Q213: What will happen if I don't pay the fine on a fixed penalty notice?

The documentation may be a scam.

In the first instance, we advise that you contact HM Courts & Tribunal Services to clarify this, you can use the Court & Tribunal Finder facility via the link in Related Information to do this.

If the letter isn't genuine, report it to Action Fraud (see link in Related Information).

Alternatively, if the letter appears to be from the police referring you to HM Courts & Tribunal Services, then contact your local police to check its authenticity via the link below:

Fixed penalty tickets/notices (FPT /FPN) may be issued for road traffic offences and offer an opportunity to settle an offence without the need to go through the court system. If you pay a fixed penalty ticket, all liability for the offence is discharged and the offence doesn't form part of your criminal record.

As fixed penalty notices do not fall under the definition of a 'relevant matter', they would not be automatically released on a DBS check and as such are not subject to the filtering provisions.

A recipient of a fixed penalty notice has two options, either to pay the ticket or request a court hearing.

There are two types of fixed penalty tickets, endorsable and non-endorsable.

• Endorsable tickets mean that you'll get points on your licence (usually 3) and have to pay a penalty (usually £100) - note that whilst this is the penalty for most tickets, there are some variations where it is more or less, not having insurance is one example - see below.
• A non-endorsable ticket means that you will receive a £50 fine (some are higher) but don't get any points on your licence.
• Certain parking offences are eligible for a £30 non-endorsable ticket (£40 in Greater London).

The type of FPN you receive depends on the offence you have committed. Some offences cannot be dealt with by way of a FPN or the police officer may think that the circumstances are too serious, in either case you may be reported for summons to go to court.

A few examples of endorsable and non-endorsable tickets are:

Endorsable

• speeding
• going through a red light
• driving without due care and attention
• pedestrian crossing offences
• no insurance (£300 and 6 penalty points)
• using a mobile phone whilst driving (£200 and 6 penalty points)

Non-endorsable

• drive a vehicle with no MOT (£100)
• fail to comply with some traffic signs e.g. give-way sign, manually operated stop sign, road markings
• failing to wear a seatbelt
• parking offences

If a speed camera has recorded you speeding, you will receive a notice of intended prosecution/conditional offer. The notice of intended prosecution will be accompanied by a Section 172 notice, which you are required to complete to confirm the identity of the driver. Failure to provide these details may amount to an offence for which a prosecution could be pursued.

There is a statutory duty on all keepers of motor vehicles to be able to provide details of who has been driving the vehicle and keeping records is obviously the easiest way of doing this.

If you suspect your number plates have been cloned, please see Q381.

Each force operates under their own guidance and although they are not obliged to provide the photographic evidence, some will. However, many forces will not release photographic evidence unless the ticket is challenged (plead not guilty). You can request the photographic evidence and in doing so you must provide your Notice number and vehicle registration number, and you must be the person named on the notice of intended prosecution. Your request will then be considered by the relevant force in line with their guidance and policy, and you may then be sent the evidence, which will usually include the photographic evidence and/or a statement.

Any person accused of a criminal offence has the right to defend themselves and in order to do this, evidence of the breach of law must be provided to them. There is no requirement as to exactly what that evidence must be, only that it is evidence of the breach of the law and that you will be able to have a fair hearing.

The usual length of time to return a licence is four weeks. If you have still not received your licence back after this length of time you should contact the Central Ticket/Fixed Penalty Office of the police force involved, they should be able to assist you.