Hi,
need some advice please.Received a letter from magistrates court advising me of a fine (£525) and 6 points for failing to disclose driver details. It relates to an alleged speeding offence of which I knew absolutely nothing of, until I received said letter. I was driving for an agency on the date stated. If there is proof I was indeed speeding then I must have no argument with that. The agency, or the firm I was driving for at the time must have given the police/courts my details.Again, I have no problem with that too.
My problem is that I did NOT receive the NIP regarding the initial speeding allegation. And prior to receiving the letter about the fine and points I have received nothing asking me who was the driver/was I the driver, on the date quoted. I have not changed address recently, so any letters sent could not have gone elsewhere.
My only defence is that I was totally unaware of this. Had I received the initial NIP I obviously would have replied to it. I have been so careful regarding speed limits etc; and I do not recall being caught speeding at any location. Is there any right of appeal to the offence of failing to disclose driver details. I would have replied if I was aware of it. It’s obviously in our interests to do so.Thanks in advance for any help.
Ask them for proof it was delivered and received by yourself. They can’t be bothered to use Royal Mail registered post - down to cost - so they have no evidence you actually saw the letter. Stick to your guns and go to court if necessary.
You will need to contact the court explaining the situation. You will be asked to sign a declaration to say you received no correspondence in relation to this. Bearing in mind the 14 day rule for NIPs to be served there’s a chance that will be the end of it but it depends on the circumstances. Be aware that when you take this action, the penalties are ramped up and if you’re found to be telling porkies then a custodial sentence is quite likely. Get on the case with this as there are time limits on getting it back into court.
Similar thing happened to me a few years ago IIRC contact the court in question they will tel you what to do also the police force in question you may have to apply to you local court for this to be re heard & all paper correct paper work will be sent to you so the process will start again from scratch
http://www.pepipoo.com/ is imo one of the best sources of info for this kind of thing. Some of the people on their forums appear to have some proper legal knowledge.
44 Tonne Ton:
You will need to contact the court explaining the situation. You will be asked to sign a declaration to say you received no correspondence in relation to this. Bearing in mind the 14 day rule for NIPs to be served there’s a chance that will be the end of it but it depends on the circumstances. Be aware that when you take this action, the penalties are ramped up and if you’re found to be telling porkies then a custodial sentence is quite likely. Get on the case with this as there are time limits on getting it back into court.
Highly unlikely. Come on Kenny, that is scaremongering at best.
44 Tonne Ton:
You will need to contact the court explaining the situation. You will be asked to sign a declaration to say you received no correspondence in relation to this. Bearing in mind the 14 day rule for NIPs to be served there’s a chance that will be the end of it but it depends on the circumstances. Be aware that when you take this action, the penalties are ramped up and if you’re found to be telling porkies then a custodial sentence is quite likely. Get on the case with this as there are time limits on getting it back into court.
Highly unlikely. Come on Kenny, that is scaremongering at best.
Er, no Rob! The courts would view this as a pre-meditated case of perjury if it was found he’d lied to try and avoid penalty points and fines. If he is telling us the truth here then he has nowt to worry about. If not, then he has got plenty to worry about!
I went through it myself a few years ago and there have been some recent well publicised cases.
Signaller:
My problem is that I did NOT receive the NIP regarding the initial speeding allegation.
You’re not supposed to, the initial NIP goes to the registered keeper who should return it naming you as the driver. Another NIP should be sent addressed to you which is the the one that appears to have gone astray. Only the first NIP is subject to the 14 day rule though.
44 Tonne Ton:
You will need to contact the court explaining the situation. You will be asked to sign a declaration to say you received no correspondence in relation to this. Bearing in mind the 14 day rule for NIPs to be served there’s a chance that will be the end of it but it depends on the circumstances. Be aware that when you take this action, the penalties are ramped up and if you’re found to be telling porkies then a custodial sentence is quite likely. Get on the case with this as there are time limits on getting it back into court.
Highly unlikely. Come on Kenny, that is scaremongering at best.
Er, no Rob! The courts would view this as a pre-meditated case of perjury if it was found he’d lied to try and avoid penalty points and fines. If he is telling us the truth here then he has nowt to worry about. If not, then he has got plenty to worry about!
I went through it myself a few years ago and there have been some recent well publicised cases.
Sorry I still disagree mate. I’ve had more than my fair share of dealings with the justice system for being a naughty boy and on 2 occasions I was told that it was a 99% likelihood I’d be doing bird, but no. These days you have to REALLY take the ■■■■ with them AND have a string of previous convictions as long as your arm AND show no remorse whatsoever for them to even consider a custodial sentence. Even if the kid in this thread lied through his teeth about it and got found out the most he’d get is a slap on the wrist, some sharp words and a large fine (and possibly a disqualification if they were really in a bad mood). I’d bet my house that a custodial sentence wouldn’t even be an consideration. That’s my 2p.
So why does everyone keep quoting this 14 days ■■■■■■■■ ?
The registered keeper is notified within 14 days and they have to supply the drivers details, if its an Agency driver then he will be contacted in due course at the address supplied by the registered keeper.
If your driving somebody elses vehicle then FORGET the 14 days as it does not apply to you in this case, as for not getting the NIP then appeal it on the grounds that you didn’t recieve any NIP and check what address the police were given by the registered keeper.
