NIP Very Late

Question:

NIP arrived late?

Company car changed hands that day – police contacted new owners ( via DVLA ) first – letter to my company dated 4th march – date of offence 27th Jan ! – normally got to be within 14 days ! – what is legal position? – photo id unclear of driver – please advise – thanks

Rob Says:

The NIP only has to be sent to the last known keeper within 14 days, so if the dvla had the old keeper on the records then the police will not have broken the rules.

Do you know who was driving at the time?

You need to tell the truth and if you don’t know who was driving you should say so.

Is the car registered to the company or an individual? If its registered to an individual then you can argue reasonable diligence if it is registered to the company the company is supposed to keep a log of who is driving at any one time.

Question Reply:

Hi Rob – thanks for your response – the car was registered to my Co. & transferred to the new owners that day – my Co arranged the insurance cover from 14.40 on the car purchased ( the offence being timed @ 13.51 ! ),

The car dealership have no real record of the time exchanged that day – the salesman who dealt with matters thought it was between 2.00 & 2.30 p m & claims that the car in question never left their premises until much later following exchange.

I have had photo evidence sent by the police (taken from the rear ) which only shows the driver in silhouette & whilst it could be me it could be anybody !

Talking to an employee at the dealership who had been caught in the same place recently he confirmed that although all the roads around that area are 40 m p h that particular one is 30 – he went on to state that the traffic van is normally parked off the road out of site with only a black box in evidence at the road side !

Whereas the notice letter received states that “our mobile camera units are clearly liveried “

I feel that under the circumstances I probably have to accept that I was driving the vehicle at the time of the offence & that all I can do is present a mitigation case based on the fact that I did not appreciate it was a 30 m p h area ( no 30 m p h signs – only notices stating a speed check area – noticed on returning to area later ) & although street lighting @ below 200 yds intervals this was an A road ( A 6022 Rowms Lane Swinton Rotherham ) together with the fact I was in an unfamiliar area – due to the fact that I was collecting a new car from the Car dealer in that area ( within 200 yds of offence location ).

They have confirmed that if a mitigation case is submitted it should be in writing with supporting written evidence or with police report details – I am not sure what they mean by this ? – could you comment / advise ?

They do state that a recently introduced policy ( South Yorkshire Police ) is to offer an education – based alternative to prosecution in certain cases so it is possible to receive a speed advisory letter or an invitation to attend a speed awareness course.

However a later clause states that whilst each claim is judged on its own merits very few meet the criteria for cancellation of the offence

Whether this last clause means that you can be still found guilty of committing the offence but attend a training course for instance but avoid the penalty points (my main aim – although none at present !) & pay the fine – I am not sure – could you advise as well as a possible course of action to at least avoid the penalty points?

Rob’s Answer:

They should offer the course and you should definitely ask for it. They normally allow it up to 37 mph but sometimes their decision is based on how quickly you get back to them.

If they won’t offer the course you won’t avoid the points no matter how good your mitigation is. If it’s a 30 limit then the offence is strict liability – so saying that you didn’t know is not a defence I’m afraid.

The change of ownership explains the delay with the NIP. This is a valid excuse of the police and you won’t be able to argue that the NIP is defective.