MS90 conviction...confused!

watson1312

Hello and thankyou to all who take the time to read this...I have a problem and will to my best to relay it here in the hope that someone can give me a heads up on what is likely to follow.

Basically I moved address Nov '09 and failed to notify DVLC of my change of address until Jan '10..yes I know that this is something that I should have done straight away but like a lot of people it's something that got left on my "to do" list.

I have returned home this morning to find a letter from the DVLA notifying me that I must return my drivers licence as I have been convicted of a driving offence. To cut a long story short I had absoluley no idea of this offence and after calling the DVLA it appears that on 15/01/10 I was caught speeding by a camera (please don't judge me on this... I am no boy racer and often get the mickey taken out of me for actually driving too slow!!!! ironic! ) The relevant penalty notices had been sent to my old address. Purely my own fault for not promptly notifying DVLA of my change of address in due time. It turns out that I am now being fined the sum of £625 which relates to me not supplying them with my details when requested to do so. Of course I didn't know anything about this as the penalty had been sent to my old address. (the new residents of my old address did forward mail for a short while but didn't see fit to pass this on to me.......another lesson learnt)

Sorry if I am not being very clear here, my head is spinning and I am confused as to where I stand exactly on this. Whilst I recognize and ackowledge that i was entirely at fault for not updating my details in time I am wondering why after recieving my new V5C registration certificate (doc ref dated 27/01/10) I have not recieved any further notifications/warnings between january and now at my new address?

I phoned the court and spoke to a lady there who listened to my story and advised me to call my local court and tell them I wish to make a statutory declaration which will freeze/cancel the fine and start the whole thing over, where I will be required to swear that I knew nothing of the fine/requests for my licence.

I just don't know what to expect....does anyone have any experience of this? or maybe one of you kind souls could point me in the direction of a similar thread?
Many thanks
watson1312

peter_the_piper

May I suggest that you go onto pepipoo.com which has a section specifically for driving/speeding problems.
Good Luck.

watson1312

Thankyou Peter for directing me to pepipoo! an excellent forum where I have managed to find similar stories and some useful information. I have posted a thread on there but so far have only had 1 response......whilst being helpful I was hoping for more advice and am still hopeful that someone on here (or pepipoo) can help me/advise me with my particular case.

Yesterday I was in a complete flap! but after spending a good few hours reading up on this and sleeping on it too I am starting to get my head round it. A couple of things that I think I need to point out though:
I STILL have not recieved any sort of summons as such, the ONLY thing I have recieved is a letter telling me I need to return my licence for endorsment within 28 days, it was only upon calling the phone number on it to find out what it was all about that I was informed of the massive fine and the summons. It seems that everything has been sent to my old address(C) (i did call round yesterday to see if there was anything for me but there was no one in. I will be trying again today ) So after they have failed to contact me through my old address they have EVENTUALLY reached me through the address on my (old paper) driving licence, which is still registered to an address I still use (the house I grew up in) where my sister now lives. Am I going to get in trouble for not changing the address details on my licence? The reason I have never done so is because my sister still lives in this house with her family and I sometimes stay with them so it is still (and has always been) an address that I can be contacted at. I work as a live in care worker and have no fixed abode as such, I usually work 10 days on then 10 days off, when I am off I usually either stay with friends or family ie my sisters (A)(where my licence is registered) or my mums(B) (where my car is registered). BOTH addresses where I am reachable.


My point is this; I CAN understand why the first NIP would have been sent to my old address(C) where my vehicle was registered at the time of the offence 15/01/10. But my new V5C (with my correct address) doc ref is dated 27/01/10. Its looking like the offence occured at round about the same time as I sent my V5C in to be amended. Does this not work in my favour? I am now wondering how many letters/reminders will have been sent to this old address between January and now?

Firstly the initial NIP will have been sent within 2 weeks of the offence?
then I presume some sort of reminder/warning?
maybe another reminder or perhaps a court summons?
then a failure to furnish notice?
another summons?

Does anyone know exactly what will have been sent? in what order and what time scale? Knowing would be really helpful because as I mentioned earlier I can understand the initial NIP being sent to my old address (C) but surely is it not common practice for the DVLA upon not hearing back from a NIP to check their records to make sure they have the correct address? I find it hard to believe that all the subsequent notices have continued to be sent to the old address despite me updating my details in the same week as the offence occured!

I have literally just got off the phone after making my appointment for my stat dec. It is next friday 20th Aug. Do I still need to send back my licence as requested or has all that been stopped? Any more help/advice Please???????

Any more help would be so much appreciated.
thankyou in advance.

watson1312

Quick update: I am now recieving some excellent advice on this matter over on the Pepipoo forums! where would we be without forums? It's heartwarming to know that there are people out there who are prepared to share their knowlege with others. Thanks for reading...If you do find yourself in the same predicament as me and have found this thread through a search, check out Pepipoo too!
Best wishes
watson1312