Taxi Driver Online

My taxi went into the only testing station in our area on the 20th of Feb, failed on side light bulb, number plate night bulb & Top light nut plugged in.
The bulbs were changed immediately but due to holiday and other business I hadn't had chance to return it to the station for the re-test.
I rang on the following Friday, but the garage was busy, so on the Monday I used the taxi for a school run, and the council were waiting there for me, armed with cameras etc... My driver was told he shouldn't be using the taxi as the plate had expired but he dose not understand the system, and is innocent.
Within 1 hr of the taxi being stopped by the council, they got me a retest and it passed immediately.
What offences have been committed & by who??
What are the results of these offences likely to be??
Opinions...

I'm a little confused here. Who was driving at the time the vehicle was stopped?
When exactly did the plate expire?

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We had a situation about a year ago when I actually forgot to renew one of our plates. This was spotted on the rank by one of the enforcement officers.
The driver was "charged" by the Council will driving a vehicle as a hackney carriage without it being a licensed hackney and carrying passengers without hire or reward insurance, (it is in the policy that driving without a license invalidates the hire and reward element).
The vehicle owner, my wife, was charged by the Council with allowing the above.
So as you can see, this could have had very serious consequences.
The Council enforcement officer, an ex policeman, came around to interview me regarding the matter because it was entirely my fault that it had happened. I admitted everything and showed him the clause in the insurance regarding cover and also the tracking record from the vehicle from the day the plate had expired to the day it was discovered, about a week. He then interviewed the vehicle owner (the wife) and the driver. As I was not the owner nor the driver, even though it was my responsibility within the company, I was told that legally, I was in the clear. We were asked to take measures to ensure that it could not happen again, which we did by simply adding a line to our daily driver inspection report that notes the plate expiry date. The Licensing team obviously discussed their options at length because it took several weeks and the action taken was to offer words of advice to the driver and issue my wife with a formal warning.
Under the circumstances I think we got off very lightly.
What could happen in your particular circumstance could be similar of it could be worse on the grounds that you knew that you were using a vehicle without a valid plate. So in my opinion you should prepare for the worst and pray for the best.

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Grandad,

I'm the owner of the Taxi, it's one of a fleet of 10.
One of my drivers was doing the school run.
Up untill October (apparently) we were aloud to use our taxis for the 14days between re-tests. According to the council we were all sent letters in October explaining the changes...
These letters were sent normal post...
Also, do you think the council are committing offences as in previous months I have:
Plate expiry: 21/11/14
Fee paid on: 20/11/14
Car tested: 23/11/14
Car passed: 24/11/14
New plate date 21/11/14 till 21/11/15
Technically they are backdating MOT's (is this legal) (we don't require a vosa test) in my dudiligence defence my plates have always been backdated so I didn't think I had commuted any offence. Opinions...

Did the council remove the plate after the test failure?

Did the council tell you that the vehicle should not be used until retested?

Was the MOT or Compliance certificate still in force?

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Why leave things to the last minute?

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Grandad,

Without a valid plate you cant use it

nuff said

especialy it FAILED a test FFS

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

If the licensed had expired, or the compliance certificate, then an offence of not having a valid licensed or the compliance certificate.

It would also be an offence to drive a vehicle for hire and reward without valid licenses or the compliance certificates.

Your council might have a bye-law which says once you fail you can't work, but other than that, based on the limited info above, I can't see what you have done wrong.

If you have done something wrong it will all depend on your council's enforcement policy.

Best to say nothing until you receive a summons.

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IDFIMH

what date was your driver stopped..

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Justice for the 96. It has only taken 27 years...........repeat the same lies for 27 years and the truth sounds strange to people!

No test, No taxi

simples

I think the test is more important than the actual plate, our LA quotes "continuity" as a get out clause if THEY run late on stuff, i.e. theyve had the forms, fees, etc just cant be bothered to make the plate

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

From the first post it states that the car failed the test on 20th Feb. Her rang the garage the following Friday which would be 27th Feb and his driver got pulled the following Monday on 2nd March.

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Grandad,

How old is the car?
How can they backdate a mot as its done online via vosa, a mot pass can only be granted if the brakes test is done (pass).
If your vehicle is diesel and new from 1st aug 08 (58 plate onwards) then its exhaust emissions is 1.5 or below otherwis its a fail
check your mot online, if the have back dated it then i get vosa involve

Daz

Several point to answer here:
the insurance is NOT invalidated simply because the plate has expired or the car does not have a current test certificate. The council cannot assume that; it is down to the insurance company to stipulate that in their policy documents;
why leave testing until the last minute as others have said? My cars are always tested a week or two before expiry, and have a safety check at a local garage before that. It's called preventative maintenance, it's what the bus and lorry industries HAVE to abide by.
Why didn't the car owner or driver check the lights BEFORE taking it for test? It's not rocket science to walk round the car to check the lights every day ffs.

So, my local council remove the plate if the car fails the compliance test; no plate, no hire and reward work, and don't try to say you're carrying the punters for free because that's been tried and tested in the courts and is a definite "nick".

Don't use the compliance test to find out what's wrong with the car then fix it.

Once the plate is removed, the car is no longer a hackney or private hire car. with no valid compliance certificate, you are effectively using the car without a valid MoT certificate. Insurance will only cover you for going to or from place of repair and place of testing.

Oh dear oh dear oh dear, come on you have been on here long enough to know they can't remove the plate.

In Nottingham the plate is removed before the test is carried out. If the car fails, no plate.

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Grandad,