Received a Notice of Intended Prosecution? Here’s what to do

What the notice is

For a range of offences — speeding, careless driving and some others — the police must warn the driver that prosecution is being considered. For camera-detected offences that warning arrives by post, addressed to the registered keeper.

It normally arrives with a separate request for driver details under section 172.

The fourteen-day rule, and what it actually means

The notice must generally be served on the registered keeper within fourteen days of the alleged offence. Service is on the keeper, not on the driver, so a notice that reaches a company promptly is properly served even if it takes longer to reach the person who was driving.

Late service can be fatal to the prosecution, but the point needs to be taken correctly rather than assumed. Keep the envelope.

The request for driver details is the urgent part

The obligation to identify the driver carries a twenty-eight day deadline, and ignoring it is far more serious than most people realise.

Failing to provide driver details carries six penalty points — often more than the speeding offence that prompted the notice, and enough on its own to put a licence at risk.

What to do

In order, and without delay:

• Note the date the notice arrived, and keep the envelope
• Do not ignore it, and do not put it aside to deal with later
• If you genuinely cannot identify the driver, record what enquiries you make and when
• Take advice before responding if you already have points on your licence
• Return the response within the time limit, by a method that gives you proof of posting

If you cannot identify the driver

There is a statutory defence where you could not, with reasonable diligence, establish who was driving. It is a real defence, but it succeeds on evidence rather than assertion.

That means showing what you actually did: who you asked, when, what records you checked and what answers you received. Contemporaneous notes are worth a great deal here.

Think before accepting a fixed penalty

A fixed penalty is often the sensible course. But if the points would take you to twelve, accepting it means a disqualification, and the opportunity to argue exceptional hardship at a hearing is lost.

Check your existing points before you sign anything.