Just relieved a NIP yesterday for excess speed of 41 in 30 zone on the 8th of May 19:59
this came as a shock as that day which was a Sunday i was away on a trip to Southend on sea and my bike was at home
i was on a rental car (zipcar) which i have the receipt of reservation from 5:30 to 22:30
The NIP give no option to challenge this allegation
they just ask you to either give you details if you were the driver at the time of the offence or to give details of the driver who was on riding the bike at that time
the third option is to provide details of the owner/keeper of the bike at the time of the offence if bike was sold
am in a bit of a dilemma here as this seems like they do not make mistakes and that my bike committed the offence
i was thinking of returning the NIP without filling any of those forms along with a letter explaining that my bike was parked and chained to the gate of my house at the time of the offence
has anyone experienced this before?
i would like some help on what to do as I am clueless
If it wasn't you
Your bike could have may be cloned
Or they have the wrong date
Wise what do you reckon i should do? as am 1000000% sure it was not me I came back home at 21:00 that day I dont think they have the wrong date because the offence occurred in rainham A1306 and i have never ever been on that road
If it wasn't you
Your bike could have may be cloned
Or they have the wrong date
Wise
what do you reckon i should do?
as am 1000000% sure it was not me
I came back home at 21:00 that day
I dont think they have the wrong date because the offence occurred in rainham A1306 and i have never ever been on that road i was even checking my google map location history and I was nowhere near that road i would lean more on the cloning side if their info are accurate
I think they ask for you to send it back. Obvs keep copies of everything.
They will stick to their assumption that someone else was riding the bike. So I guess ask for proof it was your bike. They will have a photo. You’re plate may have been copied. The plate and photo should match the make and model and colour of your bike. Otherwise you do indeed have a claim.
If the photo matches your bike. Then I expect you have to convince them you really were elsewhere AND no one was riding your bike…
If it gets to that… More doughnuts.
You may need to seek legal advice if it gets to that.
You’ve received the NIP because you’re the registered keeper. Its a legal requirement for you to tell them who was riding your bike at the time of the offence. Although in this instance that’s not going to be possible. Therefore you’ll need to explain why that is the case. Note its an offence to ignore the NIP or to not give the name of the rider at the time of the alleged offence. Its also an offence to give the name of a person who was not riding your bike at the time of the alleged offence.
More useful than proving that you were somewhere else at the time would be to prove where your bike was at the time, any neighbours noticed your bike was at home?
Don’t panic, if what you say is correct you’ve nothing to worry about. You could also request to view the evidence they have, I’m assuming here the evidence will clearly show the bike is not your bike.
Was the offence committed on a road that you frequent? Chances are it’s the wrong date or they have the wrong bike - either way if what you say is true then they have made an error somewhere and will be keen to correct it rather than pursue you.
You wouldn’t .be the first to have been cloned happens all the time and doesn’t even have to be the same bike
As others have said tell them your side of the story with the evidence you have
Ask for the photo and see what turns up
I had something similar a few years back with my car and it took a few years to get it sorted while it was going on it made no difference to my daily life it was just a ball ache
Be prepared for a long haul if things don’t work out
Do those zip cars have trackers? Was it hired on your name with you the only driver? If you answer yes to all 3 then just send that to them as that will put you somewhere else at the time of offence.
I would also ask, does your flat mate have access to the bike keys? Maybe he took it for a joy ride!
Right, first things first, lets get things into perspective.
A bike has been recorded exceeding the speed limit and the registration number has been recorded, therefore a Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) is required to be sent out to the registered keeper so that it has a reasonable chance of arriving within 14 days of the date of the alleged offence.
The arrival of an NIP does not guarantee that you are being prosecuted, it is just a requirement to notify the registered keeper that Consideration to the question of prosecuting for the offences of…is being given.
Forgetting any evidence at the moment, you need to notify the Police of the details of the registered keeper and/or the rider at the time. Failure to do so is a seperate offence regardless of any speeding matter.
You can include a covering note stating that you have included details of the registered keeper (I assume that this is you) but you can also say that on the date in question and at the time you were (enter location) and that you were driving a car that you had hired from (enter details) which confirms your presence elsewhere and that you are prepared to produce this evidence at court.
Also confirm that your bike was locked up in a secure garage or wherever it is kept and that nobody had your authorisation or permission to use the bike. You could then suggest that you suspect that either your registration number has been written down incorrectly or cloned.
This may have the desired affect of binning the whole process there and then. But if they decide to go further, then you will receive further correspondence detailing what the next process is. If they decide that they are going to continue with a prosecution or offer a fixed penalty, then that is the time you start asking for evidence and you consider sorting out a defence. If it gets to that stage, then let me know and I can put you in touch with someone who can assist you and represent you if needs be.
At this stage though, don’t start panicking about prosecutions or anything like that. If you are really cncerned though, then nip into your local Police station with the paperwork and they can always speak to the central ticket office (or at least they should) on yur behalf and they will be able to advise you of the best way forward.
