Free Traffic Legal Advice
Live cases legal advice => Speeding and other criminal offences => Topic started by: Lakha on January 09, 2026, 04:47:53 pm
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Quick sanity check - for the purposes of totting up, points count for 3 years from date of offence to date of offence - were all of your current points from offences committed less than 3 years before the current offence?
My 6 points came from one offence of speeding which was 22nd feb 2025
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Quick sanity check - for the purposes of totting up, points count for 3 years from date of offence to date of offence - were all of your current points from offences committed less than 3 years before the current offence?
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The concept of contesting a COFP is a nullity - you either accept it (you can't), or you don't. If you don't accept the COFP, then it has no bearing on anything else, and it is then open to the police (after the expiration of the 28 day suspended enforcement period) to instigate court proceedings - the same as if they had not issued the COFP.
N.B. The fine will be based on the sentencing guidelines, not the COFP, as explained by Daim456 above.
Thanks, Ill just let the 28 days elapse and have the cofp refer it to court. I dont feel like paying £300 only to get it back and then it go to court anyway
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The concept of contesting a COFP is a nullity - you either accept it (you can't), or you don't. If you don't accept the COFP, then it has no bearing on anything else, and it is then open to the police (after the expiration of the 28 day suspended enforcement period) to instigate court proceedings - the same as if they had not issued the COFP.
N.B. The fine will be based on the sentencing guidelines, not the COFP, as explained by Daim456 above.
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Should I ignore the letter and let it go to court, or should I fill out the part where it says i want to contest this matter. I wont end up paying more of a fine if I end up ignoring the letter will I?
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* If found guilty
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To reply to your earlier message about unlimited fine for no insurance.
Yes the fine is unlimited however the starting point of fine is 1.5 time of your net weekly income.
The fine would be detucted 33% for Guilty plea.
Plus there is victim surcharge which is 40% of fine Plus cost £90 for Guilty plea.
For Not Guilty plea the cost would be at least £650.
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There is case law that says if no cover is in place at any given time, the defendant is still guilty of the offence even if the insurer “backdates” any cover.
Interesting, but if the business policy was to cover any vehicle, and OP would have been covered at the time regardless, surely OP would then be not guilty?
It's a matter of contractual construction. If the insurance contract did not cover the use at the time, the fact that the insurer extra-contractually says that they would have covered the risk does not invalidate the offence. Until the OP knows what the contract covered at the time, as distinct to what the insurer might have paid out on as a matter of discretion, the question is up in the air.
You're too clever for me lol I had to read it a few times to get my head around it.
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There is case law that says if no cover is in place at any given time, the defendant is still guilty of the offence even if the insurer “backdates” any cover.
Interesting, but if the business policy was to cover any vehicle, and OP would have been covered at the time regardless, surely OP would then be not guilty?
It's a matter of contractual construction. If the insurance contract did not cover the use at the time, the fact that the insurer extra-contractually says that they would have covered the risk does not invalidate the offence. Until the OP knows what the contract covered at the time, as distinct to what the insurer might have paid out on as a matter of discretion, the question is up in the air.
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There is case law that says if no cover is in place at any given time, the defendant is still guilty of the offence even if the insurer “backdates” any cover.
Interesting, but if the business policy was to cover any vehicle, and OP would have been covered at the time regardless, surely OP would then be not guilty?
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I doubt this will go to court, a fixe penalty is the usual offer. Did the police let you drive away after they stopped you? If so that's a rarity as they usually make you walk home and the vehicle get lifted to the car pound.
I doubt that mitigating circumstances will help as no insurance is a clear-cut matter, either you've got it or you haven't.
Well i wont meet the conditions of the conditional offer the police sent via post; as i already have 6 points. This will give me another 6 pts minimum so 12 points will be referred to court. Yes the police let me drive the car home.
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I doubt this will go to court, a fixe penalty is the usual offer. Did the police let you drive away after they stopped you? If so that's a rarity as they usually make you walk home and the vehicle get lifted to the car pound.
