hi

this week I received a fine at the local magistrate under the new means tested rules of £550.

I was speeding 39 in a 30 and readily admitted it.

The offence was committed in January but I didn't received any correspondence until may when I received a reminder

(I presume there was an original notification but I queried and found out it wasn't sent recorded signed for delivery).

I read about the new speed tarrif for "offences committed after april 24 2017" but my offence was jan 2017.

yet I am still asked to pay £550.

Is this correct?

You need to go back to the Magistrates to raise a complaint about this. Should be whatever fine system was in place at time of offence.

oh yes I should have said I held a clean license and this was my first offence and no one else was involved.

Two things about the new sentencing guidelines for speeding:

1. It only effected the top range of seriousness. For offences in a 30mph limit this would be those where the recorded speed was over 50mph. Your speeding offence (39mph) was in the lowest band.

2. The new guidelines were effective for offences sentenced on or after 24th April regardless of the date of the offence.

Having said that, the guideline fine for your speeding offence is half a week's net income and £550 is a very high fine. So, what offence were you convicted of? Was it speeding or was it "Failing to Provide the driver's details"? This seems more likely from your brief description. How many penalty points were imposed? Have a look at your DVLA driving record online and see what endorsement code has been applied.

By the way, correspondence regarding speeding offences is not sent by Recorded delivery. It is usually sent by normal first class post.

Thanks appreciate the advice.

I was convicted for speeding not for failing to provide details.

Further the points added to the licence were 3.

Regarding your point about only effecting top range..

..according to confused dot com/on-the-road/driving-law/speeding-fine-calculator it is effecting all bands if you play around with the calculator not just top bands.

and just for further clarity the fine was £423, costs were £85 and victim surcharge was £42......although there was no victim in this case.

"...according to confused dot com/on-the-road/driving-law/speeding-fine-calculator it is effecting all bands if you play around with the calculator not just top bands."

Then confused dot com is wrong. The only change was an increase to the top band of seriousness from one times weekly income to one and a half times weekly income. The guideline fine for your offence is half a week's net income (reduced by a third if you plead guilty). Does this line up with your income?

For a speeding offence to be at the magistrates their must of been something else going on that the op has not told. It would normally be felt with by fixed penalty.

Failed to respond to paperwork?

Failed to turn up to court?

Fined in your absence?

There are other factors going on here.

And a little point on the victim surcharge, we, as a society are the victims by your speeding.

What else has gone on?

Was it a fixed camera

Was it an officer with a laser and were pulled over and you argued the toss with them?

What else has gone on

I already said I didn't receive the original notification until may so it went to the magistrate, called to ask about the original notification letter and was told is was normal first class post. Whatever was in the original letter, I don't know as I have never received a copy. Mobile unit apparently but I knew nothing about it.

Post 2 has the correct advice, contact your local magistrate court and raise a complaint if the fine was based on means tested income as that was not in force when the offence was committed.

Yes can you tell us what exactly happened here? I made the assumption that you did not respond to anything you had received regarding this offence (hence my query whether you had been convicted of "failing to provide driver's details). So:

1. Were you stopped by the police at the time of the offence or was it detected by a camera?

2. If it was detected by a camera and you did not reply to any correspondence how do they know who was driving so as to prosecute you for speeding?

3. If you did reply naming yourself as driver were you offered a Speed Awareness Course or a Fixed Penalty(£100 and 3 points)?

Please tell us what has happened (including all dates, date of offence, etc).

You must have been fined on the basis of a guilty plea (if not the costs would have been higher). Your fine of £423 includes a 33% discount for that plea. This means the base figure was £635 (£634.50 actually, but let's keep it simple). The fine should be half a week's net income. So did you tell them you earned £1270 per week?

Let me know exactly what has happened here. If you have been fined incorrectly you have a number of options, but which option to take depends on why you have been fined incorrectly.

By the Way, the official term for the "Victim Surcharge" (as per the legislation) is simply "Surcharge". Much of the money raised goes to various organisations who support victims and that's how it attracted its popular name.

And homer is incorrect. As I said earlier, the new guidelines came into force for offences sentenced on or after 24th April, not for those committed on or after that date. (And in any case your offence and subsequent penalty was not influenced by that change).