Safe Speed Forums

I have recently moved house and have not yet informed the DVLA of my new address. However, I do have a mail forward set up at my old address and today received a letter out of the blue telling me that I hadn't responded to a Notice of Intended Prosecution and that I must fill in the driver information form within 10 days of the date of the letter or have my case submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service.

The problem is that I never received any notice of intended prosecution and also the date of the letter is a week ago, so I have only 3 days to respond (including the time the post office takes to deliver my response) - it seems they had the cheek to send such an urgent letter by second class post.

The date of the alleged offence is about 2 months ago, and whilst the failure to be served could be down to moving house, any registered post or recorded delivery should have followed the mail forward to my new address. I'm not especially happy about filling in the form stating whether or not I was driving at the time without seeing any further evidence, which presumably would have been in the original notice that I didn't receive. I note that the driver information form also doesn't have a "I have no idea whether I was driving or not, it was a helluva long time ago!" option either...

So does anyone have any advice on how to proceed? It seems to me that the speed camera people have rather failed in their duty to serve the original notice, but since this happened during an address change I would probably find it hard to prove that this is the case. Do I actually need to submit the driver information form before even seeing the evidence against me?

You need proper professional legal advice, something that this forum is not qualified to give you.

Personally I would suggest a visit to pepipoo, or consult with a solicitor who specialized in motoring law. All I can say is, in my opinion you would win any case that is pursued against you, but not without representation.

If they can prove that they posted the original NIP by first class post to the registered keeper's address within 14 days then they will win. The court will rule that it is not their fault that the information given by the DVLA was out of date (additionally they may choose to prosecute you for not updating it in a timely manner).

It's quite easy to prove this. All forces will have at the very least a second copy of your NIP and a certificate of posting stating what day that NIP was sent out.

It's unlikely that the NIP contains any more evidence than the reminder letter. Very few forces include the photographs with the NIP. A lot of them don't even bother to send out reminder letters.

If you choose to ignore it then you'll eventually get a court summons sent to your old address, and if you ignore that you'll end up on the ANPR shit-list and get pulled over, your car impounded and arrested for failing to show up for court. They might even pay you a visit at your new address if you've since given it to the DVLA

I have phoned them and they have sent out a copy of the NIP and extended the ridiculously short deadline. The reminder letter gave practically no details at all - didn't even tell me what speed I was allegedly doing, whereas the NIP does. I will be returning the (completed) form with a letter requesting proof of posting for the original NIP and the photographs from the camera. However, I'm not going to be able to give them my driver number since the DVLA currently has my licence in order to update the address.

I don't think there's any legal requirement to give your driver number, they just like to ask for it as it's useful when making enquiries. Section 172 just requires you to identify the driver, your name, address and DOB are sufficient to comply with that requirement.

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Monson Solicitors will talk with you, so that you can obtain an idea of where you stand on 0808 155 4870, plus there website (here) will give some information for motoring offenses too.

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Be aware that, although much of what is given as "fact" on pepipoo is correct, some of it is not. For example.

Most JPs will have dealt with drivers who are being banned for 45 days (or thereabouts) asking to have the ban extended to 56 days. This is because pepipoo tell them that a ban of 56 days will clear the licence of points. It doesn't and never has.

They are very fond of american court terminology. We get people asking to be allowed to "approach the bench" which has no meaning whatsoever in UK law. pepipoo still advise people to do it. perhaps a ban of 56 days does clear points in the States and they got it from some cop show.

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I am not a lawyer and can't give legal advice. I do have experience of the day to day working of courts and use that knowledge to help where possible. I do not represent any official body and post as an individual.

What he said, pepipoo is a good starting point, but only profesional advice can give you your exact legal standpoint.