Speeding fine...do I have to pay?

[kev'liz]

Hi all,

We moved here in sept and had hired a car for a couple of weeks, then bought our own. Just noticed my UK bank account had a charge from the car hire place?! I called them and they informed me it was an admin fee for passing details to the police regarding a speeding fine. ?

 

The rental company passed on my UK address as I booked the car before we left and was from a UK account and at the time I only had a UK driving license. Also I haven't received a notice, the only reason I know about it is that I saw the car rental charge! All my UK mail is redirected to a relative and so far they have not seen anything.

 

Can I get out of this one? Or should I tell them my address??

 

advise please

 

Kev

[snifter]

OK, so this is an Australian speeding fine from what I can work out.

 

I'd think there may be issues when you apply for an Aus licence but I don't know for sure. If they have your UK DL details now it may well show up when you go to get an Aus licence or after you get it.

 

Personally, given the amount fines seem to increase for late payment/non payment and that it seems you were caught speeding, I'd be inclined to try to sort it out and pay up.

[kev'liz]

Ok, but who would I contact to pay, as don't have any details?

 

I had applied for an Australian licence a week after the rental. So I've had a Aussie licence for the last 2 1/2 months now. So I guess they should know where I am and send a fine?

 

In any case, I may just have to contact someone and pay up.

 

Thanks snifter

 

oh sorry, yes this is an Aussie speeding fine

[snifter]

I'd look up which dept. deals with fines and so on and just give them a call or pop in.

[Steve_H]

Surely you can't be expected to pay something you haven't been asked to pay. For all you know the hire company could be pulling a fast one.

If it was me I'd wait for the notice to pay and my guess is it will never arrive.

[Lazy Cow]

Just noticed my UK bank account had a charge from the car hire place?! I called them and they informed me it was an admin fee for passing details to the police regarding a speeding fine. 

 

So you've only paid an admin charge so far, for an offence you don't actually know you've committed?

 

If you contact the police - and the car hire people must surely have a reference number or something - and you can prove it wasn't you, you can get the admin fee refunded.

 

If it was, well, as Snifter pointed out you probably don't want extra fines / fees attached because if there's one thing I'm fair sure of; the fine won't disappear!

 

LC

[wrussell]

Ok' date=' but who would I contact to pay, as don't have any details?

 

I had applied for an Australian licence a week after the rental. So I've had a Aussie licence for the last 2 1/2 months now. So I guess they should know where I am and send a fine?

 

In any case, I may just have to contact someone and pay up.

 

Thanks snifter

 

oh sorry, yes this is an Aussie speeding fine[/quote']

 

In the usual course of events the costs associated with an unpaid infringement notice increase considerably and eventually the relevant driver's licence is cancelled and the relevant licensing/vehicle registration authority will not conduct further business (reinstatement of licence or vehicle registrations) until the amount owing is paid by or on behalf of the alleged infringer. You might want to consult a solicitor to resolve the issue.

 

.

[Steve_H]

You can't incur further expenses for not paying a fine you haven't received.

[Lazy Cow]

You can't incur further expenses for not paying a fine you haven't received.

 

How about if you haven't received the paperwork, but it's obvious you have knowledge of the existence of a fine?

[Steve_H]

Nope, until you receive the paperwork it's impossible to prove you had knowledge of an offence.

I go for months without checking my UK accounts

[Blossom]

Surely you can't be expected to pay something you haven't been asked to pay. For all you know the hire company could be pulling a fast one.

If it was me I'd wait for the notice to pay and my guess is it will never arrive.

I would also be asking the hire company for the details of the offence and checking it actually happened. You hear about them trying to pull a fast one fairly often.

[wrussell]

In 1992 a NSW plod using an unmarked police car incurred a parking infringement notice and did not pay. In due course the computers cancelled the vehicle's registration - are there any other vehicles registered to this owner? cancel, cancel, cancel - and it came to pass that the registration of every police vehicle in NSW was cancelled and the cops were driving unregistered (and uninsured) vehicles for 3 months.

 

There were no consequences, of course.

 

A mug who fails to cough up can expect a notice, a warning letter and a second warning to be sent to the recorded postal address and then the proverbial would hit the fan. Did not receive the notice? Tell that to the beak, you are still cancelled.

 

There is a famous case that stops executive branches of the commonwealth government from exercising judicial functions, such as fining people for speeding, parking, not paying taxes, being alive. State and territory governments are not bound by this in their revenue gathering endeavours. You are given the option of having the matter heard in a court, but if you do not opt in, the computers deal you out.

 

 

The fun part comes when the backpacker who has left a trail of wrecked vehicles and unpaid notices applies for a visa. Do you owe any money to any government authority, or words to that effect. Of the 3 possible answers you are not given the choice - I don’t know.

 

 

Speeding is an offence of ‘strict liability’ for which it is no defence to claim you did not mean to do it. You have to prove that you did not do it, or the circumstances were beyond your control, more or less.

 

 

I shall leave it as an exercise for readers to ascertain whether providing false information to the immigration minister is an offence of strict liability and the penalties attached thereto; apart from visa cancellation/refusal.

 

Merry Xmas to all

[cliffy]

When I receive a speeding fine, as unfortunately I have several times, the first thing I do is ask for a photo to see that it was my car that was snapped.

If you have no information, I would check first with the Rental Co. for details, then contact SA Police to make sure that you were driving the car at the time, place and date shown on the photo.

