What is a Notice of Intended Prosecution? (NIP)

An NIP is a written notice served by the Police upon the registered keeper of a motor vehicle stating that it is proposed to take criminal proceedings in relation to one or more road traffic offences committed by the driver of that vehicle.

The NIP legally requires the registered keeper of the vehicle to identify the driver of the vehicle in question by responding to the notice within 28 days of its receipt. This date is deemed to be 2 working days after the NIP was posted to the keeper.

The requirement of the NIP is that the registered keeper must identify the driver. You only fulfil your legal obligation when you; either identify that you were the driver, or nominate another person as the driver. You must complete the ‘return part’ of the form by providing all the information within your knowledge and then you must ensure that you sign, date and post the notice back to the police.

Practical Tip; Always keep a copy of the notice and return the original by recorded post to prove later (if necessary) that you have complied with the notice requirements.

What if you cannot identify the driver?

You still have a legal obligation to respond to the notice even if you are unable to identify the driver. It is your responsibility, as the registered keeper, to find out who was driving the vehicle at the time. If you are still unsure who may have been driving the vehicle on the relevant date, time and place as set out in the NIP, then you must provide the names and addresses of every possible driver. You must make diligent enquiries to identify the driver (when you identify the person this is said to be nominating the driver.)

If you have recently sold the vehicle you must provide as much information as you can about the new owner. You might also provide the police with proof of the sale.

If despite your best efforts you are still unable to identify a possible driver then you must state this on the return part of the form. 

Practical Tip. Set out full details on the form of all the enquiries which you have made and why, despite these enquiries, you still cannot identify the driver. Consider asking for more time if you can satisfy the police that more time will likely lead to the identification of the driver. 

What happens if you reply after the 28 days or not at all?

If you do not respond to a NIP within the 28 days, or do not reply at all, you risk the very real likelihood of prosecution for failing to provide driver information.

If this happens, you will receive a court summons.

What defences do I have?

If you respond late, or not at all, then in order to prove your defence against the charge of failing to provide driver details you must satisfy the court on ‘the balance of probabilities’ that:

• You responded to the NIP as soon as was reasonably practical, or
• It was not reasonably practical for you to respond to the NIP at all.

The law states that it is reasonable to expect you to find out who was driving the vehicle at the time of the offence and to do that within the 28 days allowed.

If you were away from the address to which the notice was served it is deemed reasonable to expect you to respond at the first opportunity upon your return.

Practical Tip; if you are away from your mailing address regularly, (which address has been given to DVLA as your address as the registered keeper) it is deemed reasonable to expect you to put into place an arrangement for dealing with important mail received whilst you are away. If you are going to be away from your mailing address for a significant period of it would be considered reasonable for you to notify DVLA of an alternative address for you as registered keeper during the period you are be away.

Is there any other defence to failing to respond?

The law states that the police must issue and serve the NIP within 14 days of an alleged traffic offence. Failure, on the part of the police, to do this means you will have an absolute defence.

Practical tip; it is the date of issue of the NIP which must not be more than 14 days after the alleged offence. Even if you receive your NIP after 14 days, for example, due to postal delays, the NIP is still valid if the issue date was within the 14 days.

If you fail to properly deal with a Section 172 Road Traffic Act NIP then 6 penalty points are required to be endorsed upon your driving licence together with a fine (and prosecution costs if the matter proceeds to court)

For free initial legal advice upon any motoring matter contact our motoring team on 01606  592159.