Speeding fine help please

TooManyPoints

Are you sure you're the RK? With a leased car, the finance company is normally the RK, and so would have received the NIP and nominated you as the keeper/driver.

Quite a possibility. Then she should have received her own NIP and request for driver's details.

a.turner

TooManyPoints wrote: »

The fine and costs certainly fit with you having been convicted in your absence of speeding. If you had been convicted of the more serious charge of "Failing to Provide Driver's details, the amount they are chasing you for would be over £800.

This leaves the mystery of how they successfully prosecuted you when they did not have a signed statement from you saying you were the driver at the time of the allegation. It also leaves a mystery of how, having ignored the original offers, the paperwork for the subsequent court action was not served on you. This may be explained by your change of address (the proceedings would, in all probability, not have taken place until February or March). If you check your driving record online you should see the date of your conviction and the points that have been added to your licence (probably four).

As you were not aware of the proceedings against you, you should perform a "Statutory Declaration" to that effect. You can do this either at your local Magistrates' Court (for free) or before a solicitor (who my charge you £5 to £10). This has the effect of nullifying the conviction. The police will then have to decide whether to start the proceedings again. If they do you will be able to see the evidence they have used to prove you were driving and we can go from there. But one step at a time.

The op was aware but ignored the letter on the advice of a friend.

Hhzg71

I definitely haven’t received a request for any details. The only things I’ve received are as stated.

I’ll look into the statutory defence, thank you. I’m guessing as you say it happened in feb/March when we had moved. Is it possible to do online or not? Sorry I’m clueless about this kind of thing. In nearly 30 years of driving, I’ve never received any kind of motoring fine, parking or speeding or anything else

Manxman_in_exile

a.turner wrote: »

The op was aware but ignored the letter on the advice of a friend.

Was the OP aware of "proceedings"? She says she only received a COFP letter and never got notification of any court proceedings (eg a SJPN).

Manxman_in_exile

Hhzg71 wrote: »

I definitely haven’t received a request for any details. The only things I’ve received are as stated.

I’ll look into the statutory defence, thank you. I’m guessing as you say it happened in feb/March when we had moved. Is it possible to do online or not? Sorry I’m clueless about this kind of thing. In nearly 30 years of driving, I’ve never received any kind of motoring fine, parking or speeding or anything else

It's a statutory declaration not a defence. You'll be swearing on oath that you didn't know of the proceedings against you (whether the letter offering a fixed penalty qualifies as "knowledge", I don't know). You can swear it at court or at a solicitors (for a fee).


There's a time limit which I think may be within 28 days of you learning of the conviction.


You may also want to try posting on pepipoo http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showforum=5


Don't register with a Hotmail address - it won't accept you.


PS - obviously when you do the SD you'll be swearing to the truth of what you say - otherwise you may be committing an offence.


EDIT: Whether you can do a SD depends on when you learned of proceedings against you. If you never received notice they were prosecuting you then you should(?) be able to do a SD. I don't think a letter offering you a fixed penalty necessarily makes you aware of "proceedings" - but I may be wrong.

TooManyPoints

I don't think a letter offering you a fixed penalty necessarily makes you aware of "proceedings"

I would agree. The issue is that she did not have an opportunity to participate in them. To do so she would need to know the date, the time and the venue as well as the nature of the charges. She knew none of this. Ignoring a Fixed Penalty offer does not make one aware of proceedings.

a.turner

Manxman_in_exile wrote: »

It's a statutory declaration not a defence. You'll be swearing on oath that you didn't know of the proceedings against you (whether the letter offering a fixed penalty qualifies as "knowledge", I don't know). You can swear it at court or at a solicitors (for a fee).


There's a time limit which I think may be within 28 days of you learning of the conviction.


You may also want to try posting on pepipoo http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showforum=5


Don't register with a Hotmail address - it won't accept you.


PS - obviously when you do the SD you'll be swearing to the truth of what you say - otherwise you may be committing an offence.


EDIT: Whether you can do a SD depends on when you learned of proceedings against you. If you never received notice they were prosecuting you then you should(?) be able to do a SD. I don't think a letter offering you a fixed penalty necessarily makes you aware of "proceedings" - but I may be wrong.

Good luck convincing a court they only got one letter.

Car_54

Manxman_in_exile wrote: »

There's a time limit which I think may be within 28 days of you learning of the conviction

21 days AFAIK.

TooManyPoints

Good luck convincing a court they only got one letter.

To perform her Statutory Declaration she does not have to convince the court of anything.

Best to wait until more information is available before moving on. But if they have no evidence she was driving what she did or did not receive is neither here nor there in any event.

a.turner

TooManyPoints wrote: »

To perform her Statutory Declaration she does not have to convince the court of anything.

Best to wait until more information is available before moving on. But if they have no evidence she was driving what she did or did not receive is neither here nor there in any event.

If they have proof of posting the nip, 172, any reminders, and the sjp pack it'll be down to the op to convince the court they never arrived.