surreygirl

I have just been notified by the car hire firm I used in the UK that the have received notice that I have made a traffic violation in the UK!

A I cannot remember speeding or whatever it was I was supposed to do, how do I go about finding out what it was for or do I wait for a letter from them to my address which I presume will arrive any minutes since the car hires company letter is dated the 22nd March, so I would have thought that I would have received a letter or fine by now, but as my license is a Spanish one I do not know how I would go about sorting it out. I presume there will be a fine but what about penality points!

Does anyone have experience of this. It was in Kingston upon Thames which I only went to once and I know they are dreadful with fines, I have just looked and they have earned three times the amount in traffic fines to any other London borough!

Still any help would be very useful and where can I look up the fine or penalty notice. I have been to the Kingston Police site but all they do there is inform you or your rights etc.

Retired in Euskadi

An offence such as speeding in a hired car in the UK will automatically be sent to the car hire company, who then pass it on to you. A speeding fine is often around £60 or so; the car hire firm usually add on another amount as an "admin" charge.
I'd say they've been pretty quick to send the letter.
The same happened to me a couple of years ago.
If you don't pay, then you'll doubtless be faced with all sorts of recriminations, including possibly being black-listed by car hire companies in future.
There almost certainly will not be any penalty points issued.
A camera shot of a speeding car is pretty clear cut.
I'd say pay up for peace of mind.

surreygirl

The car hire company gave the police or whoever my address for which they charged me 30 pounds!

I will pay, yes I understand that you could get black listed if you didnt pay, atlthuogh I wish to hell I Didn't have to hire a car, it is so frightening, what with scratches and dents etc.

But thanks for your advice, do you know where you can look it up! I know you can look at a site in Spain, but I wonder if there is a site for the UK!

wilsman77

When you get the penalty there will be a web address and you will even be able to look at a picture of when and how the offence occurred. K/Town is close by I am Cobham holiday home in Cabo Roig.

surreygirl

Yes that is near. I am in Esher. I try to avoid Kingston as they are very fond of fining and if you look they earn three times as much in fines than any other London borough inner and outer London.

My worry is how long is it a going to take for the fine to come through because you can pay only half if you pay within a certain time, not only that I have no idea what the fine is for the Hire company didnt say!

Dxf

Hola

In my experience the hire car company pay the fine charging your credit card (to which you agreed when hiring the car)!!!

Davexf

surreygirl

They have not done that as far as I can make out, they have given the police my address, that is what they said in the letter that they have passed my details on to the issuing organisation! so no they have not paid for it, but passed on my details only which is why I am asking if there is a web I can look it up on otherwise I would not need to ask if anyone knows about a site on this forum.

wilsman77

try this, https://www.kingston.gov.uk/info/200...ne_penalties/2

surreygirl

Yes I have found that, but I want to see the ticket I have got just as you can see them on the Spanish web site. That only tells me I can pay and what you have to pay if you have a speeding fine or a parking fine etc. It does not allow me to see what I myself have been fined. As far as I can see anyone.

MikeJ

What was the traffic violation? Was it a moving vehicle (speeding) or parking etc. If the former then the police are involved in if the latter the council (or other civil parking company)

If it is a speeding ticket then the fine can only be given to the driver of the vehicle and so the police will go through a procedure of asking the registered keeper (ie the car hireco) to identify the driver - they will then have 28 days to send a NIP (notice of intended prosecution) to the declared driver. The NIP will also ask for the name of the driver at the time of the incident and give details of the offence. You MUST respond to the NIP - it is not an admission of guilt but confirmation that you are the driver that's important. You may be offered an opportunity to pay a fixed penalty notice (usually £60 if paid promptly + points) or even a speed awareness course, or you can opt to go to court. Not responding to the NIP changes the offence from a simple speeding charge to much more serious charge of 'failing to provide' - the penalties are much bigger - and also the insurance consequences, some companies will refuse to insure and most will jack up your premium to absurd levels.
The complication comes because you have a Spanish licence (which I assume has your Spanish address). Normally the police will obtain the driver details from DVLA but of course this would not be possible so they should send the NIP direct to your Spanish address, but I don't think the 28 day rule still applies so it may be up to 6 months. If they have not laid evidence before the courts within 6 months then the offence will have timed out. However, this does not necessarily mean you a free and clear because there are lots of examples of people being convicted in their absence when they were completely unaware that they had been taken to court. It depends if you address trail is correct etc.
There has been a lot of talk about reciprocal agreements between countries where your UK points are deducted from your Spanish licence or vice versa but I'm pretty sure that hasn't been enacted yet.

