NIP Details and Circumstances
What is the name of the Constabulary? -
Date of the offence: - April 2015
Date of the NIP: - 4 days after the offence
Date you received the NIP: - 8 days after the offence
Location of offence (exact location as it appears on the NIP: important): - A 26 junction with A 27, Lewes Southerham Roundabout
Was the NIP addressed to you? - No
Was the NIP sent by first class post, second class or recorded delivery? - Not known
If your are not the Registered Keeper, what is your relationship to the vehicle? - Company car
How many current points do you have? - 0
Provide a description of events (if you know what happened) telling us as much about the incident as possible - some things that may seem trivial to you may be important, so don't leave anything out. Please do not post personal details for obvious reasons - Driver behind me flashed me and was driving close behind as well as waving his arms about. I waved back at him, braked twice to let him in front as I didn't want anything to happen. I could see in my rear view mirrors that the passenger seemed to be arguing with the driver. I saw the car behind pull over to the side and I carried on and cars behind pulled round and carried on as well. NIP states consideration being given for the alleged offence of Failing to Stop, Failing to Report an Accident, Careless or Inconsiderate Driving. I called telephone number to enquire and driver behind is stating that the car behind him went into the back of him due to my driving and that I left without stopping. I was completely unaware that anything had happened. No one tried to stop me, no one indicated that anything had occurred and I only remember it happening because of the passenger (who I thought was the drivers wife) seeming to be moaning at him for the situation between us both. I have no idea what car it was behind me, colour or whether or not there were more than two people in the car. I also didn't see a second car stop.

I am obviously very worried as I would never have not stopped at an accident if I knew about it and or been involved in one.

NIP Wizard Responses
These were the responses used by the Wizard to arrive at its recommendation:
Have you received a NIP? - Yes
Are you the Registered Keeper of the vehicle concerned (is your name and address on the V5/V5C)? - No
Is the NIP addressed to you personally? - Yes
Although you are not the Registered Keeper, were you the keeper of the vehicle concerned (the person normally responsible for it) at the time of the alleged offence? - Yes
Were you driving? - Yes
Which country did the alleged offence take place in? - England

NIP Wizard Recommendation
Based on these responses the Wizard suggested that this course of action should be considered:

• The law requires you to provide the information requested in the Section 172 notice within the 28 day period, naming yourself as the driver. If you are considering obtaining formal legal advice, do so before returning the notice.
  
  You should note that there is nothing to be gained by responding any earlier than you have to at any stage of the process. You are likely to receive a Conditional Offer of a Fixed Penalty (COFP) and further reminder(s). If you want to continue the fight, you should ignore all correspondence from the police until you receive a summons. You need to understand from the outset that while you will receive much help and support from members on the forums, you will need to put time and effort into fighting your case and ultimately be prepared to stand up in court to defend yourself.

Generated by the PePiPoo NIP Wizard v3.3.2: Tue, 14 Apr 2015 16:58:29 +0000

It is likely that once details are passed to the other party for insurance purposes that that will be the end of any police action.

Brilliant. Thanks for the info.

One last. Question for the time being though; is it best to send the s172 back promptly or send it back towards the end of the time period or does it not make any difference?

Cheers

If a car shunted him up the back, why was he chasing the OP instead of stopped and exchanging details ?

The post doesn't say that now, but may have done before the edit....just says caused him to have an accident.

But I agree, and he also seems not to have stopped and exchanged details with the person who shunted him!

I have no idea if the car that hit the one behind me stopped. The car behind me is blaming me for the car going into the back of him and saying that my driving was the cause and that I didn't stop (I didn't know there had been an incident behind me)

The edited post was an error and said the ssmd thing before but I changed a spelling mistake.

Cheers

Makes no difference - might as well get it dealt with quickly.

Whether he blames you or not, it's stupid to chase after the car that caused him to brake suddenly instead of stopping as legally required to exchange details with the driver that actually drove into him.

Wonder if that's what the passenger was telling him

And even if your braking did precipitate the accident, the fault would still lie with the person failing to leave sufficient gap, surely?

Yep....legally you have a defence on the fail to stop as you were unaware of the incidence, I really can't see the police taking any action, nor can I see your insure (or even his) thinking a payout is sensible.

Thanks guys. Certainly makes me feel better.

Cherrs

Just a quick update on this. Had the form sent to me so that I could fill out details. Duly sent it back by recorded delivery on Monday so they would have received it on Tuesday. Have heard nothing. Came home today to find the form has been sent back as I didn't fill out the Yes/No on the Were You Driving the Vehicle section. I filled out my licence details in the correct section so have in as such said I was driving but missed the Yes/No part.

So, was given a pre-paid second class envelope to send it back to them which I will do tomorrow.

The wait and the worry continues...

Cheers

This post has been edited by zarnd: Thu, 30 Apr 2015 - 18:00

Still haven't heard anything from anyone since sending the form back. How long should it normally take? Is it worth contacting them to make sure hey received my form back properly?

Thanks

You may never hear anything more, the Police don't waste money sending out NFA letters I'm afraid, so if you do get anything it may be bad news! I'd let sleeping dogs lie.

So if nothing is going to happen they won't let me know? Nice!

My car insurance is due on Sunday so do I tick the box to say that I have a police enquiry pending or say no?

My only concern is that they send me a court summons because they say they didn't receive the form back from me.

Cheers

Cuts have to take effect somewhere, telling people nothing will happen is a low priority! That letter will cost over £1.

That depends on the exact wording, you can't have an enquiry pending that you would know about so I'm sure it doesn't say that!

If you are worried, ring and ask.

Called this mornings and they received my NIP on 6th May so at least I know I won't get s court summons for not sending the form back.

If I was going to hear anything, how quickly could it have happened?

Cheers

As clearly some enquiries are required before they decide what action to take, I would expect them to take about 4 weeks before deciding which course of action (including the most likely 'none') to take.

I received a letter today saying that no further evidence had come from the driver who reported the incident and that they were therefor closing the case with no further action being taken.

Many thanks for your help and putting my mind at ease during the wait.

Cheers

No problem at all, and all as predicted.