Legalised theft? (1 Viewer)

[TDub49]

Interesting local story. Someone's being "tort" a lesson . . . .

Mum's shock as £50,000 rented campervan vanishes after being towed away

An ITALIAN mum is crying out for help after her campervan was towed away before her very eyes.

www.dailyecho.co.uk

 

[The Wino]

Sounds like what a lot of brits used to do in Spain and like them she's found out she can't wing it.

 

[Orion]

Somehow I think that we’re not getting the full story here. Was she parking it on private property and had previously had a notice slapped on before going off touring Denmark, came back, ignored it, and has now suffered the consequences?

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[ChrisL]

It appears to be on a foreign registration (rear plate is white) so how they know it's untaxed I don’t know, maybe the recovery company has towed the wrong vehicle.

 

[hja]

Presumably if it actually does belong to an Italian leasing company as she says, then it will be an Italian reg plate. unclear as to whether she used it to go to Denmark.

 

[Orion]

It appears to be on a foreign registration (rear plate is white) so how they know it's untaxed I don’t know, maybe the recovery company has towed the wrong vehicle.

Presumably it would be irrelevant if it were taxed or not if the ‘remove or sell/crush’ notice related to it being parked on private property?

unclear as to whether she used it to go to Denmark.

Good point. Did she leave it at the location for quite a long time and has only recently discovered it’s been removed?

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[TDub49]

Not the most forensic piece of journalism I've seen but then The Echo is part of the Reach newspaper group which includes the Mirror, Express and others known for not letting facts get in the way of a good story. So many unanswered questions but if you ignore the obvious you get a good few clicks out of it . . . . to which I have contributed.

On the subject of it being untaxed I guess the answer may be that it has been in the country longer than the 6 months allowed and therefore either needed to skedaddle or register in the UK?

 

[Gaston aires]

As Wino said. We are not getting the full facts here.
Hard to understand how you can be towed away if taxes and parking fees are paid.
Phil

 

[Minxy]

Something fishy here, the towing company says: "[they had] been instructed by the Hamble property manager HMS Property Management Services [to remove it] as it had been there for two years and was untaxed" but if she's been using it then it cannot be classed as being their for two years (ie continuously). Someone at HMS has IMV been trying it on and I suspect they may end up with a VERY big bill to sort it out.

As the van is leased from Italy if it's on Italian plates then the 'untaxed' claim can't be used as that's a matter for the Italian govt surely and not the HMS, if it's on UK plates and as the hirer claims it was insured and taxed by the hire firm, then again the onus is on them to ensure it is legal in the UK, if not then they are at fault however my point in my first paragraph still stands.

The only thing that she 'may' have done wrong is to ignore a 28 day notice but if she's taken it away before that timescale then she's complied, unless it says not to bring it back in the future unless taxed, but then I would've thought this would require another 28 day notice being slapped on it?

Very muddy and bad journalism ... they even call it a ruddy caravan in the picture and it's not being towed away but taken away ..

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[georgio]

She seems a nice lady

 

[L' Hobo]

One has to ask, were her intentions honourable or was she hoping that, as it appears, that it was parked on private land and not taxed etc., was she hoping that the Italian leasing company would just claim off their insurance company, and she would have somewhere in the UK to call home?

With regards to number plate, not sure about Italian, but, when I lived near Hampton Court, a number of foreign registered car/ vans etc
were abusing the parking system and their number plates were obviously out of date because they are date stamped.
We had a similar system in Oz were every 5yrs? I think, one had to exchange one's vehicle plates because they included the car tax.

 

[Minxy]

One has to ask, were her intentions honourable or was she hoping that, as it appears, that it was parked on private land and not taxed etc., was she hoping that the Italian leasing company would just claim off their insurance company, and she would have somewhere in the UK to call home?

The article says she was supposed to be going back at half term, ie this week, to return it. No reason to disbelieve that.

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[Yorick]

This bit is beyond belief. Somehow they claim ownership of the vehicle?

In response, Lee Cooper from UK Tort Enforcement Services, which removed the vehicle, said: “The residents and HMS Property Management Services wanted the vehicle removed due to no tax, so they placed a 28-day tort notice on the vehicle, once spent we are then requested to remove, sell, or destroy the vehicle."

He added: "After the 28 days, the owner does not own the vehicle any longer

 

[ChrisL]

I suppose it may be used in case of nuisance.

English tort law - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Yorick]

I suppose it may be used in case of nuisance.

English tort law - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

I'm pretty sure it would need to go to court for proof. You can't just seize a vehicle just coz you got a bit miffed.

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[TDub49]

Talk about vanishing down a black hole, I've just wasted an hour or two trying to work out what might be the real story here and got no further than concluding it doesn't look right to me. Who'd have thought that there are any number of firms that will come along and remove an untaxed/abandoned vehicle - with a charge of course. Common to most of them that I have looked at is this list of 'clues' as to whether a vehicle is abandoned or not:

Conditions which would indicate a vehicle has been abandoned are:
- Is the vehicle un-taxed? check MOT, TAX & insurance status by using this link
- Have any wheels been removed or are the tyres flat?
- Are any of the windows broken?
- Does the vehicle contain rubbish?
- Is there rubbish or debris under the vehicle, indicating that it has not moved for some time?
- Does the vehicle have number plates?
- Has the vehicle been 'hot-wired ' (are there wires hanging from the dashboard)?
- Has the vehicle been vandalised?

Given that as much as you can tell from the picture, the van is in pretty good order, determining that it is abandoned must hinge on it being untaxed. Given that it looks like it has Italian plates, how would the property owners be able to establish that fact I wonder?

 

[L' Hobo]

The article says she was supposed to be going back at half term, ie this week, to return it. No reason to disbelieve that.

How would that be possible IF the vehicle is untaxed and the vehicle has been standing there for 2yrs + if the vehicle is being removed illegally, that's not a private matter but a police one as it's theft??

As has been said, something does not add up?

 

[jockaneezer]

She says she's only had it 6 months, but the towing company suggest it's been there for 2 years ?

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[pappajohn]

It was removed as it had no road tax........why would it be taxed, it has an EU registration plate.....italian no doubt.

 

[L' Hobo]

It was removed as it had no road tax........why would it be taxed, it has an EU registration plate.....italian no doubt.

It still has to be taxed & MOT to be driven on the road if she is taking it back to Italy over the present half-term holiday and the tax, even in Italy, would have to start from the beginning of this month, I presume?

 

[Gromett]

Somehow I think that we’re not getting the full story here.

That's what I suspect also.

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[Yorick]

It can be removed if rubbish inside.
Technically a few crisp packets could be classed as rubbish .

 

[Langtoftlad]

Who can afford to 'hire' a motorhome for more than a couple of weeks.
Having hired said MH, who would drive it all the way across Europe to the UK, only to leave it on private land unused for months?
Very odd.

 

[Ridgeway]

If it’s been in the UK for 2yrs then shouldn’t it be on UK plates ?

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