I doubt that mitigating circumstances will help as no insurance is a clear-cut matter, either you've got it or you haven't.
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Just so it's clear, as well as contacting your own personal insurance, get your father in law to contact his business insurance incase you have cover on that side instead.
Yeah will do dude. Hoping for the best. I like to think that I have some mitigating circumstances, just have to hope the court decide not to punish me harshly!
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Just so it's clear, as well as contacting your own personal insurance, get your father in law to contact his business insurance incase you have cover on that side instead.
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There is case law that says if no cover is in place at any given time, the defendant is still guilty of the offence even if the insurer “backdates” any cover.
Yeah that sounds about right lol. Going to still try though, im not going to lose anything by trying
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There is case law that says if no cover is in place at any given time, the defendant is still guilty of the offence even if the insurer “backdates” any cover.
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Thanks for the reply
Can they backdate it though? Even though it was only in the garage for less than a week? Also when the officers checked my record it showed no business insurance on my licence so aren't I technically banged to rights because at the time, I didnt have proper coverage?
Yes, the insurer can say "We would have insured you on this date". Some business policies do not specifically cover individual vehicles but may cover "any vehicle owned by or used in the course of business" (more likely for very large corps). If there is any kind of stipulation like that in the businesses policy then it may well cover you for delivering.
They might also say no, but at the end of the day, what choice do you have? Explore every option open to you.
Insurance is separate to your driving licence, the police checked your car insurance and found it to not have "for hire and reward" cover.
Thanks dude. I dont even get paid for it its just a favor for when the actual employees cannot fulfil them. Which is rare. I will get onto the insurance asap
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Thanks for the reply
Can they backdate it though? Even though it was only in the garage for less than a week? Also when the officers checked my record it showed no business insurance on my licence so aren't I technically banged to rights because at the time, I didnt have proper coverage?
Yes, the insurer can say "We would have insured you on this date". Some business policies do not specifically cover individual vehicles but may cover "any vehicle owned by or used in the course of business" (more likely for very large corps). If there is any kind of stipulation like that in the businesses policy then it may well cover you for delivering.
They might also say no, but at the end of the day, what choice do you have? Explore every option open to you.
Insurance is separate to your driving licence, the police checked your car insurance and found it to not have "for hire and reward" cover.
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You say the business has a delivery car but it was off the road. Check that policy, or speak to the insurers, and see if they cover alternative vehicles if that one is off the road. You may find they would have covered you.
Thanks for the reply
Can they backdate it though? Even though it was only in the garage for less than a week? Also when the officers checked my record it showed no business insurance on my licence so aren't I technically banged to rights because at the time, I didnt have proper coverage?
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You say the business has a delivery car but it was off the road. Check that policy, or speak to the insurers, and see if they cover alternative vehicles if that one is off the road. You may find they would have covered you.
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Contact your insurance to see if you are covered or if they would have covered you. the police are hving a crack down on insurance for food deliveries and indeed deliveries of all sorts. If you are doing any of that on a regular basis, whether aid or not you need to be insured. The question is, did the business benefit from your kindness? answer is yes because they usually have their own van to do it.
There's been several similar cases where cars have been used to ferry people about on a free and pay-for-the-petrol basis. One case springs to mind, "the pink ladies" in the Luton area IIRC. Taking kids to school for money, it was regular, it was a business. another was the wife of a minicab driver, used her own car to cover a job on day as hubby was ill, no insurance, no private hire licences, the business benefitted from that job even though no money change hands. I could go on with others I've read about, but everyone ought to be aware of these matters now. Also, if you share your ride, make sure your insurance covers that as well! Mine forbids it as well as parcel and food deliveries.
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Ah I see. So im basically screwed. Will fight as much as I can in court. Hopefully I can appeal to their softer side and atleast be given the short ban as opposed to the points. The that IN10 endorsement code scares me!
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Because the office issuing the CoFP don't know how many points you have.
