Free Traffic Legal Advice

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I've seen the V5. I've also been told by the RK that they responded to a reminder having not received any prior letter.

So, since the initial NIP was not received, that clears things up a little.

If you want to defend the charge on the basis that no NIP was served on the RK within 14 days, the burden falls on you to prove it. The police will almost certainly provide evidence that the NIP was posted so as to arrive in time. So long as they do that to the court's satisfaction it is then presumed to have been delivered within two working days. You will have to convince the court ("on the balance of probabilities" - i.e. more likely than not) that it was not. Proving that something did not happen is notoriously difficult and made a bit more so for you as you as you will have to rely on the testimony of the recipient.

As I pointed out, you must respond to the request for driver's details in any case.

Thanks.

Would the police not have something to prove postage? How can delivery be assumed? The RK and another family member have both previously posted on the local estate Facebook group about post not been received or getting or receiving letters / parcels addressed to others. The post around here isn't exactly consistently reliable.

I could use the screenshots that show posts from the Facebook that show local problems at least, but how can I prove that something wasn't delivered, that's impossible unless the police send something recorded delivery?

Really? I haven't seen any evidence of the alleged offence, how can I just be assumed to be guilty without me even seeing any evidence, that's not how the justice system works in the UK?

That is the system. Don't be late in your reply or it gives you worse issues.

The police can prove postage (almost certainly). Delivery is presumed because the law says so. It's not great, but you can attempt rebuttal. It has been rarely known to succeed. Take all your evidence to court and give it a whirl. The consequence of failure has been pointed up.

If it were the case that "I didn't get it" provided acceptance I suspect there might be a substantial increase in the number of not guilty pleas.

Personally, given RMs own statistics of 14/10,000 things going missing from their own test, I think this does mount up to fair number of people who do have a valid defence if only they could persuade a bench.

At the moment there is a request for driver details. Typically the next step will see an offereing of disposal for £100 and 3pts. But it could be a course or a prosecution.

The system does that in order to allow those who readily accept their guilt to deal with it in a simple cost effective manner. It doesn't offer "well if you can prove it I will accept the easy option".

You have no entitlement to evidence. If you wish you can elect to go through the process of court. There is a high probability that they will show a photo of the vehicle commiting the alleged offence as described. But a COFP or course is off the table.

A common practice is to ask - without using "evidence" for "photos to assist identifying the driver". They often oblige. But it is in their gift.

Another issue is that you commit a more serious offence if you don't answer in time, the clock is still ticking. Also in cases where there have been delays they may not make a fixed penalty offer because it would allow a timeout to be engineered.

You have very limited time left. Some forces will put pictures on line. It could be footage from operation snap.