Driving licence lost in post en route to speeding fine

Madmax87

I am in a bit of a pickle and wondered if anyone has had a similar experience or knowledge of what I can do to fix the situation. I received a penalty notice for speeding last month and paid the £100 fine immediately. I sent the licence and the form by first class post on July 16th (please do not comment on this - yes perhaps I should have sent it recorded but given the fine collection office send it back by second class pos, I didn't get the sense that I needed to worry about postal security from my end!). I went on holiday on July 23rd and returned yesterday to the realisation that my licence had still not arrived back. I contacted the payment collection office to which I posted the licence, for them to tell me that it never arrived and must have got "lost in the post". They advised me to order a new licence and contact the police camera unit to explain the situation and request an extension to return the licence. Howver I can't get through to the police - I have phoned many times but it is constantly engaged and they have not replied to the two emails I have sent. Having studied the forums, people who have forgotten to send their licences off have been given no grace period at all and have been immediately summonsed to court. Do I have any rights here at all to contest if they try to increase my fine? I have done everything by the book, but proving it is not my mistake will be difficult! Any words of advice would be greatly appreciated.

TooManyPoints

How long ago was the offence?

If it does end up going to court you can explain the situation. It will almost certainly be heard under the "Single Justice" procedure (where the matter is heard in an office by a single Magistrate assisted by a Legal Advisor).. You cannot attend that hearing but can correspond by post or e-Mail. You should explain the circumstances and request that you be sentenced at the Fixed Penalty level. Magistrates have guidance which says this:

"Where a penalty notice could not be offered or taken up for reasons unconnected with the offence itself, such as administrative difficulties outside the control of the offender, the starting point should be a fine equivalent to the amount of the penalty and no order of costs should be imposed. The offender should not be disadvantaged by the unavailability of the penalty notice in these circumstances".

You should be fined £70 and ordered to pay £30 Victim Surcharge and no costs.. (The court has no discretion over imposing the VS, hence the reduced fine to ensure you are not "disadvantaged").

Madmax87

The offence was at the end of June and I received the intention to prosecute on July 8th. I admitted fault, returned the letter and then paid the fine when the follow up letter arrived the following week. The fine collection office confirmed on the phone that they can see the fine was deducted from my account on July 16th.

Thanks for this information. Would the £70 + £30 be payable on top of the fine I have already paid? It is so frustrating to be in this position having done everything by the book. I know I did wrong in the first instance but I have admitted fault and taken steps (quickly) to accept my punishment. The prospect of further punishment due to factors beyond my control seems highly unfair, particularly when there must be more pressing issues which the police and courts could be dealing with.

AndyMc.....

Madmax87 wrote: »

The offence was at the end of June and I received the intention to prosecute on July 8th. I admitted fault, returned the letter and then paid the fine when the follow up letter arrived the following week. The fine collection office confirmed on the phone that they can see the fine was deducted from my account on July 16th.

Thanks for this information. Would the £70 + £30 be payable on top of the fine I have already paid? It is so frustrating to be in this position having done everything by the book. I know I did wrong in the first instance but I have admitted fault and taken steps (quickly) to accept my punishment. The prospect of further punishment due to factors beyond my control seems highly unfair, particularly when there must be more pressing issues which the police and courts could be dealing with.

If you can't comply with the ticket they'll refund your £100.

Geodark

So was the payment for the fine and the form in the same envelope as the licence? If so how could they have got the payment and the forms, but not your licence?

Madmax87

Geodark- The fine was paid online and then I returned my licence in the post along with a reference number on the form so they can match up my payment with the correct licence. They can look up my case simply by typing in my car reg details and the confirmation of payment is already on file. However both the licence and said form are now lost in the post (I suspect stolen by a dodgy postal worker who clocked the address and pilfered the content of the envelope- I dread to think who is now in possession of all my personal details but that is a separate issue). In order to complete the penalty they need to see my physical licence, which so far has not happened.

Update - after 50 attempts to call the camera unit (not an exaggeration) I finally managed to get through. Initially they were very hostile and said that they could do nothing to help and that I would have to wait for my court summons. However, once they looked at my case file they could see that I had contacted the fine collection office, and the much more helpful person I had spoken to at that office had actually put a note on my file requesting an extension to submit my licence whilst I wait for a replacement. Long story short, I now have a further 3 weeks to submit a new driving licence to collect my points. Fingers crossed the replacement arrives in time; my confidence in the system is currently at a low.

Thanks to everyone who provided information. Moral of the story is definitely to use recorded postal services from now on. Oh, and not to speed!

AndyMc.....

Madmax87 wrote: »

Geodark- The fine was paid online and then I returned my licence in the post along with a reference number on the form so they can match up my payment with the correct licence. They can look up my case simply by typing in my car reg details and the confirmation of payment is already on file. However both the licence and said form are now lost in the post (I suspect stolen by a dodgy postal worker who clocked the address and pilfered the content of the envelope- I dread to think who is now in possession of all my personal details but that is a separate issue). In order to complete the penalty they need to see my physical licence, which so far has not happened.

Update - after 50 attempts to call the camera unit (not an exaggeration) I finally managed to get through. Initially they were very hostile and said that they could do nothing to help and that I would have to wait for my court summons. However, once they looked at my case file they could see that I had contacted the fine collection office, and the much more helpful person I had spoken to at that office had actually put a note on my file requesting an extension to submit my licence whilst I wait for a replacement. Long story short, I now have a further 3 weeks to submit a new driving licence to collect my points. Fingers crossed the replacement arrives in time; my confidence in the system is currently at a low.

Thanks to everyone who provided information. Moral of the story is definitely to use recorded postal services from now on. Oh, and not to speed!

That wouldn't help.

Mercdriver

Madmax87 wrote: »

Thanks to everyone who provided information. Moral of the story is definitely to use recorded postal services from now on. Oh, and not to speed!

As Andy says above that won't help as they arrive in bulk mail, and wouldn't stop it getting lost within the Police's/Safety Partnership's offices.

AndyMc.....

Mercdriver wrote: »

As Andy says above that won't help as they arrive in bulk mail, and wouldn't stop it getting lost within the Police's/Safety Partnership's offices.

Given recorded no longer exists and it's simply signed mail, you only get tracking once it's delivered. So no signature could mean lost by Royal Mail or delivered without a signature and then lost.