3. Single Justice Procedure - Failing to give drivers details
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Single Justice Procedure - Failing to give drivers details
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Hello all, I am after some advice please.

I have received a SJP notice for failing to give the drivers details.

The car is question is a car that is registered to my business but the notice has been sent to myself at my home address rather than the business because I am the named insurance policy holder. Its a lease car and the agreement is between the lease company and my business, my name is not on it anywhere. We have around 20 vehicles in total in the business, all the others are vans and are on a commercial policy. We have 1 car and the commercial policy would not cover it so I got it insured personally and now this is the one that the police are writing. I get multiple NIPs for the vans to the office and always reply with drivers details .

This particular NIP come to my home address as I was the insurance policy holder so I decided to ignore it hoping they would write to the company and then I could follow it up there. Its a business car so I thought that would be the appropriate avenue.

It seems from the notice that the car was involved in a collision around 6 months ago, I was not aware of this and the car doesn't have any damage or had been fixed by the time I checked on it. I have tried to get to the bottom of who took the car but I am not able to. We have around 5 vans always at our yard and everyone has access to the key cabinet. The car spare key was in the key cabinet.

I think the best thing to do is plead guilty by post, accept the 6 points and £1000 fine and move on but I am wondering if I have any grounds to fight this.

I am not aware who the driver is , the car is registered to the lease company who has an agreement with the limited company, i checked with the insurance and there hasn't been a claim so i am guessing the collision wasn't bad but I cannot say 100%.

I would really appreciate any help. Thank you
« Last Edit: May 17, 2024, 09:45:22 pm by churst121 »
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Re: Single Justice Procedure - Failing to give drivers details
« Reply #1 on: »
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...so I decided to ignore it

With that in mind, I don't see you have a defence.

Section 172 of the Road Traffic Act (under which you have been charged) does not restrict who the police can send requests to. It places a duty on "the person Keeping the vehicle" and on "any other person" to provide the police with information (slightly different requirements depending which category the recipient fits into). But a response must be made.

Provided you plead guilty you will not be fined £1,000. That is the maximum for the offence. The guideline fine is 150% of a week's net income, capped at £1,000 (the maximum). But your guilty plea will entitle you to a one third discount, so making the maximum £667. But six points is a certainty. The endorsement code (MS90) may cause you some insurance problems.

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If it’s leased it’s fairly unlikely it’s registered to your work, the lease company is almost certainly (invariably) the registered keeper, if in doubt get out the V5c registration document that is sent to the registered keeper and check the details on it are correct.

Perhaps phone the lease company and ask them, also ask if they got a NIP and replied to it naming you/the company and if so what details exactly they gave.

But does that make any difference? He received a s172 request. Regardless of how or why the police decided to send it to him, it must be responded to, even if the response is "dunno anything about it."
« Last Edit: May 17, 2024, 07:12:31 pm by NewJudge »
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Re: Single Justice Procedure - Failing to give drivers details
« Reply #2 on: »
Yes big mistake from myself. I should of dealt with it at the time. Seeing as this is a regular occurrence for the business I just assumed they would also write to the business once they spoke to lease company and I could deal with it through the usual avenue. Then if I'm honest I forgot about it, it was 6 months ago.

Here is the time line.

Original offence being investigated - Careless Driving.

Date of offence: 12.10.23

Initial combined SIP/S172 Notice sent to policy holder - 17/10/23

defendant identified as policy holder for vehicle insurance

Reminder sent 08/11/23

offence date (failing to give evidence) 17/11/24

charged date 05/05/24


Is it worth me writing a letter with the guilty pled in the hope of receiving less points or is it not worth the time?

How much do you think my insurance will go up?

If I have missed anything else please let me know and I can add the details. Thank you
« Last Edit: May 17, 2024, 09:40:46 pm by churst121 »
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Re: Single Justice Procedure - Failing to give drivers details
« Reply #3 on: »
Quote from: The Rookie on May 17, 2024, 06:57:46 pm
If it’s leased it’s fairly unlikely it’s registered to your work, the lease company is almost certainly (invariably) the registered keeper, if in doubt get out the V5c registration document that is sent to the registered keeper and check the details on it are correct.

Perhaps phone the lease company and ask them, also ask if they got a NIP and replied to it naming you/the company and if so what details exactly they gave.

An MS90 is an endorsement code that insurers love to have to just accepting 6 points may be a bit premature as the fine may be the least of the costs.

Your right, sorry I didn't make it clear. The lese company is the registered keeper, I don't have the log book. The lease company do not have my personal name or address on their system. The police haven't contacted them they have decided to go straight to the insurance policy holder which is myself. My guess is they have looked at registered keeper and insurance and assumed its a personal lease to myself and wrote to me.

