Legal help Re Speeding Fine

[Han]

The OH was apparently caught speeding a while back, and they wrote to our old address asking to her confirm who was driving etc. As we did not live there, there was no reply. (admittedly she should have changed her address with DVLA).

As she did not reply to the request she has now been issued with a court order of some sort saying she must pay £625 in costs (robbing b******s).

They say that there are only two ways of getting around the £625 fine –

1. appear in court to declare that she was not aware of the crime
2. get a solicitor to write the same declaration

Having only just started at her new job, she feels that the former is not really an option…..


Any pointers?


We have not been provided with copies of any of the correspondence.

 

[Darth Vodka]

Any pointers?

sure

http://www2.royalmail.com/delivery/inbound-mail/redirections?RMGRMPPC_=_royal_mail_redirect

 

[spionfox]

The OH was apparently caught speeding a while back, and they wrote to our old address asking to her confirm who was driving etc. As we did not live there, there was no reply. (admittedly she should have changed her address with DVLA).

As she did not reply to the request she has now been issued with a court order of some sort saying she must pay £625 in costs (robbing b******s).

They say that there are only two ways of getting around the £625 fine –

1. appear in court to declare that she was not aware of the crime
2. get a solicitor to write the same declaration

Having only just started at her new job, she feels that the former is not really an option…..


Any pointers?


We have not been provided with copies of any of the correspondence.

£625 is a lot of money. If by appearing in court or sending a solicitors letter can avoid it then I would do so.

 

[Biffa Bacon]

As it's strict liability it is your fault if the car is registered at the wrong address (this is also an offence) best bet is to pay up and hope they don't add the new offence.

 

[Richie_d123]

Same thing happened to me, I appeared in court and they threw it out along with the points. They did say the police have the right to re-issue the offence or something and that I was best to go home and hope to hear nothing for the next few weeks. This was 4/5 months ago and I have heard nothing from them.

 

[Han]

sure

http://www2.royalmail.com/delivery/inbound-mail/redirections?RMGRMPPC_=_royal_mail_redirect

Thanks!

£625 is a lot of money. If by appearing in court or sending a solicitors letter can avoid it then I would do so.

That's what I thought, eve if it's a couple of hundred quid it's better than £625. Not got a clue who to approach though.

As it's strict liability it is your fault if the car is registered at the wrong address (this is also an offence) best bet is to pay up and hope they don't add the new offence.

Good point.

Same thing happened to me, I appeared in court and they threw it out along with the points. They did say the police have the right to re-issue the offence or something and that I was best to go home and hope to hear nothing for the next few weeks. This was 4/5 months ago and I have heard nothing from them.

This sounds promising, well worth a morning off IMO (if they will let her).

 

[Leesoh]

It is always worth attending Court, as you may be able to mitigate, and there could be a duty adviser who is knowledgeable in these matters.

If it's an appeal they're offering, and I don't know from what you've said that it is, there is always the risk of a higher fine.

Have they given you a breakdown? There should be the fine, costs and the £15 victim surcharge.

What about points? Have they asked for the return of the licence to endorse it?

 

[bocadillo]

The OH was apparently caught speeding a while back, and they wrote to our old address asking to her confirm who was driving etc. As we did not live there, there was no reply. (admittedly she should have changed her address with DVLA).

As she did not reply to the request she has now been issued with a court order of some sort saying she must pay £625 in costs (robbing b******s).

They say that there are only two ways of getting around the £625 fine –

1. appear in court to declare that she was not aware of the crime
2. get a solicitor to write the same declaration

Having only just started at her new job, she feels that the former is not really an option…..


Any pointers?


We have not been provided with copies of any of the correspondence.

It's difficult to understand what this £625 that is being demanded is. At first you say it is costs, then later a fine.

Is a bailiff involved? What paper work have you got? Who has told you of these two ways of getting around the penalty?

All of this sounds a bit odd.

 

[Mawsley]

How do you receive a court order if you haven't received any of the prior letters?

 

[Leesoh]

How do you receive a court order if you haven't received any of the prior letters?

Do you really want that answering?

 

[Mawsley]

Do you really want that answering?

To be honest, yes. I don't want to go all middle-aged-judgemental without a justifiable reason...there again, I guess that defeats the whole point of being middle-aged-judgemental.

 

[Scarby]

It's difficult to understand what this £625 that is being demanded is. At first you say it is costs, then later a fine.

Is a bailiff involved? What paper work have you got? Who has told you of these two ways of getting around the penalty?

All of this sounds a bit odd.

It is clear that if you fail to update your address you can be fined.

more info here
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/DriverLicensing/NeedANewOrUpdatedLicence/DG_4022088

 

[Leesoh]

To be honest, yes. I don't want to go all middle-aged-judgemental without a justifiable reason...there again, I guess that defeats the whole point of being middle-aged-judgemental.

Both the criminal and civil courts have rules in place that allow those in a position to take legal action to do so by serving that person at their last known address.

If that service has been correctly effected, and the rules say that delivery by First Class post is acceptable, then the process starts.

The Courts are allowed to enter Judgments in default; in criminal cases, if no defence is received, it is deemed that the offender has admitted their guilt.

Now the person who has moved house may argue that if they have moved address, then they have not been served, and could not have defended the action, or they could have admitted their guilt and received a lower fine, etc.

The counter-argument is that they have failed to meet their obligations by updating their address, which I believe is a fine of up to £1,000.00.

From what I've seen of Mags Court motoring proceedings, they usually only go with the offence with the highest penalty, and drop any lesser offences.

 

[Leesoh]

Oh, and from what I remember, Leicester Mags usually issue a fine, plus costs and victim surcharge for the offence of failing to return the form in these circumstances, and normally stick to the same figure, which is around £300 - £400, in the absence of income & expenditure.

The speeding bit is dropped.

 

[Matt_B]

Oh, and from what I remember, Leicester Mags usually issue a fine, plus costs and victim surcharge for the offence of failing to return the form in these circumstances, and normally stick to the same figure, which is around £300 - £400, in the absence of income & expenditure.

The speeding bit is dropped.

I assumed he meant how did they find them for the letter when they didn't with the original letter

 

[bocadillo]

It is clear that if you fail to update your address you can be fined.

But not £625. Even with a fine for speeding and for failing to give the name of the driver it's not going to come to £625.

 

[Richie_d123]

I'm sure mine was around the £400 mark. Also I'd made all the appropriate people aware of my address change before the speeding offence occurred.

 

[Leesoh]

1. appear in court to declare that she was not aware of the crime
2. get a solicitor to write the same declaration

I'm a bit confused by this, as ignorance is no defence.

 

[Mawsley]

...ignorance is no defence.

I feel sorry for the massed ranks of FT and Twitterlandia

 

[Matt_B]

The OH was apparently caught speeding a while back, and they wrote to our old address asking to her confirm who was driving etc. As we did not live there, there was no reply. (admittedly she should have changed her address with DVLA).

As she did not reply to the request she has now been issued with a court order of some sort saying she must pay £625 in costs (robbing b******s).

They say that there are only two ways of getting around the £625 fine –

1. appear in court to declare that she was not aware of the crime
2. get a solicitor to write the same declaration

Having only just started at her new job, she feels that the former is not really an option…..


Any pointers?


We have not been provided with copies of any of the correspondence.

I am intrigued to know how they issued the summons if they have your old address? Only thing I can think is you did a mail collect and got both things at once?