Speeding Fine

msdsx

New Member
Messages
2
The NIP and the 'single justice procedure notice' are two separate parts of the overall process.

Per section 1 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 a NIP, specifying details of the offence, must be sent within 14 days of the offence taking place. If it is not then you cannot be prosecuted. By 'sent' this means it must be posted to the recorded address of the registered keeper. The NIP usually asks the registered keeper to identify who was driving (and failing to do so is itself an offence). For whatever reason you may not have received it but that doesn't matter provided they can prove it was sent. A NIP can be defective, and therefore ineffective if, for example, it was not sent in time or it does not contain the required information. It doesn't sound as if you received it so this is something you should take up with them.

Once the NIP has been sent the next stage is for the prosecutor to decide how to deal with it. This could be by way of a fixed penalty, the single justice procedure notice (SJPN), or a summons to court. The SJPN must be sent within 6 months of the offence. People have already commented on the SJPN but essentially with the SJPN your case will be looked at in paper form by a magistrate who will decide what the penalty will be - but it cannot be a loss of licence which requires a summons.

Your situation sounds a little complicated so you may need to consult a solicitor unless, having read the details of the offence, you want to put your hands up.

Good luck