A speeding notice has arrived. Here is what the first fourteen days decide.
Four clocks start on the day of the offence. Two of them can end a prosecution on their own, one of them can create a second criminal charge if you ignore it, and one of them almost nobody checks. Every date below has the section number behind it so you can look it up yourself.
The four clocks, in the order they run out
14 days
from the offence, for the notice of intended prosecution
A bar on conviction if it was missed, subject to the exceptions.
Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988, s.1(1), and Sch.1 para 1A(c)
28 days
from service, to name the driver
Ignoring this creates a second, separate criminal offence.
Road Traffic Act 1988, s.172(7)(a) and s.172(3)
The date on the notice
to accept a course or a fixed penalty, or to enter a plea
Nothing you send instead of a plea extends this.
Set by the notice, not by statute
6 months
from the offence, to start the prosecution
No longer limit applies to speeding.
Magistrates' Courts Act 1980, s.127(1)
Day one: write down the date of the offence
Not the date on the letter. The date of the alleged offence, which is printed on the notice. Two of the four clocks run from it and neither runs from anything else. If you do one thing before reading further, do this one, because everything below is arithmetic from that date.
The fourteen day rule, in short
This is the only clock on this page capable of stopping a prosecution by itself, which is why it has an article of its own. What follows is the operational summary you need for the checklist at the bottom.
Read the full treatment before you rely on this point. The speeding NIP 14 day rule: when it is too late, and when it is not goes through the deemed service rule, which defeats most people who try to use this argument and is not covered below.
a person shall not be convicted of an offence to which this section applies unless ... within fourteen days of the commission of the offence a notice of the intended prosecution specifying the nature of the alleged offence and the time and place where it is alleged to have been committed, was ... served on him or on the person, if any, registered as the keeper of the vehicle at the time of the commission of the offence.
Three things to take from that for your checklist. "Served" is not received and not read. Service on the registered keeper counts, so a notice that reached a partner, a parent or a company inside fourteen days satisfies the requirement even if you heard nothing for a month. And paragraph 1A(c) of Schedule 1 to the Act is what confirms section 1 reaches a speeding charge under section 89(1) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 at all.
Section 2 carries the exceptions and a prosecutor will raise them whether or not you do. The one that closes most of these arguments is that the failure is not a bar to conviction where the court is satisfied that neither your name and address nor those of the registered keeper could with reasonable diligence have been ascertained in time. Registered to you at your current address throughout, and it does not help them. Moved without updating the registration, and it usually does.
The twenty-eight day form, which is the dangerous one
A speeding notice normally arrives with a request to name the driver. People treat that form as part of the speeding charge. It is not. Section 172(3) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 makes failing to comply an offence in its own right, prosecuted separately, and section 172(7)(a) gives you
28 days beginning with the day on which the notice is served
Where your speed sits, and what that is worth
The National Police Chiefs' Council publishes the disposal thresholds. They are policy, not law, and knowing that is the difference between a reasonable request and a losing argument.
| Limit | Device tolerance | Course band | Fixed penalty from | Summons, and from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 mph | 22 mph | 24 to 31 mph | 24 mph | 35 mph |
| 30 mph | 32 mph | 35 to 42 mph | 35 mph | 50 mph |
| 40 mph | 42 mph | 46 to 53 mph | 46 mph | 66 mph |
| 50 mph | 52 mph | 57 to 64 mph | 57 mph | 76 mph |
| 60 mph | 62 mph | 68 to 75 mph | 68 mph | 86 mph |
| 70 mph | 73 mph | 79 to 86 mph | 79 mph | 96 mph |
Section 5.6, NPCC Guidance on the Enforcement and Disposal of Speeding Offences (2025), version 2.0.
There are two separate numbers in that table and people run them together constantly. The device tolerance is the limit plus 2 mph, because type approved equipment is permitted a positive error of that size. The course and fixed penalty threshold is the limit plus 10% plus 2. For a 20 mph limit those are 22 and 24, and they mean different things.
What the table is genuinely worth: if your recorded speed falls in the course or fixed penalty band and you were summonsed instead, it is reasonable to ask the prosecuting force why, and whether a course was considered. The guidance itself acknowledges the problem.
a significant majority of speeding offences are detected by speed camera devices and due to their very nature, they do not account for any mitigating factors. This can create a perceived lack of procedural justice and fairness.
That is a request to a human being to look at what a machine decided. It is not a defence, and a magistrate cannot acquit you because a force departed from its own policy.
Five arguments that will lose, so you do not spend your fourteen days on them
"I was within 10% plus 2, so there is no offence."
There is no tolerance in law. Section 89(1) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 makes it an offence to drive at a speed exceeding a limit. Twenty-one in a 20 is the offence complete.
"They have to offer me a course."
Paragraph 4.8 of the NPCC guidance: an offender has no automatic right to a course irrespective of how low the offending speed was. Paragraph 4.9 rules you out entirely if you have attended one in the previous three years.
"They cannot prosecute below the threshold."
Paragraph 5.3: nothing in the guidance restricts police forces from prosecuting for speeds falling below the thresholds.
"A summons below the summons figure is outside the guidance."
It is not. The column is headed Summons in all other cases and from. A summons is the residual disposal.
"The guidance binds them."
Paragraphs 1.1 and 1.2 preserve each Chief Constable’s freedom to set local policy, and paragraph 1.5 says the guidance does not amount to legal advice.
Before anything else: how many points do you already have?
This changes the answer to every other question on this page, and it is the question people put off.
Where ... the penalty points to be taken into account on that occasion number twelve or more, the court must order him to be disqualified for not less than the minimum period unless the court is satisfied, having regard to all the circumstances, that there are grounds for mitigating the normal consequences of the conviction
The minimum period is six months where no previous disqualification is to be taken into account, under section 35(2)(a). The escape route, usually called exceptional hardship, turns entirely on your own circumstances and on evidence about them, and it is presented in person.