You can contact the local police traffic office to find out if a charge has been laid against you - phone 101 (in the UK) and follow the instructions. Again never admit guilt but ask for the facts. Don't attempt to ask for evidence (eg a photo) as the police are not obliged to produce any evidence unless you plead not-guilty and go to court. You can ask for 'assistance in identifying the driver' if you are not sure who was actually driving at the time and they usually will send you the photo.

If it is a parking offence then it is a civil matter and the council can pursue you through the civil courts but rarely do if you are overseas. If they send you the ticket then you can appeal or pay. Depends if you are currently resident in the UK or not as to how far you go but the worst that can happen is that a CCJ will be taken out and you may be pursued for the debt. You would not have a criminal record which could be checked as you would with a police summons.

surreygirl

Well that is a very informative post, thank you Mike. I do not know what the charge is, the letter from Avis just says that it is a traffic charge (penalty charge notice) so I do not know what the charge is. It isnt parking as I have never parked in Kingston only driven through it - twice I think - I do remember driving at 40 in a 40 zone and then it changed to 30 but I obviously didnt see the first sign saying 30 but saw a sign say 30 a bit later on written on the tarmac so immediately dropped my speed, but they are very hot on giving out tickets in Kingston. I got one a few years ago for going into a bus lane although I have no recollection whatsoever of driving in a bus lane, but as I was in my friend's car she paid it and I had to pay her so I could not contest it otherwise I would have. I did drive in a bus lane this time because there were road works on the opposite side of the road and there was a sign indicating to go into the bus lane, it could be that I know a friend whose journey was diverted due to roadworks and he and other drivers had to go down a one way street in the opposite direction and he got a ticket which got sent to his old address and it built up to 500 pounds however he successfully appealed that. Thank you for your help, very much appreciated. I will email Avis and ask them what it is for. I do not mind paying because the alternative is to go back to the UK for an awareness test etc or worse court action.

bobd22

Surely the hire company must know what the alleged offence is? If not then you will have to wait to receive the complaint to see who you deal with either Police or council. If it is the council for say driving in a bus lane they usually offer a reduction for early payment, problem is the clock is ticking. I got one which arrived at my home address in the while I was in Spain. I too had been in an hire car. Had I been at home and not in a hire car I could have paid early £30 but I arrived back in the UK 1 day after reduced payment limit and with admin fee from hire company for sending it on ended up paying £90! I tried ringing the council to explain I had been out of the country etc, no chance all you could get was a machine talking to you as to how to pay!

surreygirl

I have just emailed Avis to ask them for more details.

Yes the time for paying and getting a reduction has well passed, the letter was sent on the 22nd March and I was away until Monday so had no time to respond in order to get it reduced. So will have to pay up for whatever it is unless it parking since I did not park in Kingston except in a car park where I paid for my ticket and I know I did not overrun the time. I was very careful about that. So at the moment I am clueless!

bobd22

Hopefully Avis will clarify it and you can sort it out from there. Some councils are devious re parking. Last year I followed a huge sign for free parking. Came back to the car ticket for failing to display a disk! No mention of disc on the huge sign directing you to parking. I contacted them and got fobbed of, I paid fine as couldn't be bothered going to court even though I had photo of the actual sign. Strange but after my complaint that the sign didn't mention a disc it has been amended! If that isn't an admittion on their behalf I don't know what is! Councils also when they get it wrong accept no responsibility as they use private companies usually to run the car parks. As I say devious and since these things were put in the hands of the councils not police a money maker for them.

surreygirl

I agree, the parking thing is a real fiasco some real horror stories have emerged but it has improved I believe but they get paid per penalty ticket they issue. I suppose I will have put it in the wrong place or something. I saw a chap there looking at the cars but as I had paid and was within the time limit I didnt take any notice. I should have kept the tickets I paid for!

I just have to wait and see what it is for! and hope for the best.