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If you will hit 12 or more points then you can’t accept the conditional offer (that’s one of the conditions) so you’re going to court either way.
What was the letter for then? I dont understand motoring laws in the uk. Wouldnt it just go to an SJP? I guess the going to court will be to get more money out of me?
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If you will hit 12 or more points then you can’t accept the conditional offer (that’s one of the conditions) so you’re going to court either way.
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Thanks for your reply. Cant say that I myself or someone close to me will suffer from a ban. Ive read online that going to court could lead to an unlimited fine. I dont want that ontop of an inevitable ban. If I decide to take it to court will the fine be larger? My previous offence went to an SJP where the fine was £600+ court and admin fees. But that was because I did not recieve the conditional offer of the points as the correspondence letters went to an old address, even though dvla have my updated address, the v5 at the time of the offense was in my current address, and my licence also shows my current address.
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From what you say you do not have a viable defence. You can try contacting your insurers to see if they would provide cover in those circumstances, though I doubt they would.
If you are convicted in court the court must impose a minimum of six points, which will see you liable to a ban under “totting up". They do have the option to impose a short ban instead of points but they’re very unlikely to do so.
You will have the opportunity to make an “Exceptional Hardship” argument so as to avoid a ban. You will have to convince the court that you or others will suffer hardship that is over and above that which any driver would normally suffer if he was banned.
Here is the guidance the court uses when considering such an argument:
When considering whether there are grounds to reduce or avoid a totting up disqualification the court should have regard to the following:
It is for the offender to prove to the civil standard of proof that such grounds exist. Other than very exceptionally, this will require evidence from the offender, and where such evidence is given, it must be sworn.
Where it is asserted that hardship would be caused, the court must be satisfied that it is not merely inconvenience, or hardship, but exceptional hardship for which the court must have evidence.
Almost every disqualification entails hardship for the person disqualified and their immediate family. This is part of the deterrent objective of the provisions combined with the preventative effect of the order not to drive.
If a motorist continues to offend after becoming aware of the risk to their licence of further penalty points, the court can take this circumstance into account.
Courts should be cautious before accepting assertions of exceptional hardship without evidence that alternatives (including alternative means of transport) for avoiding exceptional hardship are not viable.
Loss of employment will be an inevitable consequence of a driving ban for many people. Evidence that loss of employment would follow from disqualification is not in itself sufficient to demonstrate exceptional hardship; whether or not it does will depend on the circumstances of the offender and the consequences of that loss of employment on the offender and/or others.
So what “exceptional hardship” will you or others suffer?
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Hi, need some advice desperately. On the 3rd I got pulled over for taking a right turn when I was supposed to (it was dark and not familiar with the area) and police pulled me over. Got cautioned for that and they asked me what I was doing.. this is where it went downhill, because I told them I was on the way back from dropping off some groceries for my father in law, as he has a shop and they offer delivery for your groceries. Now, its unpaid and totally voluntary, I only did it because I was on the way back home and the persons house which I delivered to was on the way. They then laid down the law and told me I didnt have insurance. To which I replied yes I have and they said not business insurance. I did not know wtf he was talking about and he told me I cant be doing deliveries in my car and not have business insurance. I explained that usually if I help out, I do it in the dedicated delivery car, which I now know has business insurance, and I am a named driver on. But that same morning, I dropped off the delivery car because it needs a new clutch. They didnt care. I am totally **** because I have 6 points already and now ill get another 6 and get banned which I cant get over. Im the driver out of myself and my wife and work in Leeds 12 miles away for the nhs. My question is, is there ANY way of getting out of a driving ban? I can prove that the car was taken in that same day I can prove i dont get paid from my father in law for anything as it was just a favor. Shall I go to court and ask them to show me some mercy? I got letter in the post today (ra88801 offence code) for 6 pts and £300 fine. If I go to court will they fine me more? Is there a chance for less points? I cant go without my car for 6 months :'(. Any help will be appreciated. Please be nice im already stressed to the max because of the implications it will have on my life for the next 5 years! All for a favor.