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#Post#: 129054--------------------------------------------------
Statutory Declaration – S172 + speeding, NIP/S172 never received
– chances of successful defence?
DIR By: bhadoosky
Date: August 27, 2026, 2:32 pm
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I would appreciate some views on my situation, particularly my
chances of successfully defending an S172 failure-to-furnish
charge.
I passed my UK driving test in October 2024 and had a completely
clean licence.
In December 2025 I moved house. There was a significant problem
with my new address: the letting agent rented the flat to us
using an address which various organisations recognised as a
business rather than residential property. For several months I
corresponded with the letting agent, utilities, broadband
provider, council/water etc. trying to establish whether the
correct address should be 207A, 207, Flat 207A or Flat 207.
Because this remained unresolved, my driving licence/V5C were
not updated until 27 March 2026, when I eventually used the
address format that worked.
Unknown to me, my car had allegedly been recorded doing 36mph in
a 30mph limit on 13 January 2026.
I did not receive the NIP/S172 request. I also subsequently did
not receive the SJPN/court papers.
The old address was very close to my new home and I remained on
good terms with my former landlord. We continued checking for
post and he/family passed correspondence and deliveries to us. I
have contemporaneous WhatsApp evidence of me asking him about
post.
I knew absolutely nothing about the prosecution until 28 July
2026, when correspondence reached my current address informing
me of the outcome/revocation. I discovered I had been convicted
in my absence of failing to provide driver information, received
6 points and, being within my first two years of driving, my
licence was revoked under the New Drivers Act.
I immediately contacted HMCTS and applied for a statutory
declaration. I subsequently instructed specialist motoring
solicitors. I have now sworn the statutory declaration and it
has been submitted to the court.
My solicitors are proposing not-guilty pleas initially to both
S172 and speeding and making representations to the CPS seeking
discontinuance.
We have also identified potential witnesses/evidence.
My former landlord is willing to provide a statement confirming
the arrangements for collecting/passing my post after I moved.
A neighbour on the same street is willing to provide a statement
AND attend court. He lives at No. 2 Mount Street and personally
experienced a parcel intended for No. 2 Mount Pleasant Street
being delivered to his address. He personally took it to the
correct property. The two similarly named streets are very close
together.
My wife is also willing to provide evidence and attend court
regarding postal/delivery issues within her knowledge.
I also have extensive contemporaneous documentation showing the
difficulties with registering my new residential address and my
repeated attempts to get the letting agent to resolve it.
The proposed strategy is essentially:
Plead NG initially and make representations seeking
discontinuance of both offences.
If that fails, make further representations seeking withdrawal
of the S172 in return for a guilty plea to the underlying
speeding (3 points).
If both approaches fail, reassess the prosecution evidence
before deciding whether to proceed to trial on the S172 defence.
My solicitors have explained that the S172 defence would focus
on rebutting the presumption of service/not being reasonably
practicable to respond because I genuinely never received the
request. They are separately considering the 14-day NIP issue
regarding the speeding allegation.
I accept that my V5C was not updated until March, which is
obviously an adverse factor. However, the delay was connected to
the documented new-address problem, and importantly I had
arrangements in place for post still going to my previous
address.
I am not looking to avoid responsibility for the actual 36/30
speeding if that is ultimately what I have to accept. My main
concern is being convicted of failing to identify the driver
when I genuinely never received the S172 request or knew that I
was being asked to provide the information.
For those experienced with S172/non-receipt cases:
How strong/weak does this defence appear?
How significant is the fact that the V5C was outdated,
notwithstanding the postal arrangements and evidence explaining
the address problem?
Does the independent evidence of confusion between Mount
Street/Mount Pleasant Street materially assist in rebutting
presumed service?
And does the staged strategy of first seeking discontinuance of
both, while potentially falling back to speeding-only if the CPS
agrees, seem sensible?
I appreciate nobody can predict what the CPS/court will
ultimately decide. I am mainly interested in how people
experienced with these cases would assess the strengths,
weaknesses and practical risks
#Post#: 129055--------------------------------------------------
Re: Statutory Declaration – S172 + speeding, NIP/S172 never
received – chances of successful defence?
DIR By: JustLoveCars
Date: August 27, 2026, 2:42 pm
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You've instructed specialist solicitors - what more can we add?
However, the '14 day issue' (whatever that is) is irrelevant
with a s172 in play.
Personally, the plea bargain (offering to plead guilty to the
speeding on the basis they drop the s172) could have been done
yourself without any third party assistance.
Going to trial on the s172 issue carries risk. (For which the
underlying offence drops away - even if it was 'late')
#Post#: 129067--------------------------------------------------
Re: Statutory Declaration – S172 + speeding, NIP/S172 never
received – chances of successful defence?
DIR By: NewJudge
Date: August 27, 2026, 3:57 pm
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Your specialist motoring solicitor should surely know that the
police have no evidence that you were driving and so the
speeding prosecution cannot succeed. There is no need to prepare
any defence to it.
You are essentially going to ask the court to accept that you
didn’t change the address on your V5C because of the confusion
with the address. Then, even though you had what seems to be
reasonable access to the post at your old address, nothing
arrived there (in which case the first part of your defence
seems irrelevant).
I don’t share your solicitor’s optimism that the prosecution
will discontinue the s172 charge. The issue with the new address
is a red herring. The police sent the documents to your old
address, and you are arguing that they did not arrive – even
though you were not living there at the time they were sent.
I believe the prosecution will want your evidence tested in
court.
You have quite a bit of evidence that the letter did not arrive.
However, if I was in your position (bearing in mind the
revocation issue) I might be inclined to offer to plead guilty
to speeding on the understanding that the s172 charge is
dropped. A guaranteed 3 points instead of a possible six (with
the implications a s172 endorsement carries for all drivers) is
usually enough to swing it. Facing revocation makes that even
greater value.
#Post#: 129073--------------------------------------------------
Re: Statutory Declaration – S172 + speeding, NIP/S172 never
received – chances of successful defence?
DIR By: andy_foster
Date: August 27, 2026, 5:15 pm
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Presumably the landlord will not be able to state categorically
that no NIP was delivered addressed to you. Would he be able to
state categorically that all post addressed to you was passed to
you? If not, I would be very surprised if a bench found as fact
that it was not served.
#Post#: 129092--------------------------------------------------
Re: Statutory Declaration – S172 + speeding, NIP/S172 never
received – chances of successful defence?
DIR By: BertB
Date: August 28, 2026, 4:16 am
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Drop the expensive solicitor, I think they are leading you up
the path with the getting a discontinuance of both charges. Your
best outcome is to offer to plead guilty to the speeding offence
IF the S.172 charge is dropped. From what we hear, most courts
are aware of this process and usually accept it at the time of
entering a plea after the Stat.Dec is accepted. However if not,
request a full court hearing and speak to the prosecutor on the
day.
You can do this yourself without the cash outlay.
I assume for certain you know you were dual charged for both
offences?
#Post#: 129095--------------------------------------------------
Re: Statutory Declaration – S172 + speeding, NIP/S172 never
received – chances of successful defence?
DIR By: JustLoveCars
Date: August 28, 2026, 5:03 am
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...on the basis the OP was driving, it would be more complicated
if they knew they weren't.
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