Hey, apologies for reopening a 3 week old thread, but I'm just posting the results now that I have my internet back up. I went to court to plead my case. As soon as I mentioned I didn't send my license in that was all they needed to hear. They explained they would revert the fine and points back to the original £100 fine and 3 points and I was in and out within 2 minutes. It was a room of around 8-10 women, the judge was looking at me like I was a giant heart shaped diamond with chanel handbags orbiting around me from start to finish. Really pleasant experience and the complete opposite of what I expected. HOWEVER! Once the paperwork come back through with my updating speeding fine and points, I noticed once again (exactly like my original forms) it didnt state anywhere for me to send my physical driving license off. I rang the DVLA directly and asked them about this and she said I do NOT need to send my license in as it's all done online (like I said in my original post), why I was taken to court for not sending my license in is beyond me. I'm expecting another court case in my absense in 5 months time anyway.

They have received the completed s172 form . The CPU acknowledged they had all the paperwork that I returned, only it was missing my physical driving license. I'll contact them again tomorrow and get an answer on that.

]Why should I be fined more than my initial fine? Isn't there any sort of law than states people should be given a chance to correct one single mistake on a form before being put in court in their absence? I didn't check what details they had of mine but I can't even fathom what other details they might have. They made no comment on why I didn't receive a summons, despite me asking.

two hours later I get off the phone. I first rang Preston Magistrates where a very nice woman called Linda dealt with my enquiry. She identified that I was within my rights to apply for a Statutory Declaration but she must transfer me through to the Blackburn courts as they deal with it from there. Once she transferred me through I was greeted by a woman who asked me if I would be pleading guilty to which I agreed I would be, she informed me it would be a section 165 I'd need but I need to ring another number to have that done which turned out to be Marstons who oddly had no idea what a section 165 was and had to call me back once they knew. Marstons rang me back shortly after and I explained the whole thing again and they informed me I actually just need to ring my local magistrates and ask them to review my case.. "just ask them to review my case? No need to mention a section 165 or anything?" I asked. "No, just ask them for a review", she said. ringing my local Blackpool Magistrates and asking for a review went down like a brick. She had no idea what I was on about so I explained everything from the beginning and she said she will ring me back either today or tomorrow once she found out some things. I rang back Linda at Preston Magistrates because she seemed the most human and understanding and she had no idea what a section 165 was but found out for me while I held and it was for a review of the fine which I didnt want because I just wanted a Statutory Declaration. She asked me to speak to the CPU first and ask them exactly why it was taken to court which I did and found out it was indeed because I didn't include my physical driving license I asked them if it's normal for them to not send out a letter of warning and that I'm only human I make mistakes sometimes and she said it's normal for there to be no written warnings?! I rang Linda back and she reconfirmed my entitlement for a Stat and put me back through to Blackburn where I got a man this time who was happy to provide me with a court time and date (on wednesday). She said the main thing I should query on the day is the rise in penalty points when I was offered 3 points and signed and paid for it. However, for me it's equally as important that the fee's be dropped as I simply can't afford to be paying out nearly £600 for no intentional wrong doing of my own. now I need to write a list of all my issues and build a case ready for wednesday! Wish me luck

Thanks you, I can't believe how helpful you've all been. I'm going to make a contribution to this site out of next months wage. It's hard to believe people are so willing to give up their time to help people in this day and age. To all of you who have spared me your time I really really appreciate it. I will respond again tomorrow once I've made some calls and let you all know of my progress. Once again, thanks!!

True, so would you suggest ringing the Lancashire constabulary first? I'm being told to ring the courts immediately and request a statutory declaration. To be honest I'm completely up in the air with it all. I have no idea what I'd be asking for 'exactly'. I'm completely clueless when it comes to the law, probably from being too good of a citizen? Lol. As far as I'm aware, it's to start a new prosecution and to plea guilty to the initial crime, hopefully resulting in the added charges and points being written off. Beyond that I have no idea to what expect, how the phone call to go and what I'm going to be asked. Maybe I'm just best seeking legal advice before contacting the courts.

I've been getting a lot of great advice from both yourselves and other people. So thank you so much for that! Where I'm at now is that, I have indeed filled and returned back the forms sent to me in march. I'm not sure it matters exactly what forms I filled in at this point, more that I didn't include my physical driving license in the letter before I sent it back. I didn't include it because I believed I didn't have to, otherwise I'd of had no problem including it as it's just been sat here on my computer desk all this time. So since all this, I haven't received or heard a peep from them in almost 6 months. Clearly I haven't received a letter I should have received informing me I didn't include my license. I haven't moved address in years so it's no mix up like that. I just simply haven't received anything so I haven't known of any issue. I'm going to ring the courts in the morning and ask why I was put in court without my knowledge and what for exactly. Then I'm taking the information and any paperwork and evidence to a solicitors in Blackpool. Hopefully they'll be able to give me some solid direction or deal with it for me and have the charges reversed on the grounds of me receiving no warning.

Thank you! I'm pretty much set on going to speak to a solicitor come monday morning. Would you recommend speaking to a free legal advice service first? Would they also act on my behalf? Obviously I will ring the Lancashire Constabulary first. I'm just not counting on getting anywhere with them.

Roger that. 100% there was no offer for a speed awareness course, because that's what I was expecting to receive and was annoyed I wasn't offered one. I don't exactly remember what form I filled in other than I DID accept responsibility. I named myself as the driver and filled in all the boxes of information on that sheet and posted it back and paid my fine online. I really couldn't have done anything more. The form was posted back to the address stated on the form I filled in. I doubt I've sent it to the wrong place. I can't say for sure as I can't tell you the address I wrote on the envelope now with it being so long ago, all I can say is it's incredibly doubtful I've sent it to the wrong place. I don't have any of the initial charge paperwork anymore as I had great pleasure in shredding it once I'd dealt with it (big mistake now, I know). I do however, still have my reference numbers which I saved on my computer. It was from the Lancashire constabulary, though I've no idea if this is who I should be contacting?

