Notice of Intended Prosecution

A Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) is a warning notification that the driver may be facing prosecution for an offence he or she may have committed. Receiving an NIP does not automatically mean that prosecution proceedings will commence, and there is a process that must be followed.

Receiving a Notice of Intended Prosecution

There are certain driving offences that will see the driver receiving a Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP). Driving offences such as speeding, dangerous driving and failure to comply with traffic signals are all common offences that can be met with an NIP. A full list of driving offences can be found in Section 1 of the Road Traffic Act. If the police have stopped and cautioned a driver due to one of these driving offences then a warning NIP may be sent to the driver.

The Notice of Intended Prosecution 14 Day Rule

One of the main rules of an NIP is that it must be served to either the driver or the register keeper of the vehicle within 14 days of the alleged offence. The police do not have to prove that the NIP has reached the driver within this time; simply that it was sent in enough time to have reached the driver. An NIP can also be given verbally to the driver at the time of the alleged offence. A court summons is another alternative and this must still be received within 14 days of the alleged offence.

Change of Address and Notice of Intended Prosecution

It may be the case that the registered keeper of the vehicle has changed address. The police only need to ensure that the NIP is sent to the last known address of the offender for the NIP to be valid. In many cases the vehicle may be a leased car and the driver will not be aware of the offence; for instance caught speeding on camera. Again, if the NIP was sent to be delivered to the registered owner’s last known address the NIP will be valid.

Rejecting a Notice of Intended Prosecution

A driver can reject an NIP if they are the registered driver and the NIP was received outside of the 14 day time limit. The rejection can apply as long as the date on the NIP is more than 14 days after the alleged offence took place. The defendant can then take the NIP back to the issuing office and reject due to an expired time limit. The rejection will not apply however if the NIP was sent to the registered keeper within 14 days and then passed on to the alleged offender after this time.

Signing a Notice of Intended Prosecution

Once the Notice of Intended Prosecution has been received by the registered vehicle keeper the driver must be identified. This must be undertaken within 28 days and failure to do so is an offence. This could lead to six penalty points being applied to a licence and a fine of up to £1000. The NIP must be signed and failure to do so could also be an offence; the police can allege that the registered keeper failed to provide lawfully required information.

Exception to a Notice of Intended Prosecution

A few exceptions will apply whereby the police do not have to supply an NIP. These will include:

• If at the time the defendant was knowingly involved in an accident
• A provisional fixed penalty notice has been given or fixed
• The police could not with due diligence ascertain the name and address of the defendant within the 14 day time limit
• It may be the case that the NIP was received later than 14 days but this may still be valid under certain circumstances

The police do have six months in which to prosecute a road traffic offence. Even if the alleged offender did not receive the NIP from the registered keeper for many months after the offence the charge will still be valid. As long as the NIP was sent to the last known address of the registered keeper of the vehicle the NIP will still be valid. If a person has been issued with an NIP it will be in their best interests to seek legal representation depending on the nature of the offence.