Penalty points..

Loretta.

strange situation im in..

i got pulled over by the guards in feb for breakin the speed limit and when one of them started taking my details, he had this big flashy handheld machine on him that showed what speed i was doing. then he said it was a new experimental system and it would be up to the central office whether it would be taken further..

thought id get away with it considerin iv clean licence but nooooooo, got a letter 2 wks later sayin i had an 80€ fine to pay. it said i would get a receipt of payment and then the department of transport would tell me afterwards when my points would be added to my licence.

so paid the fine quick enough, and got the receipt soon after.
but the thing is i havent heard anything since and that was the end of february...
is there any way of checkin if your licence has points without making them suspicious??

almostagassi

i think insurance companies have access because they give reduced rates if you have no points. if this is true, its probably on a database.
ring us some random insurance company pretend to want cover and ask them to check it out for you. it would be less suspicious than you ringing up a garda dude

Curran

True it would be less obivous!
But dont ring the insurance company that you are insured with nor one who might offer you a cheap quote! Cos if ya dont have any points they'd be saying well she must have had a few close calls!

causal

I've heard of ppl getting points added 6 months after being caught speeding. afaik you get notification by post when the points are added to your licence.
So, maybe they're s-l-o-w :rolleyes:
You should contact the Gov Dept that deals with licenses - Dept. of Environment or whoever.

hth,
causal

Curran

Yeah they are slow......
....did ya hear about the woman who had clocked up 12 points before she even got the first 2 in the post!
She was caught by a camera on her way to work.....stinger!!!

ando

yea I wouldnt be celebrating just yet. It took a few months for my points to arrive although I got my points when the system was first introduced so it took a lot longer than it would now

Loretta.

cheers for the advice.

well until i hear otherwise im taking it that i dont have any points.

ill keep yez updated if they ever send anything out 2 me

Seth Brundle

As I understand it, the gardai have 6 months within which to send you notification of the offence. They also notify the Department who will then apply the points to your licence. This can take up to two years apparently!
Once they get the finger out and notify you of the points, the details are available to *one* insurance company - Hibernian (and its subsidiaries).
As you have not been informed that you have points why would you tell your insurance company?

CrowdedHouse

A collegue of mine got stopped last Sept(on the way to the All ireland Football Final) he only got the points in January,but the worst thing is the 'clock' for the points on your license only starts when you get the points,not when the 'offence' was committed

Victor

kbannon wrote:

Once they get the finger out and notify you of the points, the details are available to *one* insurance company - Hibernian (and its subsidiaries).

They don't have access. They do however ask you for your details.

Seth Brundle

Technically correct. However once they have your licence number they can access your points on the system

Victor

kbannon wrote:

Technically correct. However once they have your licence number they can access your points on the system

No the only time they will have access is when you sign a waiver after you make a claim.

Seth Brundle

But given that Hibs give you a discount based on your points, are you saying that they do not check your points?

from http://hibernian.netsource.ie/insurance/motor_penalty_points.asp
Why do I have to give you my driver number?
You need to give us your driver number if you wish to get the penalty points discount on your premium. When you give us your driver number, you sign that you are giving us permission to crosscheck your driver number against the National Driver File, held by the Department of the Environment. This is where your penalty points are recorded on your licence.

This means that we can check that people who have no penalty points are indeed penalty points free. That way, the people who deserve the discount will get it and those who are persistent offenders will lose the discount. We will only be allowed to use your driver number to check your penalty point data. We will not be given access to any other information on your Driver File.

causal

It seems they do, but you still have to 'sign a waiver' ...

When you give us your driver number, you sign that you are giving us permission to crosscheck your driver number against the National Driver File, held by the Department of the Environment.

causal

BrianD

I thought that the insurance companies had no access to the points database though it was something that they were pushing hard for. Do they have this access now or are they asking people to sign a waiver now so when they do get access they can retrospectively check on people? At the moment it's voluntary disclosure to the insurance companies (least mine is). You can say nothing but if something happens it will come out in the wash and could affect your cover.

