Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hello,

I am the RK of the car in question and the address on the V5 matches my address.

I received yesterday (19/08) by second class post a letter from Durham Police (letter dated 14/08) purporting to be a reminder to respond to a S172 notice. This notice is claimed to have been sent on 24/07 in relation to a speeding offence dated 19/07.The letter states I must respond to the S172 within 7 days of the date of the covering letter (ie by 14+7 = 21/08) which is tomorrow.

The letter also includes a NIP 'should you have mislaid the original notice'. The NIP is dated 14/08.

I did not receive any previous correspondence relating to this previously in any form whatsoever. I am an accountant and have an orderly method of collecting, reviewing, addressing and filing all mail that comes to my home address as a reasonable amount of mail is business-related. I can be quite categorical that this is the first correspondence I've received on this.

I have also logged in today and viewed pictures of the 'ping' and a calibration certificate of the unit in question (cert. dated 11 Dec 2024). I can provide copies of these if deemed necessary.

The alleged speed is 80mph on a 70mph-limited dual carriageway. I have received 2 photos, one showing 80mph and the second taken two seconds later showing 79mph.

The 14 day period to issue a NIP has clearly been missed, but how might I prove not having received something?. I'd appreciate some advice as to how best to proceed. I presume in any case I must respond to the S172. Is it worth writing back by return to state the above facts and see what response is given?

Many thanks

Thanks for the responses. Are there any / many cases of successful rebuttal of presumption on record?

Are there any / many cases of successful rebuttal of presumption on record?

None would be on record because they are heard in Magistrates' Courts, which are not "courts of record".

Anecdotally very few succeed.

The pragmatic approach would be to respond to the s172 request and accept the offer of a course which will almost certainly be made (provided you have not done one in the last three years).

If you defend the speeding charge on the basis that no NIP was served within 14 days, the cost of failure is high. You will pay a fine of half a week's net income, a "victim surcharge" of 40% of the fine, and prosecution costs which will be in the region of £90 £650.

You can mention the late NIP to the police but they will certainly not simply take your word for it. They will have the matter heard in court. You must therefore be careful in your response that you do not give them the impression that you will not accept an out-of-court disposal. If they get that notion they may not make such an offer.

Thanks for this. First stage is that I have submitted the S170 with an unequivocal answer but have also highlighted the late NIP and see what their next step is.

If the OP (or driver, if different) wants to contest the case then they will have to rebut the presumption of service to civil standard (i.e. more likely than not). The fact that the OP has a rigorous system for logging post would be a good start.