Criminals registering cars at strangers’ homes and landing them with huge fines

Criminals are falsely registering cars at strangers' homes and leaving innocent people with huge parking fines, it has emerged.

The son of one victim has called for the “insane” loophole to be closed after his mother was left facing fines of nearly £500 and threatening calls from bailiffs.

The DVLA has said it asks for proof of address when a car is initially registered, but then relies on the public “to provide accurate information”.

However, Robert Ford, a professor of politics at Manchester University, said his family had endured a year-long ordeal after his mother, who is in her 70s and has care needs, had a blue Vauxhall Corsa registered to her south London address last summer.

Since then, the vehicle has racked up a slew of parking and driving fines, some for as much as £483, which have been sent to her address as the registered keeper.

Prof Ford said every time a fine came through he and family members have to dash to argue the case with enforcement companies before bailiffs turn up at his mother's home.

‘Utter madness’

He told The Telegraph that his family had had to battle a ‘guilty until proven innocent’ system at the DVLA, which insists that proof of his mother’s residence is sent via the post rather than scanned and emailed.

Even after the agency said it had removed the vehicle from his mother’s address earlier this year, she received another fine and demand last month, leaving Prof Ford concerned that the fraudster had re-registered the car at her address.

He said: “To me this is all insane. It is insane that someone can register a car to home they have nothing to do with. It is insane that [the DVLA] have no process for getting that corrected and it is insane that they have no process for ensuring that it doesn’t happen again. It is utter madness.”

Prof Ford added his family was now concerned that the vehicle could become involved in a serious accident or a hit-and-run that would result in police knocking on his mother’s door.

The issue comes as the DVLA overhauled its logbook registering system last year to allow drivers to change their details online.

The agency said as well as requiring proof of address when a vehicle is first registered, it also does “where the address may have been linked to fraud previously”.

Meanwhile, the agency is also struggling with a backlog of paper applications and transactions following a Covid outbreak last year among staff at its main Swansea offices.

Last month, Julie Lennard, the chief executive of the DVLA, told MPs that it was now taking between six and 10 weeks to process mailed transactions and correspondence.

A DVLA spokesman said: “We rely on the public to provide accurate information and it is an offence to provide false or misleading information to DVLA.

“DVLA processes millions of applications for a change of address and change of vehicle keeper each year and cases like this are very rare.

“We are in contact with the customer affected about their case and apologise for any distress caused."