Penalty points, annoyed!

Cyrus

just got a letter thro the post related to an offence on 22 march of this year, paid fine within 28 days etc

now the letter tells me the points will be on my licence for 3 yrs from 30 july, surely it should be from the date of payment of the offence, im fed up of this crap!

Owen

I thought the same when I got mine the week Penalty Points started. At least they're gone from my license now though! Welcome to Ireland, where things always get dragged out.

Wishbone Ash

Cyrus wrote:

now the letter tells me the points will be on my licence for 3 yrs from 30 july, surely it should be from the date of payment of the offence, im fed up of this crap!

I don't see what difference it makes. You will still have points for the same lenght of time. You will be "points free" until 30th July ( unless you have penalty points already).

Cyrus

im points free but id rather get rid of the ones ive got asap, i havent even started my 3yr stint yet

Stark

Actually wishbone ash has a point. It should only affect you if you're going for a new insurance quote. If your insurance renewal date falls between now and July 30th, then you can go get a cheaper quote now for this year. If your insurance renewal date falls after July 30th, then the extra few weeks won't matter anyway.

FX Meister

Yo Ned, Do they send you a letter to say they are gone or do they just drop off? Do you need to contact anyone?
As for insurance, I've never had much of a problem with having four points and getting insured. I always get the quote and then tell them I have points. When I switched to FBD though they told me the points didn't affect my premium at all.

connundrum

Stark wrote:

Actually wishbone ash has a point. It should only affect you if you're going for a new insurance quote. If your insurance renewal date falls between now and July 30th, then you can go get a cheaper quote now for this year. If your insurance renewal date falls after July 30th, then the extra few weeks won't matter anyway.

Ah but then he would be lying, I know of at least two insurance companies who ask the question 'Do you have any penalty points or any penalty points pending'..

Our man in Havana

AFAIK expired points just drop off automatically.

jayok

Is the time between the offence and the allocation of the points not there to allow appeal? (i.e. Innocent before Guilty)

kluivert

Id agree with the last post.

Didnt alot of cases get thrown out due to the massive delay in bring the cases to court.

5 Months is a long time to process something like that.

Imagine you where sent a notice a year later, now come on does that make sense.

mikedragon32

FX Meister wrote:

Yo Ned, Do they send you a letter to say they are gone or do they just drop off? Do you need to contact anyone?
As for insurance, I've never had much of a problem with having four points and getting insured. I always get the quote and then tell them I have points. When I switched to FBD though they told me the points didn't affect my premium at all.

You'll get a letter after your points expire to tell you so.

It will also tell you your current total, so if you only had those two points, your new total is zero.

A question of my own now... Is there a limit on how long from the time you pay your fine to putting the points on your licence?

Cyrus

jayok wrote:

Is the time between the offence and the allocation of the points not there to allow appeal? (i.e. Innocent before Guilty)

doesnt make sense if by paying the fine you admit liability

my problem is that i paid the fine in march, the points arent on my licence til 4 mths later

Seth Brundle

jayok wrote:

Is the time between the offence and the allocation of the points not there to allow appeal? (i.e. Innocent before Guilty)

You commit the offence. Soon (months in the OPs case) you are informed of this by the gardai.
You have three options - to accept that you are guilty* and pay fine & recieve points eventually or to go to court which may or may not find in your favour. Alternatively you can nominate another driver to be the one who offended. If you are deemed by the court to have committed the offence then you will eventally get the points.
If you accept that you are guilty* by paying the fine then there is no period to appeal - why would there be?

The delay between paying the fine and recieveing the points is purely down to administration - nothing to do with appeals.

kluivert wrote:

Id agree with the last post.

Didnt alot of cases get thrown out due to the massive delay in bring the cases to court.

5 Months is a long time to process something like that.

Imagine you where sent a notice a year later, now come on does that make sense.

There is a 6 month statute limit on being notified of the points. Once you are notified you have 28 days to pay the fine or opt for court. if they don't hear from you it automatically goes to court.

* I phrase it like this because you are guilty until proven innocent when it comes to this charge.