Naughty boy school...

[#1]

Ok hand up, slapped wrist... I've been caught at 36mph in a 30mph Truvelo camera zone.

I'm not complaining, I was previously in a 40mph zone doing under 40 - honest!! - I saw the warning sign, my sat-nav warned me, but I still failed to slow down (enough) rounded a bend and there was the camera.

This put me into the category of being offered a speed awareness course (offered to 33 to 38mph offenders I believe) which I accepted, booked and paid for online. This saves 3 points on my currently clean licence.

Oddly, the cost of the course is £98, £2 cheaper than the £100 fine if you choose not to go for the course.

I now admit, this is not the first time I've been on such a course, quite a number of years ago when the fine was £60 and the course cost £105. One of the main changes is it is now a four hour course rather than a eight hour day course. I was also told the first time I would never again be offered the option of a course, the fine or court would be the only options open to me.

The other interesting thing is that the previous course was run by the Police, this second one is run by the AA.

I have literally spent years ridding myself of the numerous AA's junk mail, email filling my inbox and streams of texts. I wonder If I'm going to have to start all over again. I also wonder If I'm going to be offered AA breakdown cover as soon as I step through the classroom door.

Maybe the cost of retaining my clean licence.

[#2]

Does this mean that if your Insurance Company asks if you have been convicted of any motoring offences you can legally answer NO?

A speeding conviction is a criminal offence (apparently).

[#3]

In all honesty I don't know, I suppose its in my interests to find out.

Anybody know the real answer, rather than theoretical speculation?

[#4]

It may cause issues and you must let the insurer know if they ask.

http://www.gocompare.com/car-insurance/speed-awareness-courses/

[#5]

A criminal offence? Not if it's dealt with as a fixed penalty notice.... which is a [-Censored-] if you contest it in court and found guilty. As a bus pass holder and a car owner the chances are we'll leave the car at home, especially when it's a nice day.

Nothing like being time rich and chauffeur supplied. 

A hundred smackers fine eh, sod that for a game of soldiers, or in this case horses of the cubic capacity variety!

[#6]

The relevant paragraphs from SpendLessTime's link (thank you for that)

Note that insurers will not be informed by the police or local authority of your speed awareness course completion, and you only have to declare it if asked.

The onus is on the insurer to collect all the information that they need from the consumer to provide cover, not for the consumer to declare everything that they think might be important.

However it goes on:

"Opting for a speed awareness course means that the police do not record your speeding offence as a conviction, but you may still be required to disclose your attendance to your insurer," said Gocompare.com's Matt Oliver.

"When applying for car insurance, insurers ask if you have any motoring convictions or prosecutions. As neither of these apply to drivers who have attended a speed awareness course, the Financial Ombudsman has confirmed that drivers attending a course can honestly answer 'No' to this question.

"However, if an insurer asks specifically about attendance of a speed awareness course, then drivers must provide this information on the application form or at any other time during the lifetime of the insurance policy. Failure to do so may invalidate the insurance.

"Insurers' positions on speed awareness courses differ, with some considering attendance as information that's relevant to pricing premiums. Therefore, drivers who've attended a course may find that they have to pay more for cover - but the increase is likely to be smaller than if they had points on their licence.

[#7]

@Minivanman, sorry, but I really didn't understand a word of that

In fact, if you accept the fixed penalty (£100 and 3 points) you should declare it to your insurance company, the police may tell them anyway.

In the case of Speed Awareness Course (SAC), according to the SpendLessTime link, you can answer "No!" to the question about convictions. Only if asked directly if you have attended a SAC should you answer "Yes" This is confirmed by the relevant ombudsman.

[#8]

Really? I thought it was quite clear.

Fixed penalty no court appearance ergo no criminal conviction. Take it to court however......

As for insurance that's another situation surely, or have I got that wrong?

[#9]

If you should go to court:

In the original paper work received from the Police, there was a list of around 20 reasons that would not even be considered in court by way of excuse why you were speeding.

Unfortunately, I had to return this document to the traffic office prior to receiving the offer document, so I can't quote from it. But the list covered most if not all of the obvious excuses. Practically the only one left it seemed to me was irrefutable proof that the machine was faulty, quite how you would do this is not explained.

[#10]

---

@petlew wrote:

"However, if an insurer asks specifically about attendance of a speed awareness course, then drivers must provide this information on the application form or at any other time during the lifetime of the insurance policy. Failure to do so may invalidate the insurance."

---

What if you attend a course voluntarily? Just for education. I assume you can.

[#11]

In any dispute surely they would have to prove the machine was working - which obviously they have, otherwise.....

[#12]

If you really want to give the court a go, try this link: http://www.nopenaltypoints.co.uk/appealing-speed-camera-ticket.html

@billnotben no idea. But why would you want to?

[#13]

Happiness is when your 'high speed trained armed response police officer' son in law gets clocked for speeding and has to attend one of those courses! Was he embarrassed   

Me? Never been on one.... yet. 

[#14]

http://www.inbrief.co.uk/motoring-law/fixed-penalty-notices/

Not Resulting to Criminal Records

Fixed penalty notices do not result in a criminal record but failure to pay them can result in astronomical fines and even result in imprisonment.

[#15]

@SpendLessTime  think there's a deal of difference between a criminal record and a plain speeding conviction (CR) which doesn't result in a CR only that the offence points remain on your DVLA driving licence information for the length specified (usually four years) after that the information cannot be supplied as it no longer exists. If the Police stop you for a motoring offence they get this from the DVLA.

Should you be convicted for a serious offence; dangerous driving, causing injury or worse, then you will have a CR.