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Would anyone be able to help with a double charge of speeding and failing to provide information on the driver?

We live in Hertfordshire.

My wife received a NIP in November 2024 for her vehicle speeding on a weekend at around 16:00. We share the vehicle almost equally. The road is just 2-3 minutes' drive away from our house and we need to use it to get to most places in the town, so any one of us could have been driving the vehicle at that time. We both checked our diaries and could not tell who was driving. The online form to respond to the NIP provided an option to the effect of being unable to confirm who was driving the vehicle, and then provided a box to give more details on the reason why. My wife filled out this form in good faith and gave these reasons. She did not want to guess the driver as she feared a mistake could be seen as perverting the course of justice. She thought her response would prompt the police to write back and advise her further about what to do. The submission was filed within the required 28 days and was acknowledged by the website.

My wife was, therefore, very surprised to receive a Single Justice Procedure Notice recently, stating that she has been charged with exceeding the speed limit and failing to identify the driver. We feel this is very unfair as she complied with the request to respond within 28 days, and the website itself provided the option of not identifying a driver, which gave the impression that this is a legitimate response.

I have spoken with a few motoring solicitors but they are asking for £1500-£2000 to defend my wife. One said it will cost £1500 for them to negotiate informally with the prosecutor for them to drop the failing to furnish charge in exchange for a guilty plea on the speeding charge. Alternatively, they want £2000 to attend court and defend my wife, if she pleads non-guilty to both charges. One solicitor on JustAnswer (who did not inspire me with confidence) said my wife should just plead non-guilty to both and try to defend herself in front of the judge, despite the risks.

Following the recent advice of solicitors, we have now checked our bank statements and I feel that, on the balance of probabilities, I have may have been more likely to have been driving the vehicle at the time of the offence, as I go to the particular shop showing on the bank statement more frequently than my wife does. I would say I feel it is 70% likely to be me. However, this is still a guess and we do not know for sure.

We do not wish to pay such substantial sums to a solicitor if it is something that we can just do ourselves. Neither of us have ever previously had any driving points or convictions, or any other criminal charges for that matter. We just want the best option in terms of minimal cost and minimal points and minimal future implications. I have read online and feel we definitely do not want a S172 conviction due to its implications on future car insurance bills.

Which option do people suggest?
1. Pay a solicitor £1500 to informally negotiate with the prosecutor to drop the failing to furnish charge in exchange for a guilty plea on the speeding charge?
2. Contact the prosecutor ourselves to negotiate dropping the failing to furnish charge in exchange for a guilty plea on the speeding charge? If so, how would they be contacted though and what should we say?
3. Plead non-guilty to both charges and explain the circumstances to the judge? Would this be too risky though?
4. Plead guilty to the speeding charge and non-guilty to the failure to furnish charge, assuming the prosecutor will automatically drop the failure to furnish charge prior to the court date?

Are there any other suggestions we could try instead? Thank you, in advance, for all for your help and knowledge!

Thank you.
How likely is she to succeed in pleading non-guilty to both in court, though? At the time of responding to the Notice of Intended Prosecution, we had only checked our own diaries. We had not checked bank statements. It is only now, after being advised by the solicitors, that I have seen a particular expenditure from a shop on my bank statement, that I feel makes it slightly more likely that I was driving. My wife's bank statements do not show any activity for the day in question.

We feel this is very unfair as she complied with the request to respond within 28 days

Alas, she had not complied with the law.  The law doesn't just ask for a 'response' but asks for an unequivocal driver nomination.  (Of course, there's the statutory defence mentioned above)

I would suspect the paperwork received made it quite clear what response was required to the s172?

...and the website itself provided the option of not identifying a driver, which gave the impression that this is a legitimate response.

Hmmm - out of interest can you elaborate on this?  (Although I do not see it providing any defence)

1. Pay a solicitor £1500 to informally negotiate with the prosecutor to drop the failing to furnish charge in exchange for a guilty plea on the speeding charge?
2. Contact the prosecutor ourselves to negotiate dropping the failing to furnish charge in exchange for a guilty plea on the speeding charge? If so, how would they be contacted though and what should we say?
3. Plead non-guilty to both charges and explain the circumstances to the judge? Would this be too risky though?
4. Plead guilty to the speeding charge and non-guilty to the failure to furnish charge, assuming the prosecutor will automatically drop the failure to furnish charge prior to the court date?

1. Unnecessary really
2. This can only usually be done by attending court
3. Risky - a real chance of a s172 conviction I'm afraid (6 points)
4. This gives away any 'bargaining chip'.  She could be convicted of both offences as they are not mutually exclusive.

The usual way is to see the prosecutor on the day to offer to plead guilty to the speeding if the FtF is dropped - they will often accept.

However, note the point only the driver should consider pleading guilty to the speeding.  (And the charge cannot be 'transferred')

...and the website itself provided the option of not identifying a driver, which gave the impression that this is a legitimate response.

Hmmm - out of interest can you elaborate on this?  (Although I do not see it providing any defence)  [quote from @JustLoveCar's post]


I'm surprised if the website offered an option of not being able to identify the driver as many people would take that as meaning that an "I don't know" response was one that was acceptable.

My wife (the RK) and I (the driver) both answered s172 requests last year.  I'm sure I kept copies of our responses somewhere - I think I'll check to see how the question was phrased.

Thank you all for your responses. They are quite helpful.

How certain are you that you were driving?

Thank you.
So, in order to have the conviction for the speeding offence only, would it be best to plead non-guilty to both offences on the form, and write a note to say she will change the non-guilty plea to the speeding offence in return for the second charge being dropped?

If so, how can a non-guilty plea for the speeding, once submitted on the form, be changed to a guity plea?