Recently refunded £100 by hmcourts

PopsBD

I have recently been refunded £100 that I paid for a speeding fine that was in Oct 2019 but I paid it in April 2020 due to the fine previously being sent to my old address. I paid on the automated system, got my payment reference number and posted my license to the address as was instructed in the letter in the 28 days that was stated. I recently got told by someone that I should’ve sent it by recorded delivery instead of 1st class post as it sometimes gets lost in transit, hence, leading to this situation. 

I have been worried sick as I have searched on the internet and found out that now I could get a court summons and pay up to £1000 and get 6 points on my license. I have never defaulted on any payments in 15 years, always paid any fines I’ve had in the past and have a clean credit history. This has been making me anxious and I’m losing sleep over this as I plan to buy my first home at the end of the year and this court summons may ruin my life. I have never been to court and I’m going crazy not knowing what to do or how to respond to this.

Could any of you who have had this in the past please help me and advise me on what happens next? What do I do? Who do I need to contact and will this have an impact on my credit file or be logged as a CCj? I have no idea about these things as this has never happened to me before. Please Help!!!

AdrianC

Why was it "sent to your old address"? Had you not changed the V5C address...? How long since you moved? Had you got any mail forwarding in place?
Was this the actual fixed penalty offer? If so, was it originally a roadside stop (up to 6mo before the FPN gets sent out) or had you already responded to the s172 request to identity the driver?

You were way out of time for the fixed penalty, so - yes - it will go to what's called a single justice procedure.
https://www.gov.uk/single-justice-procedure-notices

If you pay the fine (which will be income-dependent, and will be based on what speed over the limit you were going), you won't get a CCJ and your credit record won't be hit. Yes, it will be a lot more than £100, and yes, you may get 4pts rather than 3. Given that you were offered a FPN in the first place, it's not going to be a large number over the limit - but a small, trivial amount would have seen you be offered a course. Or have you recently done one...?

facade

First, don't panic, you won't get 6 points, unless you didn't state unequivocally with your signature in the right place on the S172 that you were the driver, and you must have to be offered a fixed penalty. (You would be charged with failing to identify the driver if this were the case)

Most likely you tried to pay the fixed penalty after the court process was in motion, (your licence has probably been lost as well- has it come back?)

When it goes to SJP, you plead guilty, and if it is their !!!!!!-up that stopped you paying it on time, then you can apply to go to court and ask for the same penalty as if they had got it right and sent the fine to the correct address.

If you moved in between signing the S172 and receiving the fine, and didn't have mail re-direction or tell them, then it is your fault, and you get 3 points the same, an income related fine, and a victim surcharge (everybody gets that it is just a tax on the guilty)

Join pepipoo dot com (not with a hotmail address), and post there. They will want to know exactly what you received, and replied to, and the time line to help you.

iainscomputer

facade said:

First, don't panic, you won't get 6 points, unless you didn't state unequivocally with your signature in the right place on the S172 that you were the driver, and you must have to be offered a fixed penalty. (You would be charged with failing to identify the driver if this were the case)

Most likely you tried to pay the fixed penalty after the court process was in motion, (your licence has probably been lost as well- has it come back?)

When it goes to SJP, you plead guilty, and if it is their !!!!!!-up that stopped you paying it on time, then you can apply to go to court and ask for the same penalty as if they had got it right and sent the fine to the correct address.

If you moved in between signing the S172 and receiving the fine, and didn't have mail re-direction or tell them, then it is your fault, and you get 3 points the same, an income related fine, and a victim surcharge (everybody gets that it is just a tax on the guilty)

Join pepipoo dot com (not with a hotmail address), and post there. They will want to know exactly what you received, and replied to, and the time line to help you.

I was stopped for speeding whilst on the way to catch a ferry, as I was away for 3 weeks they wouldn’t let me have a fixed penalty because the license had to be handed in within 2 weeks.
As it went to court I received 4 points instead of 3, but the fine was the same.

Car_54

facade said:

When it goes to SJP, you plead guilty, and if it is their !!!!!!-up that stopped you paying it on time, then you can apply to go to court and ask for the same penalty as if they had got it right and sent the fine to the correct address.

If you moved in between signing the S172 and receiving the fine, and didn't have mail re-direction or tell them, then it is your fault, and you get 3 points the same, an income related fine, and a victim surcharge (everybody gets that it is just a tax on the guilty)

Not necessarily. The equivalent to a fixed penalty can be imposed if the failure was due to "administrative difficulties unconnected to the offence." No mention of blame, although of course the court may take a view on that.

PopsBD

Basically when I got the fine, I was still registered to my old address, I had forgotten to update with DVLA. The fine was for speeding in OCT 2019, but I got the NIP in Feb 2020. I filled in the details that I was the driver at the time. I was sent a conditional offer of fixed penalty, which I had to pay within 28 days of the letter in March. I paid it on their automated phone service and sent my license by post. I never got a new license back and realised only when I saw the refund. I know this was an oversight on my part, a huge one, but I did follow what they said. 

waamo

What is the address on your V5c? That's the one they use. Have you actually updated your V5c yet? An awful lot of people update their licence but forget about the car.

JamoLew

I think this is already being discussed on PePiPoo : http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=134549