Good morning,

I'm in dire need of some advice here regarding 80+ bus lane fines that I have acquired over the past year, of which I had not received a single letter to my address.

I am a 22-year-old student studying in Manchester at the moment, using my father's VW Polo to commute. Since September 2017, I have stupidly been caught driving on bus lanes over 80 times.

Because the vehicle was registered to my father, I did not receive a single letter regarding my recurring mistakes. My father did not receive any letters either, because he had relocated to Pakistan and left the car in my hands. He failed to update the DVLA or any councils that he had made the move, and that his previous address was no longer occupied by him.

Over the past few months, my mother and I have had to pay around £3500 for around 20 of these fines that had gone to the late and debt collection stage. We did not receive any letters regarding any of this because my father's previous property is now being rented by tenants, with whom I have never had any contact. I have no idea who they are.

As unfortunate as this situation was, I thought everything was in the clear after having paid £3500 and being forced to move out of Manchester and move back in with my mother due to these fines.

However, I inquired with Manchester City Council again to double check whether everything was sorted. They replied saying that there was an additional 60+ fines still on the system registered to this vehicle.

I have phoned them up and the fines have been put on hold for now. They are asking for the registered keeper to contact them (they think this is still my father), however I have changed the V5C registration over to my name. Besides, it was me who committed these offences in the first place. My father has not been in the UK for 3+ years.

I have given Manchester City Council all of my savings and have had to borrow £1500+ from my mother to pay off the initial fines. I cannot afford to have to pay off another 60+ fines, I simply have no money left and do not earn much as I am a student.

I'm in a bit of a desperate situation now I'm afraid. Any advice at all would be incredibly appreciated.

Thank you,

Dan

Edited by Dan Zeshan on 08/11/2018 at 13:38