I have managed to find some information on a website called [removed] which directly relates to my situation. I have pasted what it says below in hope it helps anyone else who finds themselves in my situation where the MoJ have failed to receive the paper part to the fine in their mail. Section 172 Section 172 Defence Approach 3 - Outbound Post Section 172 of the 1988 Road Traffic Act requires the registered keeper of a vehicle to supply the identity of a driver. If you fail to do this then the penalty is 6 points and a fine of up to £1,000. The court also has the power to impose a driving ban but rarely uses it prefering 6 points and large fines instead. This web site was founded over 15 years ago to help people with legal motoring issues. Over the years we have had millions of visitors and have seen every type of offense thousands of times over. Accordingly we are well positioned to provide real world advice. We can give you advice to help you avoid unjust points, fines and bans. Section 172 issues. Normally this occurs after a Notice of Intended Prosecution (commonly know as a NIP) has been sent to a vehicles registered keeper along with a request to identify the driver (the Section 172 bit). If this is not returned or the driver is not named then you can expect to be in breach of the Section 172 legislation and if found guilty you will get 6 points and a big fine (up to £1,000). The request to identify the driver would seem to conflict with the normal approach in law that you are not required to incriminate yourself. This has been challenged all the way up to the European Courts and has been rejected by the Courts - so this approach is not a solution to your problem. You have three main defences to a Section 172 issue: Section 172 Defence Approach 1 - Reasonable Diligence Section 172 Defence Approach 2 - Inbound Post Section 172 Defence Approach 3 - Outbound Post Section 172 Defence Approach 3 - Outbound Post So if Option 1 of Reasonal Diligence does not apply and neither does Option 2 of not receiving the request in the post - what is the final option for you? At this point we must then assume that you received the paperwork and filled it out and returned it to the correct address. You are not under an obligation to send it via registered post - just normal post. Accordingly you have complied with your obligations and it must have either gone astray in the post or at their offices. This is still a valid defence. You just need to be certain that it was posted to them. They may well challenge this but they need to prove that you did not post it back and that is almost impossible for them as if you are certain that you posted it they have little to challenge you on. This is a somewhat simplified version of events and revolves around the volume of letters that the Post Office lose each year. As with the previous option Section 172 Defence Approach 2 - Inbound Post you will need to spend considerable time and effort to contact the Post Office to gather evidence on the percentage and number of letters that are lost in your area. Understandably the Post Office are not keen to hand out this information. This information will then need to be structured into a formal letter and sent back to them. It is probably best to send it this time via recorded post to ensure it has arrived. To use this defense you will really again need some expert legal help to get a good result. Many years ago we did have template letters on this site for people to use, but we again found that they were overused and were ignored by the authorities. Beware of template letters on the web as some seem to just get the authorities backs up and then they will not give up. In summary you have 3 options at this point: You can accept the 6 points and a big fine. You can take the advice above and try and do it yourself. We see that in around 30% of cases the DIY approach will work. Sadly in around 70% of cases it does not and you end up in court and get 6 points and a big fine. If you challenge it and lose the fine is normally near to £1,000. Or the option with the best chance of success (90%+) is to engage a specialist solicitor and get them to do all the work. As they tend to charge less than your fine and the huge issue of getting 6 points this is the best approach. There are NO other options - you need to select which ever option best matches your situation and get on with it. The longer you leave it the worse it will get. If you do nothing you will end up in court and get 6 points and a large fine. The best advice we can give is to get a specialist proven Motoring Solicitor to help you get a good result - 90%+ of cases they will get dropped. Email me here and we will get them to call you - do not forget to include your telepone number in the email if you want a swift response.

I've just remembered, along with the fixed penalty letter came an admittance form that requested my driving license number and for me to admit that I was the driver at the time etc. I posted this information off at the time. It didn't require for me to send my driving license as it's all done online now. So all I can do is hope that they accept the error on their side. sigh. I'm going to contact my bank now. Thanks

Thanks, I'm really grateful for the information! Atleast I know where to start come monday morning.

Closed until monday. Do you have any ideas what the outcome may be? Can I really be accountable for a refund on my fixed penalty 3 months after I paid it without any warnings or letters? Seems really unfair? p.s I only had 3 points on my license - the ones issued to me at the time I paid my £100 fine.

Thanks for your response. My receipt shows that payment was made to the Ministry of Justice through their online fine payment system. I wasn't required to send off my drivers license though I can't remember if I had to enter my driving license number or anything. Thanks all the same, I guess I will ring MoJ now, no doubt their offices will be closed.

I was caught doing 51 in a 40 zone by a mobile speed camera in Feb 2016. I paid the fine of £100 and I have the receipt of payment and confirmation on my emails and the money was taken from my account as expected. Now, 7 months later, I received 2 letters through the post this morning regarding the same incident in February. One from the courts saying the have endorsed my license with 6 points and one from the DVLA with a fine for £569 which includes a fine of £440 + Victim Surge charge of £44 and "costs" of £85. It also states there has been a court hearing in my absence on 21st September 2016. It really doesnt say much else I've done some investigating and found that on 29th August 2016 the fine I paid over 3 months prior was returned to my bank account. what I can gather from the vague letters is that, more than 3 months after I paid my fine and was given a receipt, the money was returned to my bank without my knowledge now they're treating me as if I haven't paid my fine and increased my points and my fine more than 5x the original amount. I can't ring any legal advice as they're all closed over the weekend and so is the DVLA and I'm stressed out! Do you think they'll reverse the points and fine once explained? Has anybody has any dealings like this with this before? Thanks