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Finance firm may lose truck to VI
Page 18
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A major finance house is waiting to see if a drawbar unit will be returned to it. The rig was impounded by the Vehicle Inspectorate when it was found to be running without an 0-licence.
Close Asset Finance appeared at a Leeds impounding hearing before North Eastern Traffic Commissioner Tom Macartney to request the return of the vehicle, which had been operated by PM&J Swindells &Co of Darlington.
Mike French, appearing for the VI, said the impounding had been based on intelligence gathered since September 2001. In that month two vehicles laden with cable troughs were stopped in a check at Boston Spa. Swindells was reported for two offences of unauthorised use and warned of the likely consequences if it continued to operate the trucks.
Further intelligence led the VI to believe that vehicles were still being operated unlawfully, but Swindells applied for an 0-licence and no further action was taken while this application was pending.
In April the VI learned that the application had been refused, but Swindells was still operating vehicles. As a result French authorised the confiscation of its entire fleet—the drawbar unit was seized on 2 May.
Appearing for Close Asset Finance, Philip Parry said the company was seeking the unit's return on the grounds that it did not know it was being operated without a licence. He added that the legislation was causing considerable difficulty for finance houses where leases had been signed before it came into force.
Close Asset Finance director Noel Poxon said his company had about 8,000 vehicles out on lease
purchase agreements. Whenever the company learned that one of its vehicles was being operated without a licence the lease was terminated immediately.
Poxon added that finance firms might have to undertake the "mammoth task" of writing to all their customers asking to see valid 0-licences. He told the IC that it no longer paid for vehicles until it had seen a copy of a valid 0-licence.