Not Sent Recorded Delivery

[Pianoman1948]

I received a £600 fine and 6 penalty points for allegedly going through a red light. I received NO LETTER concerning this at my home address. Can I contest their action?

[woofgang]

did you do it?

[johnk]

How did you find out about the fine?

[NoMercy]

A £600 fine sounds extreme. Are they saying you failed to pay the original fine by the due date and now the fine has substantially increased?

Could this be a scam? Have they told you specifically where the offence took place?

I would be asking a lot of questions and possibly conracting Citizen's Advice.

[bhg481]

How did you hear about the fine?
Is the car registered to you or is it a company car?
Are your driving licence details up to date, particularly your address?

[murraymints]

Or take it to nearest police station and explain...they can check validity and advise on appeal procedure

[Pianoman1948]

My car is a MOTABILITY car. I only realised much later when I actually received notification of the fine from the magistrates court. And the heavy fine and points was because I didn't tell them that I was the owner which I wasn't. I was the registered keeper. It's all irrelavant because I didn't receive the original letter from the police

[murraymints]

Then you need advice on appeal procedure..

[bhg481]

Notice of Intended Prosecution is sent to the registered keeper, not the owner. Have you changed address since you got the car?

[Quoi]

But did you go through a red light? Are you denying even doing this?
You should be able to reduce the fine if you appeal and say you didnt receive the letter but it will just be processed again.
If you have gone through a red light then its unlikely to be a scam.

[ToraToraTora]

The owner and keeper are irrelevant, they would have sent an NIP(notice of intended prosecution) to the registered keeper to declare who the driver was, did you fill that in and say you were or were not the keeper? Were you actually driving at the time of the offence? Are you disputing that you went through the red light or are you saying you were not driving?

[ToraToraTora]

when I say irrelevant I mean irrelevant to the offence.

[ToraToraTora]

sorry when I said "did you fill that in and say you were or were not the keeper?" I meant to say "did you fill that in and say you were or were not the driver?" - the driver is the key person here.

[bhg481]

TTT - he claims he never got the NIP.

[ToraToraTora]

he would have had at least 1 reminder about the NIP and lots of reminders about going to court etc. Sounds like a head in the sand job to me and the courts hate that, QED.

[bhg481]

It does seem rather odd that they can find the address to send the fine to but not find it to send the NIP to.

[woofgang]

So how did you find out about the fine? You say it wasn't sent to your home address. Was it sent to another address that you have access to?

[hc4361]

The NIP has been sent by standard delivery since 1994 and can be sent by 1st or 2nd class.

[hc4361]

The courts and police don't care who owns the vehicle. Initially the NIP is sent to the Registered Keeper - that's you - and that allows the RK to name the person who was driving, if it was somebody other than the RK on the Request for Driver Information form.

If you fail to provide this information within you will receive further communication as this is an offence.

You should have received at least two letters from the police, none of which will ask who is the owner of the vehicle.

[New Judge]

You were almost certainly convicted in your absence of "Failing to provide drivers details" under S172 of the Road Traffic Act. This carries six points. Running a red light carries only three points.

Look at your driving record online and you will almost certainly see an endorsement code MS90.

No correspondence to do with motoring matters is sent Recorded Delivery. If you have genuinely received no correspondence you can perform a "Statutory Declaration" to have the matter nullified. It will be started again but will revert to the original offence rather than the more serious S172 charge.

Have a check on your driving record and find out who is the Registered Keeper of the Vehicle (that is, whose details are on the V5C). Then I'll tell you how to proceed.

[New Judge]

I've just noticed a point of order that needs correction:

“The NIP has been sent by standard delivery since 1994 and can be sent by 1st or 2nd class.”

No it cannot. Road Traffic offenders Act 1988, Section 1 (Requirement of warning etc. of prosecutions for certain offences.):

A notice required by this section to be served on any person may be served on that person—
(a)by delivering it to him;
(b)by addressing it to him and leaving it at his last known address; or
(c)by sending it by registered post, recorded delivery service or first class post addressed to him at his last known address.

A NIP sent second class does not meet the requirements of the Act and is a bar to prosecution for the offences covered. (NIPs are never sent second class for that very reason).

Have you checked your licence yet? You can do so here:

https://www.gov.uk/view-driving-licence

Do you know who the Registered Keeper of your car is? You may need to contact them to find out what they have done in response to any S172 notices they may have been sent. You should also check what details they hold for you.