Right, speaking from experience,
I had a simular thing, I did recieve the NIP and sent it back twice, but ended up being convicted in my absence.
You have to apply for permission for leave to appeal, I did this at the magistraites court. I ended up in the old bailey in front of a judge and 2 magistraites.
I won my case because I kept all the original paperwork no points and no fine.
Go to your local magistraites court and tell them you wish to appeal, they will point you in the right direction.
signaller:
Hi,
need some advice please.Received a letter from magistrates court advising me of a fine (£525) and 6 points for failing to disclose driver details. It relates to an alleged speeding offence of which I knew absolutely nothing of, until I received said letter. I was driving for an agency on the date stated. If there is proof I was indeed speeding then I must have no argument with that. The agency, or the firm I was driving for at the time must have given the police/courts my details.Again, I have no problem with that too.
My problem is that I did NOT receive the NIP regarding the initial speeding allegation. And prior to receiving the letter about the fine and points I have received nothing asking me who was the driver/was I the driver, on the date quoted. I have not changed address recently, so any letters sent could not have gone elsewhere.
My only defence is that I was totally unaware of this. Had I received the initial NIP I obviously would have replied to it. I have been so careful regarding speed limits etc; and I do not recall being caught speeding at any location. Is there any right of appeal to the offence of failing to disclose driver details. I would have replied if I was aware of it. It’s obviously in our interests to do so.Thanks in advance for any help.
mrpj:
Signaller:
My problem is that I did NOT receive the NIP regarding the initial speeding allegation.
You’re not supposed to, the initial NIP goes to the registered keeper who should return it naming you as the driver. Another NIP should be sent addressed to you which is the the one that appears to have gone astray. Only the first NIP is subject to the 14 day rule though.
All that I have highlighted in red is relevent here,
1/ drivers deatails have been disclosed or you wouldn’t have got the letter
2/ You were the driver so they know who you are
3/ Exactly
because of everything that is in red, the underlined bit is wrong as disclosure has been made.
the bit in green wasn’t your job so you couldn’t do it so you can’t appeal as you didn’t not disclose!.
post a copy of the letter onto the site posted by Biscuits,(hide any personal details of yourself, the vehicle and the location of the alledged offence) there are many lawyers who frequent the site and will give you sound advise
Biscuits: pepipoo.com/ is imo one of the best sources of info for this kind of thing. Some of the people on their forums appear to have some proper legal knowledge.
Hope I’ve not caused any confusion. Just to clarify.
I am aware of the so called 14 day rule. My problem/concern is that I knew nothing of this until I received the letter mentioned in my post. The agency, or the firm I was driving for must have given my details.I don’t have a problem with that. I have been found guilty (in my absence) of something I knew nothing about. The request by the Police/Courts for driver details may well have been sent out.I did not receive it. I would have replied, as it’s obviously in our best interests to do so.
With hindsight, I would have thought the firm or agency would have mentioned it to me.Obviously neither of them did. Am phoning the Magistrates Court this afternoon.Will post again after that.
Just came off the phone. I need to go to my local Magistrates Court and make a Statutory Declaration. This would be sent to the police force concerned, who would then pursue the initial offence of speeding. Still going to get a £60 fine and 3 points. Much more acceptable than £525 and 6 points. Thanks to everyone who replied.
Regards
Signaller:
Just came off the phone. I need to go to my local Magistrates Court and make a Statutory Declaration. This would be sent to the police force concerned, who would then pursue the initial offence of speeding. Still going to get a £60 fine and 3 points. Much more acceptable than £525 and 6 points. Thanks to everyone who replied.
Regards
Andy
Why are you “still going to get a £60 fine and 3 points” ■■ WTF. You said yourself that you hadn’t been speeding so why are you bending over for a good arse shafting? If you know you weren’t speeding (which is impossible to know at this point as they have still to furnish you with the details of when and where the alleged offence took place) then fight it.
Just for your info, I had one company try to stitch me up for a speeding offence which wasn’t even me. They’d given my details to the plod who then wrote to me with details of the points and fine I’d be receiving which - like you - was the first I knew about it. Luckily for me I always kept a diary of everywhere I went on a daily basis when driving and could prove that I was elsewhere that day and not even working. This was in my very early days on class 2 so I was still rather green to it all, but I belled up the plod and told them this and asked where they’d got my details and they said the transport company who were leasing the truck. I then belled them up about it and after a lot of messing about and arguments they finally admitted they’d made a mistake and it was one of their own drivers in the truck that day. A couple of weeks later I got a letter from the plod saying no further action would be taken.
Thanks for replying. I said if there was proof I was speeding then I must accept that. Checked diary etc; and I was driving on the day of the alleged speeding offence.My problem was that the first I knew of anything was when I was advised of the fine and points for failing to disclose driver details. Will file the Statutory Declaration next week, and if there is indeed proof of the alleged speeding offence then I will have to accept that.I meant I would rather have 3 points and £60 fine than 6 points and £525 fine. Actually I would rather have none at all, but 3 and 60 is better than 6 and 525. Will have to see what proof, if any, they have, then take it from there. Sorry for any confusion.
no points and no fine.
A couple of weeks later I got a letter from the plod saying no further action would be taken. 
