Thanks for that HB and Manxman in exile.

Manxman in exile, thank you for that. Yes I am a chauffeur. I am being more careful going forward. Does anyone have an idea if the ban is on same day as the hearing?

Thanks dx100uk. I realise I need to be more careful but I have not faced this situation before.

Thanks HB. This is a different offence. Reason for EH is my work depends on my license, I drive for a living. I have two young daughters, one has a disability. cheers

I have a hearing for a speeding offence (38mph in a 30mph zone). If guilty, the 3pts takes me to 12pts and a ban. Is the ban automatic after the hearing or is there a separate hearing to decide on the ban? So when do I need to make an argument for Exceptional Hardship? hopey

The hearing for my re-opened case is on 11 Nov. I am abroad and was due back on 31 Oct. Due to a change in circumstances, I had to postpone my return to 14 Nov, three days too late for my court date. I have contacted the court via email (with copies of my return ticket showing the old date and the rebooked date) to explain and ask for a short adjournment. But they said No, that I knew the date of hearing before I travelled so they wouldn’t adjourn. Shall I just send a plea of ‘guilty’ now with my statement of means to at least benefit from the discount on my fine? Do I have any options?

Thank you dx. Filled and returned forms. I will follow it up when back in UK in two weeks. Thanks for all the info guys.

She hasn't received any c!aims form as far as I know. She wouldn't ignore any court correspondence. I was considering the set aside option ( i e N244) but with a fee of £255, we may as well play safe and make them an offer as my wife isn't working at the moment.

It's not an old address..She updated her address cos she still has her HSBC account. Only change is surname. But the order is in her maiden name and right address.

Andyorch. Thanks for the link. That pretty much explains it.

Hi dx, The debt is a HSBC loan. Judgment creditor on the order is Arrow Global Limited.

I am away from home (five thousand miles away) and my wife just received an Order for Production of Statement of Means for a debt that is over 6 years old. I asked her to send me copies and discovered that she was actually served both N56 and N61(Attachment of Earnings Application). Is it normal practice. From what I have read on the form here, N61 follows if N56 was not responded to.

Man in the middle, thank you for that response. Looking back, of course I had no good reason for not responding to the reminder. I thought though that I might get more time to respond after I emailed to say that I didn't receive the initial NIP. I am a chauffeur and I was doing a contract away from home at the time (which was why I got this charge 95 miles from home). I returned home after the time on the reminder (7 days I think), had lapsed but I thought the NIP would be re-issued. But instead of a re-issue of NIP, I received a summons. By the way, my wife checks my mails when I am working away from home otherwise I wouldn't even have known about the reminder until after the time had elapsed. They were actually having the discussion in court and I was tempted to get involved and ask for the whole case to be re-opened but I thought it might be impolite.

***************UPDATE*************** Hi everyone, I went to court today where the magistrates agreed to set aside the previous judgement and reopen the case. Now, I don't know if this is good news or bad, but they decided to cancel the charge of speeding and only reopen the charge of FtF. I was asked how I intended to PLEAD on the charge and I said I will be pleading NOT GUILTY, before a hearing date was set for 6 week's time. But without the speeding charge, it appears that I have lost my 'bargaining chip'. What do you guys think?

I did a course two years ago but I will try the fixed penalty. Like you said, if you don't ask, you don't get. Thanks MITM

Thanks Man in the middle. Btw alleged speed was 39 on a 30 zone. I thought I was on a 40mph road. Found out later on google that the speed limit had been changed only a few months before.

***************UPDATE*************** Thanks to all you legends, I got a positive response to my request to have my case re-opened. My letter basically pointed out that both my request for transfer and adjournment were refused but I was not notified, I only found out when I telephoned the court. I also said that it appeared to me that the documents that I sent to the court, i.e my PLEA and means statement, were not presented to the magistrate as I was not fined according to my income. The letter I received in response says that my case has been re-listed for hearing in September AT MY LOCAL COURT. The magistrate will then consider re-opening the case and rescinding the conviction/order made against me. I think this is a great result, so I thought I'd share with you all. Cheers.

Cheers..

I thought this might be the case also. I sent my plea and means statement over a weekend. I then called the court on the Monday, the day before my case, to ask if it they received the documents. I was assured that they received it and attached to my file ready for the court. I made a record of names of people I spoke to. I will seek some legal advice beforehand which is why I asked about time limit. From previous discussion, I don't have any valid defence. But my reason was that I didn't receive the original NIP. A reminder arrived 7 days to the deadline. I emailed to ask for more time because I was certain that I was on a 40MPH road and wanted to visit the location again. But I now realise that providing driver details has nothing to do with all that. I didn't get further time and the deadline expired. Weeks later, the summons arrived.

Obviously I panicked and decided to put up some kind of representation and hope for the best rather than NOT showing up and NOTHING for the court to rely on leaving me at risk of 9pts. This appears to be the case cos the income statement is a little over £440. Could it be that because I didn't provide details of the driver they chose to ignore my plea on speeding. When I saw the 6pts, I almost fainted cos I was obviously expecting to get another 3pts for speeding which I pleaded guilty to. I drive for a living and currently have 3pts on my license. But I turned over the pages of the court letter and there was no mention of the speeding charge. So even though I feel happy with the outcome (it could have been worse due to all the mess), I can now see that I didn't get a fair shot. Great stuff Man in the middle, worth waiting for. i will try the section 142 route. BTW what is the time limit to put in the appeal? It has been 14 days since the judgment.

I wasn’t actually out of the country but having accepted to do the contract down by the south coast, it was difficult to get a replacement. I initially pled not guilty, hoping to attend court and try to get the FtF dropped. But when it became obvious that I couldn’t attend court and the case would proceed in my absence, I decided to change my plea and hope the prosecutor might be kind too. I was lucky with the points though cos it was entirely out of my hands and I could easily have got 9pts. Just a bit miffed about the level of fine as I supplied income/expenditure details. Thanks Manxman in exile.

I was prosecuted for speeding and FtF. I was hoping to go to court and try to get the FtF dropped by pleading guilty to the speeding. I was sent away on a short contract which was due to finish a few days after court date. My request for adjournment and also for transfer to my local court were rejected. Now I didn't even get any letters of rejection, I only found out a few days to court date when I phoned the court. By this time I was away on this contract. It was not possible for me to leave work to attend court so I had to send a plea via email to the court administrator that dealt with my query. I attached an income/expenditure statement. I pleaded guilty to the speeding but asked for the FtF charge to be reconsidered. When I arrived back home, days after the court date, not knowing what to expect, the court letter was waiting. The speeding charge was dropped but I got 6 points for the FtF plus £660 fine, £66 victim surcharge and £300 cost. I have read that the fine is supposed to be a percentage of weekly earning but this fine exceeds my weekly income. Can I appeal this fine on the basis that it is excessive?

Great stuff. Yes, I will be looking to do a deal, that’s why I was a bit concerned. Thanks Man in the middle.

Hi all I have a court date for speeding and FtF. Court is 140 miles from my home. I have written to the Clerk of the court for transfer to my local court. I haven’t heard back yet after 10 days. Just want to find out if such request can be granted. Also, I have been asked to go and work abroad for 3 weeks. I finish the posting 3 days after my original court date. Can I ask for adjournment or do I have to reject my job posting? Every input greatly appreciated. Thanks all.

Very true. Lesson learned. Cheers.