Police fixed penalty fine for no insurance - but DVLA has his licence - mass frustration

[Man in the middle]

If he cannot accept the fixed penalty within the 28 days he has to do so, he will be prosecuted in court. His case will be dealt with under the "Single Justice" Procedure and he will be sent paperwork (principally a "Single Justice Procedure Notice") asking he to make a plea. He can plead guilty and ask to be sentenced at a level equivalent to the fixed penalty. Magistrates have guidance allowing them to do this:

 

"Where a penalty notice could not be offered or taken up for reasons unconnected with the offence itself, such as administrative difficulties outside the control of the offender, the starting point should be a fine equivalent to the amount of the penalty and no order of costs should be imposed. The offender should not be disadvantaged by the unavailability of the penalty notice in these circumstances."

 

There's no need for him to panic about this. If he gets his licence back in time, fine. If not, he has the above remedy available to him. The police have six months (twelve months in Scotland) from the date of the offence to begin court action and in many areas they take nearly all of that time.