Forgotten to change the address on your driving licence?…Your questions answered

A document known as a “Notice of Intended Prosecution” is sent out to those who, for example, have been caught speeding by a speed camera.  The Notice will ask you to provide the driver details of who was driving the vehicle at the time of the alleged offence.

The Police will send the Notice of Intended Prosecution to the registered keeper of the vehicle.  It is therefore crucial that you keep your V5 and address up to date with the DVLA.  This is because, if you do not, and you are unaware that a Notice of Intended Prosecution has been sent out, you may fail to comply with the request to send the driver details.

A Notice of Intended Prosecution must be responded to within 28 days – failure to do so is an offence in itself.   This is a serious offence which carries 6 penalty points and a fine of up to £1,000.  A question we are often asked is whether a lack of response because the Notice of Intended Prosecution was sent to your old address is a defence.  Sadly it is not.  Because the punishment for the offence of not sending back a Notice of Intended Prosecution is quite harsh, it often means that people tot up 12 points, which may result in a 6 month ban.

We also have clients who have sold a vehicle and not informed the DVLA.  It is important that you do so when you sell any vehicle.

You must receive the Notice of Intended Prosecution within 14 days of the allegation date.  We do have a lot of clients who contact us as they have received the Notice of Intended Prosecution later than this date.  It is worth checking, however, whether the vehicle involved was a Company car or a hire vehicle.  It may be that you have received the Notice outside of the 14 day limit, but that the actual original Notice was, for example, sent to the Company who own the car who then provided your details.  This further Notice is not out of time if not sent within 14 days.

This area of law is quite technical, and it is vital to take legal advice from an early stage.   We offer a free 30 minute telephone consultation which you can access by phoning Nils O’Donoghue on 01484 468331.