I have suffered a huge injustice!

[Peepo]

I was caught speeding some months ago and was fined £100.

I barely make enough money to live & they expected me to find the money in one lump sum. After letters back & forth they set a payment rate of £5 per week. After a couple of months I wrote to them again saying my financial situation had changed & I could only afford £1 per week.

They have taken me to court & have now set the payment rate at £30 per week, & worse than that I have to suffer the embarassment of my employers taking the money from my wages to pay the fine off.

I have been treated like a ****** that wont pay, when I have told them in 7 letters that I cannot affford to pay.

So they treat me like this, and put me through the shame of my employer knowing I have debts. I am a very private person & this has embarased me deeply.

I am now fearful of the charges I will incurr from the other 10 debtors that are baying for my blood & how I will tell my landlord I cannot afford to pay my full rent.

Why have these people done this to me when I send them proof that I could only afford £1 per week?

[freakyleaky]

Did you attend the court when the new rate was set?

What documents did you get from the court?

You may be able to appeal the decision.

[Peepo]

No, the offence took place on the Isle Of Wight & I live on the mainland, I couldnt afford to attend.

They are taking the first installment at the end of March, there is no indication that I can appeal.

[The Truth will Out!]

Peepo,

 

You have learnt a valuable lesson then.

 

Maybe next time you wont break the law and put the safety/lives of others at risk.

[Rob S]

Peepo,

 

You have learnt a valuable lesson then.

 

Maybe next time you wont break the law and put the safety/lives of others at risk.

 

And just how exactly has your sanctimonious comment helped the OP here?

[Guest Oliver Craddock]

Peepo,

 

You have learnt a valuable lesson then.

 

Maybe next time you wont break the law and put the safety/lives of others at risk.

 

edited

[freakyleaky]

One option you have is to contact some of you other creditors and explain that you are having financial difficulties at the moment and ask if they would agree to a reduced payment for a short period of time. If you can do this with 2 or 3 to the value of £30 per week(or £100 per month for 1 month) then this would enable you to pay the fine. Once the fine is paid you can revert to the original payments to the other creditors.

[Bircho]

No, the offence took place on the Isle Of Wight & I live on the mainland, I couldnt afford to attend.

They are taking the first installment at the end of March, there is no indication that I can appeal.

 

Why didn't you request for the hearing to be heard in your local court, that is your right and details would have been enclosed in the original paperwork?

[Chesterexpress]

Why didn't you request for the hearing to be heard in your local court, that is your right and details would have been enclosed in the original paperwork?

 

You can't request the hearing be transferred to your local court as it was a criminal case and would be heard in the magistrates court where the offence happened. You are obviously confusing this with cases that are dealt with in the County Court.

[Rob S]

But the court could make a transfer of fines order to the petty sessions area covering where the offender lives to allow the local court to enforce the fine. This would certainly help the OP.

 

And the case can be transferred to another court according to the CPS website.

 

The CPS : Cross Area Cases in Magistrates Courts

[Peepo]

Peepo,

 

You have learnt a valuable lesson then.

 

Maybe next time you wont break the law and put the safety/lives of others at risk.

 

Why should I be discouraged from speeding more than anyone else because I am in a lower earning bracket. This comment is not helpful & Id ask you to keep your smug opinions to yourself. I never said what I did was right, and I never denied I broke the law. Maybe you should go & read my other threads to learn a little more about me & my life before you come in here with your knee-jerk judgments.

Honestly, is this the kind of people we have to put up with on this forum, I thought this was a place of support & understanding.

[anarchist]

Why should I be discouraged from speeding more than anyone else because I am in a lower earning bracket.

 

OMG, you have to be joking.

 

(EDIT)

 

I can't believe for second you couldn't afford £5 a week. Offering £1 a week was a plain insult and I'd have done the same.

 

You must have been speeding by a fair old chunk to have been hit with a £100 fine. Maybe you should try driving at a legal and sensible speed, and you'll find that you will probably save the £5 a week just in petrol costs.

 

Edit:

 

Crikey, just read that back, and don't think I was anywhere near harsh enough on you. You should be discouraged from speeding because its wrong, wreckless, results in more accidents/injuries/deaths, burns more petrol, and so on. How much you earn has nothing to do with that.

 

You got caught, tough luck. Face the penalty, don't do the crime if etc.

[Conniff]

You could always sell your car and that would release enough funds to pay off the fine.

[Rob S]

Crikey, just read that back, and don't think I was anywhere near harsh enough on you. You should be discouraged from speeding because its wrong, wreckless, results in more accidents/injuries/deaths, burns more petrol, and so on. How much you earn has nothing to do with that.