The other vans on lease from the same lease company - we receive the NIPs direct to the office , as they first write to lease company, they get forwarded to limited company and then we pass them onto the driver. These vans are on a commercial fleet insurance policy.
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Re: Single Justice Procedure - Failing to give drivers details
« Reply #4 on: »
It really doesn't matter why the police decided to send a Request for Driver's Details to you and there is no time limit in which they may do so. They did and you had an obligation to respond.

The court cannot impose anything other than six points for the offence. A disqualification is an alternative (as it is for any offence which carries an endorsement) but there is no reason why one would be imposed.

Anecdotally, an MS90 endorsement doubles a premium in the first year, tapering off annually until he offence no longer needs to be declared after five years.
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Re: Single Justice Procedure - Failing to give drivers details
« Reply #5 on: »
Quote from: NewJudge on May 17, 2024, 09:48:40 pm
It really doesn't matter why the police decided to send a Request for Driver's Details to you and there is no time limit in which they may do so. They did and you had an obligation to respond.

The court cannot impose anything other than six points for the offence. A disqualification is an alternative (as it is for any offence which carries an endorsement) but there is no reason why one would be imposed.

Anecdotally, an MS90 endorsement doubles a premium in the first year, tapering off annually until he offence no longer needs to be declared after five years.

Understood, thank you for the advice.

So my best option is to plead guilty by post without a court hearing. Should I add any facts for the judge to consider when giving the sentence in case they consider a ban or is that very unlikely? I am worried that by saying too much I could turn it into something bigger than it needs to be. I am very busy with work and days in court are money lost to me so I want to avoid that if possible.

Thanks again
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Re: Single Justice Procedure - Failing to give drivers details
« Reply #6 on: »
There's really little you can say that will significantly alter the outcome. Sentencing for the offence if fairly prescriptive. There's no reason why a ban should be considered. However, if it is, the Single Justice will not impose a ban. Instead your case will be adjourned for a hearing in the normal Magistrates' Court and you will be invited o attend.
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Re: Single Justice Procedure - Failing to give drivers details
« Reply #7 on: »
Mod note - an s. 172 requirement can be served on anyone likely to have information to give regarding the identity of the driver. In the language of the statute, it can apply to the "person (if any) keeping the vehicle" or "any other person".

For a conviction for the underlying offence, a NIP would be required to be served on the RK or driver within the 14 days unless an exception applies. As the OP has not been charged with the underlying offence, this is irrelevant.

To all of you that needed to have that explained to you, I've got better things to do than delete irrelevant noise., so I'll start silencing those making the noise.
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Re: Single Justice Procedure - Failing to give drivers details
« Reply #8 on: »
Thank you all.

There is something I really dont like about putting in writing that I am guilty.

If I was to ignore the SLP then Im guessing the fine would be the full £1000 as I would not get the 33% discount. I am ok with that.

If I do ignore it, is there a small chance it never mades it to court or the judge rules in my favour on the day as no reply to everything?

Or am I just being stupid and over thinking and better get my guilty plea in before the time is up?

Thanks again everyone
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Re: Single Justice Procedure - Failing to give drivers details
« Reply #9 on: »
Quote from: churst121 on May 18, 2024, 05:15:37 pm
Thank you all.

There is something I really dont like about putting in writing that I am guilty.

If I was to ignore the SLP then Im guessing the fine would be the full £1000 as I would not get the 33% discount. I am ok with that.

If I do ignore it, is there a small chance it never mades it to court or the judge rules in my favour on the day as no reply to everything?

Or am I just being stupid and over thinking and better get my guilty plea in before the time is up?

Thanks again everyone

Yes, you're overthinking it. The chances of it not getting to court are probably better than the National Lottery, but not by much. No chance at all of the judge ruling in your favour.

BTW it doesn't apply in this case as you're being charged as an individual, but your business is expected to have a system for recording who was driving at any particular time.
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Re: Single Justice Procedure - Failing to give drivers details
« Reply #10 on: »
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If I was to ignore the SLP then Im guessing the fine would be the full £1000 as I would not get the 33% discount. I am ok with that.

If your income was £667 pw or more, yes it would. You would also pay £400 as a "Victim Surcharge" and about £90 costs. So £1,540 or thereabouts. The most you would pay with a guilty plea would be £667+£267+£90, so around £1,024. Ticking the "Guilty" box will make no material difference to the outcome apart from that saving - you will still have a conviction recorded against you and an endorsement on your driving record. The £516 will go some way to offset your increased insurance costs.

I'm not short of a bob or two but that would be an easy choice for me. The very small chance that there will be an administrative ****-up would not be worth gambling >£500 to me. But of course it's your call.
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