Court summons for speedingTicket

[Wanttohelpbuthow]

ive really messed up here and now am panicking
My husband was caught speeding in my car. Stupidly I somehow didn’t realise the letter was addressed to him after he’d opened it and showed me, so I filled out the form genuinely thinking I was the registered keeper (I’m not).
the next form was addressed to me and I was late send this back due to a hell of a lot going on in my life at the time and be just being overwhelmed and quite frankly stupid. I rang the number and they gave me a 7 day extension and said just send it now and don’t worry.
husband received his form and confirmed he was driving at the time.
we’ve now received a court summons as this whole process has taken beyond the amount of time allowed for police to deal with the matter and I’ve wrongly named myself as the registered keeper/filled out a form addressed to my husband.
In realise this is beyond idiotic but was a genuine mistake. Ive messed up every part of this process and have got into such a state with it. I’m a good person, clean lisence would never do this intentionally.
im panicking now but am told all I can do is wait to hear what the court decide.
How much trouble could I get in?!

This is exactly what happened to a colleague of mine 3 months ago.

He got caught speeding for a 3rd time and was summoned to court and given 3 points, a fine and 6 month ban.

Honestly starting to question how dumb I actually am through all of this?! I struggle with keeping on top of things/with life in general but this is coming as a shock

@Wanttohelpbuthow Single Justice Procedure is explained here. Take a breath and have a read of it.

https://www.advicenow.org.uk/get-help/going-court/how-deal-single-justice-procedure-notice-sjpn

When you get the paperwork it will explain what the offence is. If it is just the speeding they're interested in that will make it much more straightforward.

IAObvsNAL but yes if it’s “just” the speeding issue then hopefully it won’t actually involve you personally.

Try to keep your own involvement in perspective. It is really your husband’s situation to sort out.

It's simply not possible for that to happen in OP's DH's situation.

The ONLY way your colleague could end up in court, get 3pts and get banned is if they already had 9+ points.

You stated they had been caught speeding twice before, so that means one of those wasn't a fixed penalty, otherwise they would have had 6 points and could not be banned by getting another 3.

It's unhelpful to OP to post misleading things.

I used to be a magistrate, although I didn't ever do SJP. I'm pretty sure these are done remotely now and your husband won't actually need to attend court.

The summons is for your husband's speeding, it sounds like this is just because it took ages for them to receive all the correct information. The offence he is summoned for is his speeding and not directly about you or your actions. Although if you had replied correctly it sounds like it could have been avoided.

Regarding what trouble your husband is in, based on the speed you mentioned it'll probably be 3 points and a band A fine (the fine is based on income). Take a look at this which explains sentencing guidelines that all magistrates follow https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/offences/magistrates-court/item/speeding-revised-2017/. I don't know what standard court fees are for SJP, but as long as he's pleading guilty I can't imagine it being more than £100.

So yes you made a mistake, but you are not in trouble for it under the court summons. Worse case scenario is your husband's fine will increase from £100 to whatever 50% of his weekly earnings are plus court fees. And hopefully he takes more care in future because another speeding ticket will be disqualification.

@youreallyarefantastic thank you so much, this is so helpful!! Will he not receive additional points for taking too long to reply? Or not because it was me that delayed the letter? Sorry to ask, I really appreciate you taking the time to explain the above already

OP I assume you were going to take the points for your husband so completed the form with your details.

Again, just an assumption, but maybe the police confirmed there was photographic evidence after receiving your details and so you have now had to admit you weren't driving (often happens in these situations).

The letter you receive after a speeding offence isn't to confirm the registered keeper, it is addressed to the registered keeper and they have to confirm if they were the driver. So your explanation doesn't make sense.

The Section 172 form that your husband will have received shows -

Section A: fill in this section if you can confirm you were the driver

Section B: is to confirm you were not the driver, not the owner/keeper because you have sold the vehicle or it's a hire vehicle, etc.

Section C: give details of the driver as per reasons given in section B

It will be decided at court whether it remains a driving offence only, or if they will pursue you/your husband for providing false information to avoid prosecution.

@Imapebble i filled out that form saying I was the registered keeper but my husband was driving, I’ve never said I was driving

@Imapebble it's an SJPN that's been served.

If there was a suspicion of PCoJ there'd be more than an SJPN involved.

No problem. As long as the only offence on the summons is the speeding then the magistrate will follow the sentencing guidelines I linked to. If the speed falls within the 3 points margin (so no more than 65 in a 50 zone) then that's what he'll get.

I'm not misleading anyone.
I am relaying an experience my colleague has had only 3 months ago
The speeds being driven do also account for whether a course, a fixed penalty or a court summons are issued.

My colleague had 6 points when they got a 6 month ban for speeding. They had been speeding twice before in a 5 year period.

