Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Speeding ticket!

89 replies

earlydoors42 · 01/05/2019 06:35

My friend had a speeding ticket in her name and at her address, but it was a time and place that she was not at (she was at work elsewhere) AND in a car she has never owned!

She denied it was her but now has to go to court. She doesn't know how to prove she never had this car (hard to prove a negative) - but thinks if she just goes to court she can sort it out.

AIBU to ask if she needs a solicitor?

OP posts:
HBStowe · 01/05/2019 06:39

It’s never a bad idea to have a solicitor if she can afford it, but on something like this she can probably represent herself.

It’s for the other side to prove that she is the owner of the car, not for her to prove that she isn’t. She will just need to explain that she doesn’t own it, has never owned it etc.

If she can prove she was working elsewhere at the time, she should - does she have time sheets, or would someone she worked with provide a statement confirming she was there?

CircleofWillis · 01/05/2019 06:41

Could it belong to an old partner who is using her details?

StCharlotte · 01/05/2019 06:42

Is there a photo?

BillywilliamV · 01/05/2019 06:43

Generally these days they have a photo of the car as evidence. iIf they don’t and she can’t unequivocally prove that she was elsewhere, then she would be better just accepting the points/ speed awareness course and chalking it up to experience I think. A solicitor will be so expensive and she is so unlikely to win.

BillywilliamV · 01/05/2019 06:45

Oops missed the bit that said it wasn’t her car, slightly different.

PianoTuner567 · 01/05/2019 06:48

Would the DVLA be any use? They have records of who owns what car.

Angelicinnocent · 01/05/2019 06:48

If she has legal cover on her insurance, she could ring them for advice.

321Bed · 01/05/2019 06:48

I'm confused, how did they send her a speeding ticket if it was a car she never owned? Don't they pick up the number plate of the car on the speed camera and then send the ticket to the registered owner?

I'm not sure how they would have got her address otherwise.

MrsKrabbapple · 01/05/2019 07:00

Is it in your area? It must be someone she knows, who has put her as the vehicles keeper.

I don’t think she should rely on the photo, especially as she has t seen it. Or just explaining it’s not her car without any evidence. She is showing the naivety of someone who has never had dealings with the police.

swingofthings · 01/05/2019 07:06

I had a recent speeding ticket and they got my details via my car insurance rsther than driving licence.

It sounds like someone has got insurance under her name for that car.

CRbear · 01/05/2019 07:09

I’ve heard that this can happen if one letter or the number plate is read wrong e.g. I instead of 1

KitKat1985 · 01/05/2019 07:13

My guess is either the camera has read the license plates wrong, or someone has forged her plates.

Solicitor could be helpful.

JonSlow · 01/05/2019 07:13

I’m also curious as to how she got a ticket in a car that’s not registered to her - the logic doesn’t make sense

kalopali · 01/05/2019 07:15

In the first instance they contact the registered keeper who then nominates the driver at the time of it wasn’t them. It’s possible the RK has told them you were the driver. I’d be writing a letter asking for photographic evidence stating that she has no knowledge of the vehicle and was in a different part of the country at the time of the alleged offence. This should’ve been dealt with before going to court so something doesn’t quite add up. They can’t be taking her to court for the speeding unless she has already admitted to being the driver so it must be for failing to identify the driver which can only be the registered keeper.

Comps83 · 01/05/2019 07:18

I’m confused
Can’t be forged license plate or she’d obvs see her reg on the fine
All I can think of is someone has stolen her identity and registered the car to her to get away with paying anything on it

MrsKrabbapple · 01/05/2019 07:19

Surely if you send the form back saying it wasn’t you, the DVLA look at it again to see if they have sent the fine to ABC123 which is a white transit rather than ABC153 which is a red Polo. Rather than cluttering up the courts.

Bromeliad · 01/05/2019 07:29

My parents had an issue similar to this, they asked for the photo and the number plate was completely illegible. It was the same colour and make as their car but a slightly different model. In the end they were able to prove this by sending photos of their car and proving the front grill was different but it was pretty stressful. Make sure she asks for the photo, if someone has named her you may be able to see the driver.

Incidentally a few months later they had a call from their insurance company to discuss an accident they'd had in London which never happened (the car had never been in London). They ended up registering the number plates as possibly cloned.

Missingstreetlife · 01/05/2019 07:30

The clock on the camera could be wrong, but the car is weird. Is she on anyone else's insurance? They will have to prove its hers

Missingstreetlife · 01/05/2019 07:32

Legal cover thru house insurance? Aa or similar

floraloctopus · 01/05/2019 07:36

How odd. I'd suspect cloned plates. As she was at work can she get official confirmation from her employers that she was there and at what time?

floraloctopus · 01/05/2019 07:36

Also - did she fill up with petrol at all on the same day somewhere else where she'd be on CCTV?

BikeRunSki · 01/05/2019 07:40

Sounds like she has had her number plates cloned. She needs to tell the Police and her insurance company. When this happened to a friend of mine, it went no further than that.

Topseyt · 01/05/2019 07:42

Don't the DVLA keep records of vehicles owned. It is worth her calling them to check her records there, and that they are correct.

Rememberallball · 01/05/2019 07:47

If she was at work at the time the offence happened can she ask her boss or HR/IT department to write a statement for the court to confirm that “at the time of the incident Ms X is being accused of, she was at work at our office in town YY. She was in a staff meeting (or whatever) and our records show she was active on her staff log in from a-b time that day.”

If she has never owned the vehicle (and doesn’t recognise the registration number as belonging to someone she does know) she should ask DVLA for a dSAR to show her records with them which would show whether there is any connection between her and the registration plate involved. This should be done under the GDPR regulations so shouldn’t cost her anything.

Agree with pp that she should ask police for copies of any pictures of the speeding car to see if it identifies the driver in any way - might show a man in the drivers seat proving it wasn’t her!! I’d also be tempted to ask the police to tell her if it was electronic records that gave her details as being RK for the vehicle or whether she was nominated by the RK as being the driver at the time of the incident (this way she is not asking who gave them her details but it will help her understand if she’s been linked to a vehicle she’s no connection to or whether it’s someone giving her name and trying to get away with perjury by avoiding their own penalties)

There have been cases in law where people have deliberately named others to avoid fines (Chris Hulne the MP was one as is the labour MP currently on a tag after being released from prison - and she’s also a solicitor so knew the law!!) and then innocent people who have been linked to a vehicle because of erroneous data entry errors.

Good luck to your friend getting to the bottom of this!!

Gatehouse77 · 01/05/2019 07:48

Cloned plates is the most likely - happened to one of my bosses. I'd phone the DVLA and check they've got her details correct for the car registration and ask them how she can prove it wasn't her.

Swipe left for the next trending thread