Wrong Details On NIP, Is It Valid?

Question

The notice of intended prosecution and request for driver information does not have the correct name on it. The police have misspelt my name. Do I have to do respond or can I just throw it in the bin?

Emma Says:

You could refuse to respond. However the police would most likely charge you to court with failing to provide driver information which carries six points and around an £800 fine. The notice has to be served on YOU.

If it’s a very basic spelling mistake, for example one letter is wrong, then the court would probably take the view that you knew the notice was for you and that you should have been pragmatic and dealt with it.

Chances are you will end up being convicted of failing to name. They won’t be able to convict you of the original offence at the root of the request unless there’s independent identification evidence.

If you simply accept it and nominate the driver you may have a potential argument that the notice of intended prosecution was defective, but again the court would probably reach the view that you were being pedantic and that the notice served the purpose intended by drawing the allegation to your attention within the requisite 14 days.

This argument on the part of the court would be even stronger if you are the registered keeper of the vehicle and the vehicle belonged to you. Our advice is to be pragmatic but always give us a call to talk about the specifics of the notice and the specifics of your case. Our advice will sometimes be different.