Simply can not afford to pay speeding fine?

Jennifer3829

What do you do if your not in a position to pay the speeding fine? The form said under no circumstances will they take payment in instalments so I have no idea what I am supposed to do? Do I just leave it and get in to more trouble? I have 28 days to pay it.

I haven't had a car for 5 years but my sister let me burrow hers to take my daughter to a specialist doctors appointment in London. There was roadworks on the motorway and the speed limit was reduced to 50 and I was going 65.

I am a single mum of a 2 year old and 3 year old on income support. I was made redundant several months ago from my job of 6 years as a receptionist. I'm living In private rent, when I was working I was able to afford the rent with housing benefit top up. I now get full housing benefit but I'm required to make up the short fall which is £200 (was no issue when I was working but now I'm not it's so hard to afford it) meaning I go with out a lot just so my kids can eat. I'm looking for some where cheaper but there is just simply no where around here that takes housing benefit.

Sorry for the story just didn't want any one to wonder why I couldn't afford it. Simply can not afford £100 outright. So what do I do about this? Contact them? What will the likely outcome be

foxy-stoat

You can file your expenses statement and ask for monthly/weekly payments. You may have to go to court though as you cannot comply with the "Fixed Penalty" terms.

Can the owner of the car not help you out or other family members?

Guest101

Without being funny - if you couldn't afford the penalty, why were you speeding?


30% over the speed limit to boot.


As Foxy-Stoat said you need to go to court to provide an affordability case and the judge will likely make an order to pay. (which might be higher than the £100)


It is likely easier to borrow from a friend and pay back £10 a month

agrinnall

And if you can't stick to the speed limit then take the train or bus next time, it'll be a lot cheaper.

Jennifer3829

I thought the speed limit was 70 until i got flashed (I realised as soon as it happened) then I stared to see the 50mph reduced signs. The train would have been £80 and it only cost us £40 in petrol so thought it would be the most cost effective idea. I will probably see if my sister can help me if the only way to negotiate is going to court as seems more of a complex process than it needs to be.

foxy-stoat

The process for being caught for speeding is made simple by being dealt with by a fixed penalty, fine and points. If you cannot pay the fine or accept points then you have to go to court.

Good luck

Aretnap

The offer of a fixed penalty that you've received isn't actually a fine - it's an offer to avoid prosecution by paying a fixed sum and accepting an endorsement on your licence. If you don't accept that offer (which means paying the £100 within 28 days) then you'll be prosecuted for the offence through the courts.

In the distant past everyone caught speeding was prosecuted and ended up standing in front of the magistrates, just as you would have been had you committed any other crime. The fixed penalty system was introduced to reduce the workload on the courts by diverting most low level offenders through a quick and simple system instead. As it's designed to be as quick and simple as possible, it doesn't have any provision for things like payment by instalments. If you can't or don't accept the offer you go to court where (in theory) you're no worse off than you would have been had fixed penalties not been introduced at all.

If you have no way of finding the money your only real option is to let it go to court - and the court does have the option of allowing you to pay the fine by instalments. However the fine and costs a court imposes may well be greater than £100 (the fixed penalty is designed to be cheaper than the usual penalty in court, to encourage as many people as possible to accept it), so this would probably leave you worse off overall. If you can borrow the money on non-onerous terms (eg from your sister) that's probably your best option.

Rubidium

Were you even insured to drive your sisters car?

Iceweasel

While I can empathize with your financial situation I think you need to take a look at your attitude and perspective on what has happened and why.

There are no mitigating circumstances whatsoever - you failed to see and observe the speed limit signs.

It's not the court process which is more complicated than it needs to be - you need to see that it's the fixed penalty system which is the short cut to keep the courts free from folks who want to have their say.

If you go to court and say that you didn't know about the reduced speed limit and/or failed to see the signs, then you can expect to receive a fine considerably higher than the fixed penalty.

Borrow the money from a friend or relative - it'll be much cheaper.

You would have fared better if you had paid the £80 for the train.

jimjames

cameltoe wrote: »

Were you even insured to drive your sisters car?

Good point. OP says they have no car in their own name so driving other cars wouldn't apply and would need to be named on policy. If that isn't the case then it may open up a much bigger can of worms when the driver is named by the vehicle owner.

PCMcGarry

Aretnap wrote: »

The offer of a fixed penalty that you've received isn't actually a fine - it's an offer to avoid prosecution by paying a fixed sum and accepting an endorsement on your licence. If you don't accept that offer (which means paying the £100 within 28 days) then you'll be prosecuted for the offence through the courts.

In the distant past everyone caught speeding was prosecuted and ended up standing in front of the magistrates, just as you would have been had you committed any other crime. The fixed penalty system was introduced to reduce the workload on the courts by diverting most low level offenders through a quick and simple system instead. As it's designed to be as quick and simple as possible, it doesn't have any provision for things like payment by instalments. If you can't or don't accept the offer you go to court where (in theory) you're no worse off than you would have been had fixed penalties not been introduced at all.

If you have no way of finding the money your only real option is to let it go to court - and the court does have the option of allowing you to pay the fine by instalments. However the fine and costs a court imposes may well be greater than £100 (the fixed penalty is designed to be cheaper than the usual penalty in court, to encourage as many people as possible to accept it), so this would probably leave you worse off overall. If you can borrow the money on non-onerous terms (eg from your sister) that's probably your best option.

I think using the term to avoid prosecution is misleading as once a fixed penalty notice is complied with it results in a conviction.