Speeding Offence

[shortee]

I have received a Notice of Intended Prosecution for driving at 61mph in a 50 mph zone. Does anyone know if I will receive 3 points and a £60 fine as I did with my other speeding offence back in 2006 ? Also, when can I apply for the 2006 points to be removed ? Thanks.

[Buenchico]

Police force's (and the Crown Prosecution Service) are not obliged to stick to the guidelines of the Association of Chief Police Officers but most forces would do so unless there were exceptional circumstances (e.g. icey roads or speeding outside a school as the children left the premises).

Under the ACPO guidelines, speeding in a 50mph zone would normally only result in a summons if the speed of the vehicles was 76mph or higher. So you should be eligible for a fixed penalty of 3 points plus a £60 fine. (The option to accept that penalty, rather than go to court, should be on the NIP).

Points remain valid for totting up purposes for three years. However you can't have points removed from your licence until 4 years have expired. (There are some serious motoring offences where points must remain on a licence for 11 years, but they're not relevant to you).

Chris

[shortee]

Thanks Chris.

My previous points were ironically for speeding along the same stretch of road (which is a dual carriageway shortly after exiting the M3 motorway) on the 4th May 2006 so when I send my licence in for the new points, they should take the previous ones off.

Do you know if I'm required to notify my insurance company once I've been informed of the penalty and accepted it, or can this wait until it's due for renewal, by which time the previous points will have been removed ?

[Skyline D]

You must inform your insurance company as soon as you have accepted the points. It's a material disclosure and cannot wait for a renewal. Any claim meantime could be invalid.

The removal of the previous points from your licence is utterly irrelevant to the insurance company. They don't care what's on your licence per se, they care about what offences you've been convicted of in a designated period. For most insurance companies that period is five years (when you phone for a quote they ask if you've had any motoring convictions in the past five years) and therefore your 2006 conviction is still relevant to them. I have one from June 2005 which is still counting against me (it should stop having any relevance about now I guess).