I don't think your post is misleading at all, I also know someone who was given more than 3 points when taken to court because they were speeding on a motorway, 91mph I believe.

They were also fined way more than the standard £100 because it had to be dealt with by the court due to the excessive speed

I was given a speed awareness course for doing 34 in a 30. I was around 100yds from the zone entry point, but hadn't slowed quickly enough due to being behind a lorry, so seeing the left post too late, and the right post being behind a tree branch (which has since been cut, so someone must have appealed).

I wouldn't trust that chart.

Do you think she was trying to let you know the consequences would be financial?

Since the OP is not saying how the form ended up in her possession, I am going to have a wild guess that she opens her husband's letters.

Sound like the husband said I have a speeding ticket it's in your car, OP looks at letter, thinks it is her car and fills it in, then this error delays the whole process, I can't see anything that says she opens her husband's letters or saying she was driving

But then this is MN where any driving thread has posters falling over themselves to make even more drama out of a crisis.

Try reading the op instead of making wild guesses. She clearly states there he opened it, read it, then showed her.

The court is only concerned with who was driving, the issue of keeper is pretty moot. First you got the notice of intended prosecution, which although filled incorrectly regarding keeper, correctly stated your husband was driving, he then received a fixed penalty notice, which was sent back late, resulting in a court summons. The summons as I understand it is for the speeding offence in his name, not for incorrect information regarding the keeper.

I am not a legal expert but I would imagine unless you have been summonsed for providing incorrect information regarding the keeper status, then all he has to do is deal with the outstanding charge of speeding and plead guilty to it. Likely 3 points and bigger fine plus costs.

Now you’ve filled in the form to say you are the registered keeper, have you also updated the V5C (logbook)?
Also, are you driving on your husband’s insurance policy?

You’re not dumb, the language in court documents is often not the most straightforward. I suggest you sit down and carefully read what they’ve sent.

Your posts are a little contradictory but it sounds like the only action being taken is against your husband, for speeding. There is no action being taken in relation to the wrong registered keeper being provided by you, and I’m not sure why you’re blaming yourself for that, it was a mistake and your husband should’ve filled the form out anyway as it was adddressed to him. The only repercussion of this is that it’s set you outside the time limits and you’ve now got to go through the SJP.

When the next letter arrives from them, read it carefully, provide all the necessary information and send it recorded delivery so you can prove when you sent it. Ultimately, the issue here is speeding and it’ll be dealt with by way of the single justice procedure (from memory your husband will complete the form, no need to go to court, magistrates will decide). Stop blaming yourself but just make sure a) you both properly read the documents in future and b) you always keep proof of postage. Oh and c) if someone agrees verbally to extend a deadline, make a note of the call with their name, the date and time and what was agreed and ask them to follow up in writing.

You received a s172, request for driver details. Next should a NIP addressed to your DH. He fills that out and will be offered 3 points and a fine. He won't be offered a course at this stage.

UNLESS

They decide you haven't complied with the original request and go for a failing to identify and the speeding charge together. Which would be 9 points. Although if you attend court in person and ask for the failure to identify to be dropped in exchange for a guilty plea to the speeding, they normally accept this.

Although some courts are now doing remote process so not sure how it works in those circumstances.

For the benefit of all Mumsmet users, police and courts don't usually mess around with speeding offences. Don't think a speeding fine is just some trivial nonsense that you can ignore. You can go to prison for getting it wrong or trying to play the system.

So far you've been lucky OP, they are being extremly lenient with you.

by YOU, I mean your DH

As he has ‘previous’, they may reflect that aggravating fact by upping the fine from a band A, or they may add an extra point. As it is being dealt with under the single justice procedure, your husband does not need to attend court, however, as fines are based on income, it is HIS responsibility to ensure he fills out a means form or he runs the risk of the fine being high.

You are worrying too much about your own earlier ‘mix up’. The court now know who is the registered keeper and they now know who is responsible for the speeding. As he has been through the procedure on previous occasions, he will know what to expect. As he missed the window for it to be a fixed penalty, he will also now have to pay court costs in addition to any fine. Expensive lesson!

If at the single justice procedure his excessive speed means it attracts 6 points and he already has 6 points, he will be called back to court as a ‘totter’ and will be facing a ban.

You are ABSOLUTELY misleading people by posting incorrect info.

If your colleague had 6 points and then got banned for another speeding offence, they DID NOT "get another 3 points" as you stated, as they would not be banned at 9 points total. They either already had 9+ or if they had 6 then the last offence was. 6+ pt penalty.

It is very transparent and not open to ifs, buts and maybes. You DO NOT get banned for a total of 9 points via totting up. It is 12 points minimum.

Yes, I know the actual speed dictates the action. I posted the table above - from one of the country's top motoring barristers - which shows the actual thresholds.

5 years is absolutely irrelevant. Points are effective for 3 years only, even if they stay visible after that.