It may be that their computer hasn't caught up with the Aust driving licence yet. But reading the letter that goes with the fine, I would hate to be responsible for the additional costs accrued by not paying the fine, and none payment doesn't mean you escape the penalty points. On the other hand, if you have an overseas address, maybe they don't follow that up but note it for the future.

[noworriesmate]

I don't agree with many of the comments written. You were driving on your UK licence not your Aussie one therefore they can do nothing except try to get you to pay a fine. They can't cancel your new license, give you points or cancel your registration. Just wait until you get your notice in the UK and then decide what you want to do. The same thing happened to me on a visit before we emigrated too - the computer systems between the countries do not talk to each other apparently and it is highly unlikely that there will be any link between your UK and Aussie licenses and even if they were, then just say you moved over here and have not received a notice in the UK.

 

NWM

[Blossom]

I don't agree with many of the comments written. You were driving on your UK licence not your Aussie one therefore they can do nothing except try to get you to pay a fine. They can't cancel your new license, give you points or cancel your registration. Just wait until you get your notice in the UK and then decide what you want to do. The same thing happened to me on a visit before we emigrated too - the computer systems between the countries do not talk to each other apparently and it is highly unlikely that there will be any link between your UK and Aussie licenses and even if they were, then just say you moved over here and have not received a notice in the UK.

 

NWM

As you have to show your UK licence to get an SA licence there have been a few who have had the points recorded and added when they swapped their licence. However, the op already has his SA licence. You'd think they would have pointed it out at that point, which is one of the reasons I wonder if the insurance company is trying to pull a fast one.

[kev'liz]

Thanks for all the replays,

 

Im not trying to get out of anything that would cause me to have to pay more or loose my licence. Surely if it came to them cancelling my licence, then one would assume they know my address! If that is the case then I should, in theory receive a notice in the post.

 

I spoke to my friend in the UK who is a police officer and he said, they won't follow up on overseas speeding fines as it costs too much. This is australia, so I'm only assuming it would be similar.

 

So I think I will wait a couple of weeks to see if I get a letter and think about what I should do then, at least that's what my police officer mate has told me in the UK to do. As far as he knows, when someone has an overseas driving licence and then gets a UK one they are linked and should get a penalty notice.

 

Just going to wait

[sidestep]

Mate if you have doubts then follow it up and lodge an objection. If it was in fact you who was speeding then do the right thing and cough up. You have two choices - it's really not that hard.

[kev'liz]

Thanks everyone for the advice, I'm guessing if it was me and I have been issued a notice then I will pay no question! I will check to see if the rental company are pulling a fast one first.

 

cheers

 

have a great Christmas and new year all

[Hayshake]

I received a speeding fine a few years back when driving a friends car, whilst there on a holiday from the UK.

He obviously had to tell the Police who was driving, and gave them my name and address, and also advised me of what he had done.

I never did receive any paperwork in England for the offence, so hence never worried unduly about it. However on my next visit to Adelaide I did wonder if I would be challenged at the immigration at the Airport, or that they would somehow know that I was back in Australia. The Good News, nothing further heard.

Happy Christmas to all. Have just chatted to my son in Adelaide, and he tells me that he is missing his Family this Christmas Tide, even though he has a settled life in Australia after about 15years. Still we will be there again in January on our 17th Visit.

[sueoc]

My son got a speeding fine here in Australia when he was still registered as living in the UK.He had come out to Australia on a WHV for a year.We were amazed back in the UK,at the relentless pursuit for payment of the fine by the Australian Police.Constantly bombarded with demand,and increase in fine for late payment.He paid the fine,just as well as he now lives here in Oz.

[Gumster]

Try pay it somehow as they will catch up with you. The DVLA sent a debt collection letter to us 13 mths after we had left the uk for non payment of car tax on a car we had sold a month before we left. It was not worth the effort of arguing & I just paid the 80.00 quid

[wrussell]

In speeding cases, the infringement notice issent to the registered owner of the vehicle who can escape by claiming in a statutory declaration to not have been driving at the time. Mr Justice

Marcus Richard Einfeld (a Federal Court Judge at the time) copped a 3-year custodial term for lying to avoid a speeding fine by means of a false statutory declaration; attempting to pervert the course of justice.

His honour was also stripped of his profession and his Gong. I though at the time that we were seeing a much better type of criminal.

[Royd]

Under SA law the owner of the vehicle is deemed to be guilty of the offence in this situation - reference s. 79B (2) of the Road Traffic Act. Under the same section at subsection (2) sub-paragraph (b) the body corporate is able to shift liability to the driver if they pass on the details of the driver to the police.

 

I'd inquire about the administration fee involved. I'd also contact the Expiation Notice Branch of Sapol and inquire as to the matter and frankly if it was you then cough the money up and be done with it. That way no nasty surprises will be lurking for you.

 

Expiation notice enquiries (08) 8463 4388, expiationsbranch@police.sa.gov.au

[lordra]

On the MSE forums, Martin has always said to appeal against these fines, especially for parking and you may never know, they may throw it out. Worth a shot if you have the patience!

[ShouldIStayOrShouldIGo]

Have worked in the car rental industry and from personal experience they generally do not chase parking or speeding fines once it is made clear that the driver was based OS as it is too expensive to pursue these minor infringements. Rental companies are obliged to fill in a statutory declaration to advise of the details of the driver and now do charge for this work hence the fee charged, it is not a rort. Read the following article for more concise information http://www.driverabroad.com/self-drive/foreign-speeding-and-parking-fines/