature had been forged on the back.
The DVLA said I'd need to go the police, report the incident, get a crime reference number and they'd send me a cheque for the full amount.
I went to the police who told me the DVLA have to report it for them to instigate an investigation.
I then called the DVLA who told me they won't do that as they don't get involved - they say all they can do is a bank trace to get the money back and then send it out to me.
Well that's just fine but someone has forged my signature and no-one seems to want to help me prosecute him/her!
Anyone know which way to turn? The police won't act without the DVLA and the DVLA say they don't get involved.
It's a government department Russ they aren't bothered about fraud, you've only got to look at the working family tax credit debacle, people are scamming the system left right and centre and getting away with it, the government aren't bothered one bit.
Mr Angry
21-07-2007, 14:53
Well surprise surprise it's been 10 days and I've heard nothing.
Did you check the empty flat?
It's been empty for about 2 months. The only people with access would be the housing association, a contractor carrying out repairs and the previous tennant. They can't tell me anything about the guy who used to live there and the association don't want to know, even though I've suggested the possibility that one of their employees might have done it. All they gave me was a "go ahead and prove it" attitude, knowing that I can't.
cookie_365
21-07-2007, 19:35
It's been empty for about 2 months. The only people with access would be the housing association, a contractor carrying out repairs and the previous tennant. They can't tell me anything about the guy who used to live there and the association don't want to know, even though I've suggested the possibility that one of their employees might have done it. All they gave me was a "go ahead and prove it" attitude, knowing that I can't.
It's not up to you to do the DVLA's detective work for them.
You won't be able to track down the cheque yourself. Even if you can work out what physically happened to it no one will give you any information about bank accounts/account holders or anything like that as it's confidential.
Parliamentary Ombudsman.
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