DVLA-Court £660 6 points, (DVLA MS90) I was not at address of Court letter!

katesheet

DVLA-Court £660 6 points, (DVLA MS90) I was not at address of Court letter!

Hey everyone, to cut a long story short have been away from my address and living away for 5 months due to refurbishment to the property going on at my property which made it difficult to stay there.

The refurbishment was at my address which my vehicle is registered to and I usually live at, which is where I was absence for, for 5 months.

Also I was staying with family during the covid period.

I returned back to my address only to find a court letter from the Magistrates court stating that I have been given a fine of £660 and 6 points of my licence.

Known as DVLA code MS90.

This was for speeding, and not replying to them back with details that I was the owner of the vehicle in which the fine took place.

How can I reply to a court order if i was not there to receive the letter?

I've only seen the court letter today ago.

I admit was the driver and I admit I exceeded the speed limit.

Was driving 38 in a 30 mph zone.

I can challenge this by saying I was not aware of the letter as I was absence at my property with a statutory declaration I have read?

Will they court consider a lesser charge. I have read I can send a statutory declaration to admit  I was unaware about the charge.

I know these are alot of questions but I have alot of concerns,

Here are some questions, can you please answer in the same number format I have written them, and answer as many as you can

1) Do I have grounds to appeal if I send a statutory declaration?

2) Would I need to send proof with the statutory declaration ? that I was absence? (photos of renovation for example)?

or they don't really need proof in these situations?

3) What proof would I need to send?

4) From the moment I post my SD to the court, how much time does this roughly take?

3 weeks? 2 months? for example.

(I know this is different per case, but as a rough time?)

5) a SD, are there any templates which I can modify?

6) Where is the SD form from the gov website? I cannot find it

7) Can somebody give  me a vague template of the wording for my SD please, I would really appreciate it

8) Once the SD is sent to the court, does the Judge just read this SD and make his decision? without me being present? or I will have to appear in court?

9) or I have go to court in person?

10) What is  the price of submitting the SD to the court?

11) What is the Worse case scenario outcome that can happen in my situation?

9 points? 12 points?

12) What is my best case scenario outcome in this situation?

13) I have heard about a plea bargain, what stage would I offer this?

which means I will ACCEPT I was the driver, but don't want to be charged with NOT seeing the.

If I consider doing a lesser charge/plea bargain, and say NO to not knowing about the letter (as I wasn't there) and  can they judge still say NO, and keep my 6 points?

14) What stage of the process do I ask for a plea bargain? after my SD has been sent? or at the same time I send the SD?

15) After I send my SD to the court, what are the next possible set of outcomes the judge/court will come back to me with?

eg, option 1...   option  2... option 3....

16) Does that fact that I was the driver increase the chance of me having a better result compared to if I wasn't the driver?

17)  I have read you can ring the court, What would I ring them to ask?  or to tell them so they file on their log? what is the purpose of phoning the magistrate court regarding this?

18) Have you been through this process? what was your outcome?

19) Can a speed awareness course be done, after this is all sorted, to redeem any points?

20) Will I have 3 points on my licence for the original speeding fine? definitely? maybe?

21) Any other advice you can please give?

22)  Edited and Added this note:  can the judge say as you didn't make efforts to do a redirect, which he might say I could have done,
can he say "You are keeping the 6 points"  - is that likely?

apologies for the many questions but can you please answer as many as you can,  in the same number format I have written them, and answer as many as you can

would really appreciate it,

as this is a really distressing situation for me.

Kate xx

KimJongUn88

Why did you not have a Mail redirect in place or notify the DVLA of a change of address albeit temporarily?

TheProfessional

I'm not sure if you have visited Pepipoo but they are a good forum for questions like this

katesheet

KimJongUn88 said:

Why did you not have a Mail redirect in place or notify the DVLA of a change of address albeit temporarily?

Is that something which can have a negative affect and work against me?

22)  Edited and Added this note:  can the judge say as you didn't make efforts to do a redirect, which he might say I could have done,
can he say "You are keeping the 6 points"  - is that likely?

Can you please answer some of the questions people, I would really appreciate that and am really stressed out xx

Thank you xx

T.T.D

This case is very unlikely to succeed under a stat Dec but you can head over to Pepipoo if you wish.