One piece of good news in the arithmetic. Only points from offences committed within three years of each other are added together.
If any of the offences was committed more than three years before another, the penalty points in respect of that offence shall not be added to those in respect of the other.
If you already have nine or more live points, stop reading and get proper representation.Three more reaches twelve and your licence is in issue. No template letter, ours or anyone else's, can make an exceptional hardship argument for you, and a badly made one is worse than none. If cost is the obstacle, ask a law centre or Citizens Advice what is available locally. We are telling you this instead of selling you something because at that point a letter is the wrong tool at any price.
You can check your licence free in about two minutes. Search GOV.UK for "View or share your driving licence information". You will need your licence number, your National Insurance number and your postcode.
The fourteen day checklist
Write down the date of the alleged offence, from the notice, not the date of the letter.
Add fourteen days to it. Compare that to the date the notice was served, and note which address it went to.
Check whether the vehicle was registered to you, at your current address, on the date of the offence.
Return the driver details form inside twenty-eight days of service, keeping proof of posting.
Check your penalty points on GOV.UK before deciding anything at all.
Find the limit and the recorded speed on the notice and place them against the table above.
Look up the issuing force’s own published speed enforcement policy, because it may not be the national one.
Diary the plea or acceptance date on the notice, and treat it as immovable.
We do not sell anything for a speeding charge.
Every letter we sell concerns a civil penalty, where the worst outcome is a bill. A speeding charge is criminal, and we are not putting a template on sale for one until a solicitor with motoring practice has reviewed it. This page is the whole of what we have to offer on it, and it is free.
Questions people ask
How long do the police have to send a Notice of Intended Prosecution?
Fourteen days from the offence. Section 1(1) of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 provides that a person shall not be convicted of an offence to which the section applies unless, within fourteen days of the commission of the offence, a notice of intended prosecution was served on him or on the person registered as the keeper of the vehicle at the time. Schedule 1 paragraph 1A(c) to that Act confirms section 1 applies to a section 89(1) speeding offence. Service on the registered keeper counts, so a notice that reached the keeper in time is in time even if the driver saw it later.
What happens if the notice arrived after fourteen days?
It is a bar on conviction, not a technicality, but it is not automatic. Section 2 of the same Act sets out the exceptions: the requirement does not apply where an accident occurred at the time of the offence or immediately after it, or where a fixed penalty notice has been given, and the failure is not a bar where the court is satisfied that neither the accused name and address nor those of the registered keeper could with reasonable diligence have been ascertained in time. The date of service is what matters, not the date you opened the envelope.
Do I have to say who was driving?
If a request under section 172 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 has been made, yes. Section 172(2)(a) requires the person keeping the vehicle to give such information as to the identity of the driver as required by or on behalf of a chief officer of police. Section 172(3) makes failing to comply an offence in its own right, prosecuted separately from the speeding. Section 172(7)(a) gives twenty-eight days beginning with the day the notice was served.
What if I genuinely do not know who was driving?
Section 172(4) provides a defence where the keeper shows that he did not know and could not with reasonable diligence have ascertained who the driver was. Section 172(7)(b) provides a further protection where the information was given as soon as reasonably practicable after the twenty-eight days, or where it has not been reasonably practicable to give it. Both require you to show something. Neither is a reason to leave the form unanswered, and both are decided on the evidence of what you actually did to find out.
How long do the police have to prosecute?
Six months from the offence. Section 127(1) of the Magistrates Courts Act 1980 provides that, except as otherwise expressly provided by any enactment, a magistrates court shall not try an information unless the information was laid within 6 months from the time when the offence was committed. The longer evidence based limit in section 6 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 does not reach speeding, because Schedule 1 paragraph 2 to that Act lists the offences section 6 applies to and section 89(1) is not among them. The date that counts is the date the information was laid, which is not the date you received anything.
Is there a tolerance before they can prosecute?
Not in law. Section 89(1) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 makes it an offence to drive a motor vehicle on a road at a speed exceeding a limit imposed by or under any enactment. The familiar 10% plus 2 figure is enforcement policy in guidance addressed to police forces, and paragraph 5.3 of that guidance says nothing in it restricts forces from prosecuting for speeds falling below the thresholds.
Should I pay or challenge?
That depends on facts nobody can assess from the outside, and on how many penalty points you already carry. If you already have nine or more, a further three can reach twelve, and section 35(1) of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 then requires the court to disqualify you for at least six months unless it is satisfied there are grounds for mitigating the normal consequences of the conviction. At that point you need representation rather than any template, ours included.
The rest of the speeding guides
This page is the starting point. Each of these goes deeper on one part of it, and all of them are free.
Is your camera fine criminal or civil?
Start here if you are not sure what you have. A civil penalty is a different thing entirely.
The 14 day notice rule, and deemed service
The point that can end a prosecution, and the rule that defeats most people who try it.
Section 172: naming the driver
A separate offence carrying 6 points, against 3 for the speeding itself.
Why 10% plus 2 is not a rule
The police call it a pseudo speed limit in their own guidance. There is no tolerance in law.
What it actually costs
The £100 and 3 points, the sentencing bands by recorded speed, and the point thresholds.
Not sure which stage you are at?
The checker routes a speeding notice separately from a parking charge, asks about the points on your licence before anything else, and gives you the deadlines for your stage. It offers you nothing to buy.
Every statutory provision quoted on this page was checked against the text published on legislation.gov.uk on 26 September 2026, held locally so the words can be verified rather than trusted. The NPCC guidance was read in full on the same date. Nothing here is legal advice on your case, and a page cannot know your circumstances. Disclaimer.