KNOW YOUR RIGHTS


In this month’s edition we feature more road traffic issues relevant to the trade supplied by Patterson Law. These questions are based around real enquiries.


If you need any advice on motoring matters, email advice@pattersonlaw.co.uk or call us on 01626 359800 for free legal advice.


Case 1


Question I’ve recently had a reminder notice for a NIP but I never received the first one. The allegation is that I went 36mph in a 30mph zone. The date on the reminder NIP is the 11/03/2025 and the date of the offence is 16/02/2025. Could I appeal this ticket as I didn’t receive the initial NIP and the reminder is a lot longer than 14 days?


Answer


When a speeding offence is committed a Notice of Intended Prosecution must be served either verbally at the roadside or at the registered keeper’s last known address within 14 days.


So the first point to ask is whether (a) you’re the registered keeper, and (b) whether the V5 is registered to your current address.


However, if the offence was committed on the 16th February and you’ve just received the reminder letter, it sounds like the first letter may well have gone missing in the post. In which case, potentially, yes it could be appealable.


Even if you were to challenge, in the first instance you must respond to the request for driver information nominating the driver. Failure to do that will see you charged with failing to provide driver information, which carries 6 points and up to a £1,000 fine.


Shortly after you should be offered either a speed awareness course (if you’ve not done one in the last 3 years) or a fixed penalty of 3 points and a £100 fine. The correct procedure would be to reject


72


the offer of a course/fixed penalty and take the case to court. And that means that in a few months’ time you will receive a court summons. If you plead not guilty the matter will then be listed for a trial.


The trial would be based on the NIP not being served within 14 days. There is a ‘presumption of service’ when the police send you a letter by f irst class post. To challenge the case, we need to rebut that presumption. In simple terms, this means that if the police sent the NIP by f irst class post, the court could assume it was received by you.


If we want to challenge that, we need to attend court to argue that you’ve not had the first NIP – perhaps due to postal problems. Do you have problems with post? Do you have evidence of missing letters? Do you have anyone in your household who can give evidence of postal issues?


If you are found not guilty then you receive no points or fine. But the risk of all this is that if you are found guilty then you can no longer do the course, you will receive the 3 points and the fines and costs would be a lot higher, upwards of £1,000 most likely.


If you can let me know therefore firstly who the vehicle is registered to and where it is registered, and if you have any evidence of postal problems so we can rebut the presumption of service, I can advise a little further.


Outcome


In this case, the person decided, quite sensibly, to take the speed awareness course.


Even though the vehicle was correctly registered, and they had not received the NIP within 14 days – so it was challengeable - they had no evidence of missing post, and so there was little chance of rebutting the presumption of service had we taken the matter to trial.


If they had taken the matter to court, they were risking 3 penalty points as well as significant high financial penalties and did not want to take that risk.


MAY 2025 PHTM


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82