Speed Awareness Course completed but now 'conditional offer of fixed penalty' letter?

Housework*Fairy

My blinkin' post was delivered to my next door neighbour's house and he's only just brought it around, so now I will be worrying til tomorrow

In september DH was clocked going 38mph in a 30mph zone back in September 2011. He received a letter saying he was eligible for a speed awareness course, or to pay £60/three points, so he opted for the speed awareness course. As he wanted a Saturday day course it was January 2012 before he went (but he did go and signed a register, had his drivers licence checked against the register).

Anyway today a letter saying "conditional offer of fixed penalty" has come telling him to send in his licence within 28 days if he is not contesting it. The date, time and speed are exactly the same as the original one.

we were under the impression that if you did the speed awareness course, you didn't get a fine/points...

Any thoughts?

TIA

Quentin

Assuming all he has told you about attending the course is true, this looks to be an admin error which a phone call or (recorded delivery) letter should resolve!

muckybutt

You need to contact the issuing police force tomorrow morning and explain to them that the SAC has been done and completed.

It is more likely than not a clerical error, but jut make sure your oh didnt get caught twice by the camera and has been issued two tickets.

Housework*Fairy

Thanks for the replies - no, he definitely did go to the course, he brought the workbook home. He will ring them tomorrow but I'm a natural worrier. I hope he hasn't gone through another camera on the same route on the same day, although the location of the camera is the same as the original one...

This letter didn't give him the option of doing a speed awareness course like the first one did either.

Quentin

If it's a second offence (which seems unlikely - if the date and time is the same as the original), then there is no option for a SAC. (You only can do one every 3 years - any more offences mean points!)

vaio

does the paperwork have a "time of offence" section?

Valli

Maybe the fact that he had to wait so long to attend the course has caused a problem. Unfortunately when you attend these courses you don't get a letter/certificate of proof that you have done although they do check your paperwork against their list.
But presumably you have proof that he booked and paid for the course - that should have a reference number on it IIRC

My take on it is that somehow they haven't registered his attendance at the course so are now moving through the process - hence he wont be offered another speed awareness course but if (on this letter) the date/time/speed are the same it must be that they are following up from the original offence.

Obviously it's not merely sufficient to pay for the SA course - you do have to attend. Does he recall the name of the person(s) delivering the course? Any other details? (Names of fellow miscreants for instance) to prove he went.

And finally if you do attend your SA course you don't get a fine, you don't have points added to your licence and you haven't been convicted of a driving offence and are not required to inform your insurer. (As I learned on my SA course).

Housework*Fairy

Yes, there is a time on the paperwork, and it is the same time as the original offence.

There was a woman on the course who he knows (although she was in a different classroom), not sure whether he remembers the name of the person who took the class. He said they did a register and checked his driving licence against it, but as you pointed out, he didn't get an attendance certificate or anything. You just assume that when you attend, the organisers will take care to pass the correct information on, knowing that if they don't, it will cost the attendee money in the form of points and increased insurance.

Strider590

Speed awareness courses are also PASS/FAIL, if you don't agree and/or "kòu t!u" to the people spouting all the "speed is the only cause of death on British roads" (non-sense) stuff, then they'll state that you haven't learnt a thing and you'll still be liable for a fine + points.

It might be that he wasn't submissive enough.....

I've heard that a lot of management type's fail the course (probably because they're too arrogant to listen to anyone else's opinion). So I know it's definitely a PASS/FAIL attitude test.....

Equally i've heard of people failing because they feel they were caught in unfair circumstances and used the course as a place to argue their case.

Nearly_Old

I wouldn't worry as it sounds like the organiser's of the SAC are good at taking the money but don't do the admin very well. My wife had a similar experience; i.e. getting the FPN when she had applied for a SAC.

In her case she had sent the forms to the SAC organiser and then waited for them to confirm the time and date but then the FPN arrived. There is a time limit for completing the SAC (IIRC it is 3 months) after which if there is no record of the SAC the system just automatically produces the FPN. She phoned the Camera Partnership who gave her a contact name and phone number for the SAC organiser, she completed the SAC and the FPN was cancelled. The people taking the SAC are supposed to put their names on the back of the course booklet - another lack of admin in your case?

kingstreet

I suspect a simple admin error.

On the possibility of two offences on the same day, it would have been necessary for the SCP to issue two NIPs to the RK within fourteen days. It doesn't appear this was the case.