Speeding Fine and 14 day notification

[determindator 724]

Hello to all.

 

Please advise if the original notification needs to be received by the recipient within 14 days.

 

I ask this for two people I know, one received notice on 2nd Nov and date of camera 11th Oct.

 

The other person received notice on 8th Nov date of camera 15th Oct.

 

The reason I ask is when reading the notice you only get a limited time for the completed form to be received by the Ticket Office to organise

a Driver Education Course. If notices sent out late you could miss this option.

 

Just to add,

 

First person notice date and sent 31st Oct

 

Second person notice date and sent 7th Nov

[dx100uk 8,581]

you NiP?

[Manxman in exile 158]

AIUI 14 days only applies to the first NIP which has to be sent to the Registered Keeper of the car in question.  If your friends aren't the registered keepers (eg they're hire cars or on finance) the 14 days limit does not apply.

[determindator 724]

Thanks Manxman,

 

One car is registered Keeper so owner can ring Ticket Office to see what the situation is if the notice is not within time frame rules.

 

The other is a leased car so i'll pass on the 14 day limit doesn't apply.

 

DX not sure what 'your Nip' means but hope all the posts above explain

 

Just looking at dates of the lease car notice, the ticket is actually dated over three weeks after the camera date.

Surely the date of the notice should be within 14 days of the camera.

They'll get a call also.

[Manxman in exile 158]

2 hours ago, determindator said:

Just looking at dates of the lease car notice, the ticket is actually dated over three weeks after the camera date.

Surely the date of the notice should be within 14 days of the camera.

They'll get a call also.

 

When you say "ticket" do you mean the NIP itself? 

 

As explained, if your friend is not the RK of the lease car, 14 days is irrelevant. 

The RK has 28(?) days to respond to the first  NIP, so if the lease company is the RK it could be over four weeks before your friend gets their NIP. 

 

(It could be much longer if the RK is a finance company: they name the lease company and they name your friend.  If the first two in the chain each take 28 days, it'd be over two months before your friend gets their NIP).

 

Concerning your friend who is the RK, is he sure that what he's received isn't a reminder after failing to respond to the first NIP? 

 

Could an earlier one gone astray or been "forgotten"? 

 

I understand it's very unusual for NIPs to be sent out late and reminders aren't necessarily marked as such.

 

(NB - I'm assuming that when you refer to "notification" you mean a NIP).

[Man in the middle 592]

It is virtually unheard of for the "First" NIP to be issued late. The system that produces them does not allow it without manual intervention. As mentioned, it is only the first NIP (but see below) that is subject to the 14 day rule.

 

For the alleged offence where your friend is not the Registered Keeper (RK), he needs to find out who is and ask them the date they received the notice. For the one where he is the RK he should look at the V5C (Registration Document). He should check that his details, particularly his address, are correct in every detail and he should also check the "docref" date at the foot of page 2 and compare it to the date of the alleged offence. (The docref date is the date the latest keeper details were changed on the DVLA database). 

 

In any case they must respond to the requests for driver's details within the 28 days allowed. If they fail to do so they commit a separate, more serious offence which will mean a court visit and, on conviction, a hefty fine, six points and insurance grief for a number of years. They must do this regardless of any issues they may have with the dates of the notices.

 

As an aside the legislation states that only  the RK must have a NIP served on him. Others in the chain may well receive a NIP (because most forces send the NIP and request for driver's details together) but there is no legal requirement for one to be served on them.

[determindator 724]

Thanks for last two posts.

 

In both cases the NIP is first notification. Registered keeper to private car always at same address for years.

 

I do understand with the lease car, paper work will usually be delayed because of the NIP going to Lease car company in the first instance.

 

In both cases the date on the NIP document is over 14 days after the camera date.

 

Both drivers have completed the NIP and returned and if there's a time issue with a drivers education course offer, the delay in sending the NIP by the Ticket Office, will be raised. 

[Man in the middle 592]

There will be no issues with a course offer if the dates are as you say. The usual cut off is four months from the date of the offence. This is so as to give the driver the time to accept the offer and take the course before prosecution becomes "timed out" at six months.

 

However, if the NIPs really were the first to be issued and there are no issues with the address details then both have a cast iron defence to the speeding allegation. The first is dated 20 days after the alleged offence and the second 23 days after the alleged offence. The Road Traffic Offenders' Act makes it quite clear that if a NIP is not served within 14 days of the alleged offence then no prosecution can take place. But as I said, late first NIPs are very rare and both need to check all the details I have mentioned before they decline any out of court offers of a course or Fixed Penalty.

 

 For information, courses are normally offered for speeds up to (Limit +10% + 9mph). Only one course of any type can be taken in three years (with the date of the offences being used to calculate that period) and courses are not offered in Scotland. However, if a driver is not offered a course for any reason when he would normally qualify (including late NIPs) he has no right of appeal to have one offered. If the matter goes to court the court has no power to order a course.

[determindator 724]

Quick update. Driving Education  course completed in one case. Other case, driver paid the fine as Police not helpful when contesting rules. Best to pay so it doesn't escalate and the driver will make a complaint in writing concerning the issue date.

[Man in the middle 592]

56 minutes ago, determindator said:

Best to pay so it doesn't escalate and the driver will make a complaint in writing concerning the issue date.

 

There isn't much point in making a complaint. The police have no obligation to be helpful and the onus is on the recipient of the notice to make enquiries about dates, etc. The time and place to make representations is in court when a prosecution is attempted. As I pointed out earlier, if a NIP is not served on the Registered Keeper within 14 days and there is no good reason for that failure no prosecution is possible. If the fixed penalty has been paid that's that as far as the police are concerned.