Please find some of our recent cases below.
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Failure to Notify Office of Traffic Commissioner of Insolvency Leads to Public Inquiry - April 2025
The operator in this matter, represented by barrister Harry Bowyer, added a director to their licence and failed to notify the Office of the Traffic Commissioner of an insolvency that he was involved in. The Traffic Commissioner accepted at the Public inquiry that this was oversight and lack of knowledge […]
Operator with “Most Serious Infringement” Keeps Licence at Traffic Commissioner’s Public Inquiry - April 2025
This operator, represented at Public inquiry by barrister Harry Bowyer, happily operated a truck with no MOT in place for 6 months. This is a “most serious infringement” and a Traffic Commissioner is obliged to consider revocation of the licence in such a case. Matters were compounded by a less […]
“S” Marked Prohibition Operator Keeps Licence by Skin of their Teeth at Traffic Commissioner’s Public Inquiry - March 2025
An “S” marked Prohibition brought the Traffic Commissioner’s attention to this operator. The subsequent DVSA Maintenance investigation showed that shortcomings remained with the operation, relating to its use of the operating centre, maintenance records and MOT test history. Murray Oliver represented the Operator at Public Inquiry and helped the operator […]
Civil Penalties Cancelled on Appeal - March 2025
In two separate cases Border Force has cancelled civil penalties for clandestine entrants in a single week, only days after having received appeal papers from Smith Bowyer Clarke. In each case SBC issued appeals to the County Court, arguing in the Grounds of Appeal that penalties should not have been […]
MOT Cessation Avoided by Written Representations by SBC - March 2025
Laura Newton represented an Authorised Examiner under the MOT Scheme who was served with a contemplated decision proposing that 500 points would be imposed. This was due to DVSA carrying out an undercover observation on a Tester, who it transpired had falsified brake test results and carried out an inadequate […]
SBC Written Submissions Lead to Operator Licence Application Subject to a “Propose to Refuse” Letter being Granted without a Public Inquiry - March 2025
Our client, an applicant for an Operator’s Licence, represented at Public Inquiry by solicitor Laura Newton, was served with a proposal to refuse the Licence due to issues with a previously linked licence and questions over competence. Laura Newton in a last attempt to resolve matters, prepared a detailed proposal […]
Wrong Entity Operator Granted New Licence at Traffic Commissioner’s Public Inquiry. - February 2025
This operator, represented at Public Inquiry by Barrister Harry Bowyer, changed their entity from a partnership to a limited company in 2013 on the advice of their accountant. They failed to realise the effect on their operator’s licence of the change of entity which meant that they had been operating […]
Driver Dealt with by Formal Warning Avoiding Attendance at Driver Conduct Hearing - February 2025
The driver in this matter, represented by barrister Harry Bowyer, had accrued three speeding offences whilst driving sub 3.5 tonne vans. He had not appreciated the different speed limits for vans over cars and the third penalty had arrived before he had notice of the first owing to the delay […]
Restricted Licence Holder Keeps Licence at Traffic Commissioner’s Public inquiry - February 2025
This operator had let matters slide in his seasonal business. The Traffic Commissioner called them to Public Inquiry as a result of an unsatisfactory DVSA visit. The Operator instructed a competent transport consultant to put their systems right and a new directors were appointed with an interest in compliance. The […]
Covid Failure of a Business Causes Difficulty for a New Application - February 2024
Lots of businesses faced difficulties in the aftermath of the Covid Crisis and those that did not survive often find themselves with out an O licence. Solicitor Murray Oliver helped this operator to understand the reasons why the Traffic Commissioner was asking difficult questions and we advised on the response […]