Under the covid regulations at the time it would be reasonable or  “necessary to travel” to your place of home (even in an inhabitable state of repair) to secure your belongings, documents and check security. 

You can go to a solicitor and pay a few quid for a stat Dec to be done, don’t leave it too long as the clock ticks down, 28days from first becoming aware.

Court are still doing online hearings as far I’m aware.

The prosecution will not plea bargain with you this isn’t America. 

You have 6 point MS90 failure to furnish that’s the maximum you’ll get. A stat Dec is a hearing to set aside the matter and it goes back to 0 and the start of proceedings, if your granted one, 3 points and fine will be applied if you plead guilty and get that lucky. Unlikely in my opinion.

I can’t see the points being removed or reduced.

You will not be offered a course.


Claiming to not to be the driver when you freely admit it was you and you were aware of it, will land you a perverting the course of justice charge likely resulting in a criminal conviction with a fine and possibly imprisonment anywhere from 1day upto 6 months.

It’s extremely unlikely you did not revisit the site for progress updates on your renovations or to visit with builders surveyors or project managers or check site safety and security of the building and out buildings etc. 

Or thought To gather Mail from other aspects of life.

 You were aware of the renovations yet made no inroads to divert your mail if you were never to return there until completion of the works carried out, or a neighbour collecting them and informing you to collect it from them or post it to you. 

Advocado

Reginald74 said:

You basically have to suck it up and take the points and fine. It was extremely irresponsible to not keep an eye on the post. There may be other issues looming because of this.

Learn from it and move on.

Not to mention extremely irresponsible to do 38 in a 30.

Ebe_Scrooge

The bottom line is that the original NIP was sent to your registered address.  If you couldn't be bothered to check the mail at that address, the fault lies squarely with you.  You could have changed your address with DVLA to your temporary address, you could have set up a mail redirect with Royal Mail, you could have visited every week or so to collect any mail.  Are you really saying that in 5 months you've just ignored any mail that might have been delivered there?  I wonder what other important letters you might have missed?

I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but I can't really see how it's anyone's fault but your own.

AdrianC

Ebe_Scrooge said:

The bottom line is that the original NIP was sent to your registered address.  If you couldn't be bothered to check the mail at that address, the fault lies squarely with you.  You could have changed your address with DVLA to your temporary address, you could have set up a mail redirect with Royal Mail, you could have visited every week or so to collect any mail.  Are you really saying that in 5 months you've just ignored any mail that might have been delivered there?  I wonder what other important letters you might have missed?

I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but I can't really see how it's anyone's fault but your own.

This will certainly be the court's view.

Remember it is an offence to have an incorrect address on the V5C, where "incorrect" means an address at which you cannot be contacted in a timely manner.

The maximum penalty for that is £1,000.

Changing the address on the V5C - and on your driving licence - is free and takes almost no time.
Setting up a postal redirection is low-cost, and covers all post sent to your name to that address.

TooManyPoints

I'm not sure if you have visited Pepipoo but they are a good forum for questions like this

Yes she has and has received comprehensive and correct advice, the most recent at 01:35 today.

This case is very unlikely to succeed under a stat Dec...

The Statutory Declaration has no bearing on whether the case will succeed or not. All it does is sets aside the conviction of which the defendant was not aware (whether it was their fault or not that they failed to be notified).. It is then up to the prosecution to bring the charge again. The court must hear a Stat Dec if it is made within 21 days of the defendant first being made aware of the conviction and may do so later at its discretion. They have no power to "reject" the SD. They are simply witnessing it being made. The defendant may also make the SD before a solicitor or commissioner for oaths but will then have to deliver it to the convicting court. 

The_Fat_Controller

You might have a defence if the family you were staying with was overseas and you were not able to return to the UK for some reason !

However, as it appears you couldn't be bothered to arrange to get your mail for 5 months you'll have to resign yourself to the fine and points.

AdrianC

The_Fat_Controller said:

You might have a defence if the family you were staying with was overseas and you were not able to return to the UK for some reason !

RM post redirection does allow for addresses outside the UK.