 

You got caught, tough luck. Face the penalty, don't do the crime if etc.

 

You have really fallen hook line and sinker for the claptrap spouted by the government on speeding. It's not speed that kills but poor driving, pure and simple. The government spout on about speed being a major factor in 33% of accidents but the statistics collated by police on the stats 19 form show that this figure is only 7%.

[ShortlyTdwarf]

After letters back & forth they set a payment rate of £5 per week. After a couple of months I wrote to them again saying my financial situation had changed & I could only afford £1 per week.

They have taken me to court & have now set the payment rate at £30 per week,

Why have these people done this to me when I send them proof that I could only afford £1 per week?

 

It's not that unusual for a court to ignore any proof of your income without one of their own income/expenditure sheets being filled out. And even then they may not take account of it. It all depends on who is on the bench on the day. And they probably looked at the offer of £1 a week as an attempt to get around their payment schedule. Even for those on benefits the court will usually look at a repayment of at least £5 a week.

 

You could try writing to the court again and requesting a hearing to discuss your financial situation with regards to the fines and your inability to pay at the new rate, which may result in an arrest warrant being issued. Tell them that you aren't trying to get out of paying, just that you can't afford this new larger amount.

 

Most fines officers are usually pretty understanding when you talk to them, and will be able to negotiate a lower payment for you if you ring and talk to them (and not being sexist, but this is more likely if you talk to a woman). However, it may not be reduced to the £1 you say you can afford, but you may be able to get it back down to the £5 you were originally paying.

 

As stated earlier, you can request that the fines be transferred to your local area and then try to make a change to the amount once it is moved.

 

Good luck.

[anarchist]

You have really fallen hook line and sinker for the claptrap spouted by the government on speeding. It's not speed that kills but poor driving, pure and simple. The government spout on about speed being a major factor in 33% of accidents but the statistics collated by police on the stats 19 form show that this figure is only 7%.

 

Even if that is true, 7% is still 7% more than it should be.

 

And, I sincerely doubt the truth in that. People tend to lie and cover up speed being a factor in their accidents, because they're worried about being done for speeding, to try and avoid insurance claims that would obviously put them at fault because of this, etc.

 

And, how much worse were those accidents because of the increased speed? How many people were badly injured, or killed, when they otherwise wouldn't have been because of this?

 

Clue: More people than there should have been.

 

I'm also sort of at a loss, as to how the OP managed to get their car over to the Isle of Wight (for what I guess would be some sort of trip/holiday) yet they can only afford £5/£1 a week to pay this fine off? Sounds like someone is trying it on...

[Esio Trot]

Even if that is true, 7% is still 7% more than it should be.

 

It sounds like you should be on our local council. Methinks they are gradually moving towards a 5 mph limit throughout the town - with a man waving a red flag walking in front. When it come in it'll do wonders for the unemployment figures.

[kennythecelt]

Hi Anarchist

 

This site is to help people.

 

You yourself perhaps joined CAG in the hope that CAG could assist you and hopefully you have benefitted from that, given some of your earlier posts.

 

The OP was caught speeding and paid the penalty for that. He has admitted he was in the wrong and has not denied it. That was his punishment and we are trying to help find a solution to paying the fine at an affordable rate.

 

It is not for anyone to suggest what a reasonable amount to pay towards the fine is. We, ie You, don't know the OPs financial situation so can't comment. Likewise, is it helpful to ask about how the OP was able to pay a ferry fare to IOW?

 

You have obviously taken exception to a comment made by the OP which he could perhaps have better phrased, ie the fact that better off people may have recourse to better legal representation and given that, the level of fine or eventual punishment has less of an impact. Sadly, there are plenty of examples which support that view, as fines are not always proportionate to income.

[Rob S]

Even if that is true, 7% is still 7% more than it should be.

 

And, I sincerely doubt the truth in that. People tend to lie and cover up speed being a factor in their accidents, because they're worried about being done for speeding, to try and avoid insurance claims that would obviously put them at fault because of this, etc.

 

These figures come from police accident reports and are based on a number of factors. They represent the total number of accidents that police dealt with and in 7% of those, speed was classed as the primary contributing factor.

 

And, how much worse were those accidents because of the increased speed? How many people were badly injured, or killed, when they otherwise wouldn't have been because of this?

 

Clue: More people than there should have been.

 

Who knows, but I would be more worried about the number of people who were killed or injured in the other 93% of accidents where speed was not the primary contributing factor, as it is abundantly clear that excess speed is not the scourge it is painted to be by the government.