Court summons for a speeding fine

[MrsKLR]

2 days ago I received a summons for failing to notify the driver in a speeding incident.

My husband’s car is in my name and he has been flashed by a speed camera.

 

We’ve not had any letter about the offence before this summons but now I have to go to court on 2 counts: the original speeding offence and failing to respond to letters I’ve not received. 

 

I don’t know what to do!

Do I plead not guilty (which I am!) but have to face going to court to testify and prove that I have not received these letters, have to pay all the court fees and still possibly get found guilty.

 

Or do I plead guilty and get left with a potentially hefty fine.

 

I’m waiting to here from the union about legal advice but I just wondered if anyone had been in this situation and can offer any help at all.

[dx100uk]

why have you not received the numerous letters to date

is the car not registered to your present address?

 

dx

 

[honeybee13]

Hello and welcome to CAG.

 

We have people who can help with your problem and if you have a read around our motoring offences forum you'll see you aren't the only one this has happened to.

 

I'll send an SOS to someone who may be able to help.

 

Best, HB

 

[MrsKLR]

No we’ve received nothing.

 

Lived here for 7 years and the car had always been registered here.

 

I just don’t understand it. 

[Manxman in exile]

Just a couple of questions first:

 

(1)  You are definitely the registered keeper with DVLA and it's definitely the correct address on the car's V5C (which of course you have in your possession)?  Please don't make any assumptions here - actually dig out the V5C and confirm the details are correct.  Many people are surprised to find the wrong address on their V5C or even that they are not the RK.

 

(2)  Have you experienced any problems with mail deliveries lately?  eg mail going astray, not being delivered etc?  If "Yes", do you have a record of any complaints you've made about this to the Post Office/Royal Mail etc?

 

(3)  Last question - when was the date of the alleged speeding offence and is there any indication of when you were asked to identify the driver?  (If you are the RK you are meant to have received it within 14 days of the original speeding offence.  They are almost never late though).

 

 

The police will almost certainly (99.9% certain) have records that show the request was sent to you within the time limit at the address shown on the V5C from DVLA.  There is a legal presumption that it was delivered to you two days after posting.  The only way you can defeat that presumption is to prove you didn't receive it.  [Edit:  Actually there might be other ways you can justify not replying, but it won't be easy - I'll leave it to another poster to explain that].  How can you do that?  Obviously if is very difficult and a high bar to clear otherwise everybody would simply say "I never received it".

 

Normally the person who was driving and the RK are the same person.  In that situation the advice is to plead Not Guilty to both speeding and the failure to identify the driver, and then on the day of the trial you make a plea bargain with the prosecutor by telling them that you will change your plea to guilty for the speeding if (AND ONLY IF) they agree to drop the failure to identify charge.

 

The difficulty you have is that you are the RK charged with failing to identify, but you are not the person who was speeding - your husband is.  This means you cannot do a plea bargain because you cannot offer to plead guilty to the speeding because you were not the driver.  If you were to do so you would be committing the very serious offence of attempting to pervert the course of justice - which carries a possible jail sentence - so you don't want that!

 

That's an overview of where I think you stand with this.  I'll be honest and tell you I don't know how to tell you to proceed.  There is another regular poster on here called Man in the Middle who is very experienced and knowledgeable in these matters.  I suggest you wait and see if he contributes over the weekend.  I'll see if I can nudge him.

Edited July 24, 2020 by Manxman in exile
clarification

[honeybee13]

I've already sent a PM to MitM, Manxman.

 

HB

[Manxman in exile]

I thought you probably had.  I really don't know how the OP gets out of this.  Maybe it's simple.

[Manxman in exile]

Just to give you some reassurance if Man in the Middle does not make an appearance over the weekend - you could also try asking here:  External Link removed.

 

They'll probably ask you the same/similar questions to the ones I asked (correct details on V5C?  any history of mail delivery problems? what's the timeline?) so you may as well give these details from the outset.  If you do try there, do not register with a Hotmail address - it won't allow you to register.  (And make sure you answer any other questions they ask - they can get a bit tetchy!)

 

Make sure you do not miss any deadlines concerning the summons.

 

Good luck

 

 

[Manxman in exile]

Hmmm.  No response so far from Man in the Middle, and nobody else other than Honeybee has contributed either.

 

 

 

The difficulty you have is that if you get convicted of failing to identify the driver, you'll end up with 6 points on your licence and an MS90 conviction code.  Insurance companies HATE MS90 convictions because they have a tendency to wonder what on earth you could have done to make not naming the driver a viable option.  (All they will see is that you've been convicted of not naming the driver - not the circumstances surrounding it).  There is a very real danger that your insurance premiums will go through the roof for the next five years.

 

For this reason you really want to try avoiding a MS90 conviction at all costs.  Because you are the only person charged with speeding and failing to identify, but you husband was the driver, you can't do a plea bargain.

 

I honestly don't know what you do in this situation.  The solution may be simple or it may not be.   Try National Consumer Service.

 

good luck

 

Oh - and just to clarify. 

You can't be convicted of the speeding offence

- and nor can anyone else at the moment

- because they don't know who was driving. 

 

I suspect the only reason they've charged you with both is to give you the opportunity to do the plea bargain I outlined earlier, because they probably assume you were the speeding driver.  Of course you weren't, so you can't do the usual plea bargain.

 

Seriously - if you don't get more sensible responses here, you really do need to ask on National Consumer Service.

 

I suppose??? you might be able to approach the prosecutors and see if you can get your husband charged with speeding, and then agree that he will plead guilty if they agree to drop the fail to identify charge against you. 

 

But that really leaves both of you wide open to the possibility of both being convicted of different offences. 

I'm afraid your predicament is way outside my comfort zone. 

You must got to National Consumer Service