i was meant to be in court today for a speeding offence.
i have just recieved a call from my lawyer advising me to postpone my attendance until he has time to research my particular problem.
the problem is that i have already paid a fixed point fine of £90 and the 3 points have been attached to my licence, however the court seems to want to charge me again!
i know this info is a bit sparse but any thoughts from professionals out there?
summonsed to court as i was driving without insurance-i was insured on my previous car fully comp and able to drive other cars, bought car from my neighbour and drove it that same day but had not updated my policy so uninsured, this i admit but if i am charged twice with the speeding offence then it will be totting up territory.
If you’ve paid the speeding FPN in time and weren’t on 9 or more points you won’t be done in court for the speeding, just the no insurance. (Which should be at least 6 points and £200 – that’s what the FPN for no insurance is).
Unless it’s just some sort of admin error, how can they charge you twice for the same offence. Why would you have to go to court for the speeding anyway, isn’t the court appearance for the insurance thing? They are two seperate offences.
i was caught doing 62 in a temporary 40 zone, the court case is for speeding as there is a potential discressionary ban issued by magistrates on top of fine and points.
I got done for the same thing about ten years ago, bought a new car, so had two cars for a couple of weeks, thought that I could drive the new car under existing insurance with third party cover, got given a producer, and it appears that the insurance is third party cover for any other car that I did not own. Cost me 6 points, magistrates were quite sympathetic and gave me the minimum possible fine, but the points were mandatory for the offence.
Not sure what a lawyer can actually do about it, unless he can find a procedural error in the paperwork.
Were you not on a test drive with owners consent then you might have been covered
I’m pretty sure that even if your policy covers you to drive other cars, the car you’re driving needs to be insured in it’s own right. ie. you could drive your friends car, but he needs to be insured. That’s what I was told by my insurance company anyway.
OK, 62/40 is just outside the guidelines for a FPN (generally up to 59mph in a 40). So unless the guidelines are different where you got caught, you shouldn’t have been given a FPN for that.
Perhaps this error has been realised and that’s why you have to go to court for the speeding and the insurance?
(Although if you accepted and paid a FPN this seems a little unfair to my mind).
You can’t get points AND a discretionary ban for the same offence.
So was the car insured by the previous owner? Had he got it off the road and uninsured. If I was selling a car I’d definitely still have it insured till it was gone just to cover it for theft!??
the car was insured by the previous owner. this is irrelevant though i am afraid as it was my ignorance that missed the fact that once i purchased the car it was me that needed to be insured.
a combination of msp and jon1973 i would say otherwise you could buy 5 cars and only insure 1?
as you say, you did wrong and courts wont know if you did this once for half an hour unknowingly or if you do this all the time knowingly.
doesnt sound good though.
the speeding fine thing is a bit odd though, i cant get my head round it, must be missing something.
i was caught doing 62 in a temporary 40 zone, the court case is for speeding as there is a potential discressionary ban issued by magistrates on top of fine and points.
If you were offered 3 points and a fine then that is how the speeding matter has been dealt with. You cannot then be punished again for the same offence unless the points take you over the totting up limit. Go and have a look at the paperwork which came with the offer of points it will say that you have the option of accepting the points or going to court should you decline, you cannot then be taken to court having accepted the punishment and paid the fine.
I was caught doing 56 in a temporary 30 earlier this year. The officer could not issue a FPN at the roadside as it was outside the guidelines he had. He explained to me that given the circumstances and the location of the offence (the wilds of rural Scotland) it was likely the PF would issue a FPN (which they did) but was possible I could be summmonsed. So even though you didn’t get a FPN at the roadside the magistrate can still issue a FPN at their discretion and having accepted and paid this that should be the end of the matter.
When I got done for speeding I was driving my mums car. Her mot had lapsed by 11 days. When I went to produce my documents I had no mot… They said I must go to court. However they also took my license, gave me the 3 points and I paid the fine.
When the court summons came through it said i need to go to court for speeding. I rang up the court and said whilst I was speeding I had already had the three points and paid the fine. I Email a copy of my bank statement and my driving license with the points on, and they replied that I didn’t have to come in to court.
Seriously, either you’ve misunderstood the situation (or are misrepresenting it), or your lawyer needs replacing with one who knows what he’s doing. I find it absolutely incredible that isn’t blindingly obvious to any lawyer.
but if you have accepted the Fixed penalty unless that takes you to 12 points then the speeding should be done and dusted.
the no insurance needs some research a) to check either you or your neighbours would not indemnify you for the driving. b) on what you say for a potential “special reasons” not to endorse argument. c) as a long stop you have mitigating circumstances not to disqualify (exceptional hardship) though this is about the impact of a ban on you not about how the offence occurred.
I’m pretty sure that even if your policy covers you to drive other cars, the car you’re driving needs to be insured in it’s own right. ie. you could drive your friends car, but he needs to be insured. That’s what I was told by my insurance company anyway.
Not always the case. That would depend on the wording of your insurance.
Also worth noting that being the registered keeper doesn’t prove ownership. Although asking the seller to change the date you bought it would get you in serious trouble if caught.
Anyway, always read the wording on your insurance. Between them and the police, they really are there to try and screw you I’m afraid. Common sense doesn’t (often) come into it.
you’ve posted on an MTB advice on something that you haven’t clearly explained! you clearly want an answer that will make you feel better and not the real one! I think you need to explain from the beginning as it clearly doesn’t make any sense!!
Car insurance.. depends on what you’re policy said.
Points – you can’t be done twice for the same offence. however if you paid FPN for speeding (which seems odd given how far you were over the limit) you are potentially in court (and you shouldn’t have paid the FPN) looking at a ban and the no insurance!???