When do court fines expire in the UK?

Augustus77

Hi all -

I received a 'Further steps notice' from the London Collection and Compliance Centre asking me to pay 200 GBP within 10 days.

When I called them, it turned out it's about an unpaid magistrate's court fine for not paying my fare on a London Capital Connect train back in 2006!

I moved houses shortly after I received that initial fine notice in 2006 and forgot all about it. They now told me that they didn't have my address for the past eight years - but now they found me again and want me to pay.

My question is: do debts not expire after a certain period of time? Or does that not apply to court fines?

Is there a possibility that they are legally entitled to *try* and collect that fine after such a long time, but I am not legally bound to pay?

National_Debtline

Hi Augustus

There is no statute of limitations on magistrates' court fines. This means that you can still be legally pursued for repayment.

You may find our fact sheet on dealing with such fines useful:

https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/13%20EW%20Magistrates%27%20court%20fines/Default.aspx

Regards

Dennis @NDL