It is very unjust that it can take an average of 5 weeks to be notified of a penalty points offence and months for the points to be processed.

causal

Here's an important point if you're with Hibernian

Please note that we impose a claims excess of €2,500 for non-disclosure of penalty points. We give full details of this excess on your policy renewal.

causal

Seth Brundle

@BrianD - Only Hibernian and its subsidiaries have access to your points (seemingly after you sign a waiver).
I presume what happens is that their computer submits your licence number to the driver file in the DoE which then returns a number - the amount of points. They don't have direct access to the database.

Anyway, it is not just the awarding of points that is unhjust - the whole process is a scam created to raise revenue, statistics and criminalise ordinary members of the public along the way! It has absolutely nothing to do with road safety!

528i

Sounds like you've got afew points there Killian, maybe you should get the message and s l o w d o w n.

Same goes for the rest of you lunatics.

Seth Brundle

528i wrote:

Sounds like you've got afew points there Killian, maybe you should get the message and s l o w d o w n.

Same goes for the rest of you lunatics.

Currently I have no points. I am waiting to see if I was caught by the talivan recently (on a dual carriageway) but am starting to think I wasn't

Slow down my árse! With our ridiculiously low limits on many of our safer roads Im not slowing down [unless I see a garda revenue collection exercise]. I do however aim to drive safely!
Don't confuse the two! We are fed a diet of lies and spin about speeding being the biggest killer on our roads when they don't even keep accurate stats about the deaths on our roads.
Furthermore, many of those caught for speeding were probably caught by a garda who was standing there with their phone on, sent out to generate good stats for the station and as some here have found out were only a few miles or kms over the limit - certainly not something that should be a punishable offence!

dahamsta

kbannon, out of curiosity, why just Hibernian?

Same goes for the rest of you lunatics.

:rolleyes: Mind your business granddad.

Seth Brundle

Adam - I think it is because Hibs promised to give discounts to those with no points, etc.

BrianD

kbannon wrote:

Currently I have no points. I am waiting to see if I was caught by the talivan recently (on a dual carriageway) but am starting to think I wasn't

Slow down my árse! With our ridiculiously low limits on many of our safer roads Im not slowing down [unless I see a garda revenue collection exercise]. I do however aim to drive safely!
Don't confuse the two! We are fed a diet of lies and spin about speeding being the biggest killer on our roads when they don't even keep accurate stats about the deaths on our roads.
Furthermore, many of those caught for speeding were probably caught by a garda who was standing there with their phone on, sent out to generate good stats for the station and as some here have found out were only a few miles or kms over the limit - certainly not something that should be a punishable offence!

Here we go again ... one of our "safe speeders" who have driving skills above the rest of us yada yada but still can't see the link between speed and road incidents.

Furthermore did you ever think about anybody else outside of your metal shell on wheels? Most of those roads with "ridiculously low limits" as you say are used by both pedestrians, cyclists, farm animals and other vehicles and often don't have foot paths or cycle lanes. Start thinking about other road users.

In fairness, the insurance companies should be reducing premia accross the board and loading those with points instead of maintaining the current premium level and offering discounts to those with no points. Invariably, people will pick up points for minor infringements such as not carrying a drivers licence are not displaying insurance etc.

pH

Here we go again ... one of our "safe speeders" who have driving skills above the rest of us yada yada but still can't see the link between speed and road incidents.

But you don't suddenfly become dangerous at 51 km/h in a 50 zone, while being totally safe at 49.

Sure, all things being equal, 51 is more dangerous that 50 and on and on but all things aren't equal.

55 km/h at 6:30am on a dry summer Morning is a lot safer than 45 km/h at 4:00 PM near a school on a dark wet winter evening.

When I see the Garda speed vans and camera, they are invariably on sections of Dual carriageway, just after single lane stretches. The mullingar bypass is famous for them.