Reg on my Fixed Penalty offer has an S instead of a 5. Could I dispute? Options

[prospectusside]

Just got my confirmation of the accept-the-points-and-fine-or-contest-in-court letter and noticed that the registration is wrong - they've typed in an S instead a 5.

Having just re-checked the Traffic Offence Report given to me by the policeman at the time, I can see the S/5 is ambiguous, but has the correct make, model and colour of my car.

Could I possibly reply with "I've received a FPN for a vehicle I have no connection to" or are they allowed a bit of leeway?

Is it at least worth a try?

This post has been edited by prospectusside: Sun, 27 May 2018 - 18:49

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[peterguk]

If you decline the FPN or choose to question the validity, it'll most likely be off to court. If it were me, i'd be paying it, but it's your choice.

This post has been edited by peterguk: Sun, 27 May 2018 - 19:11

[666]

Other and better advice may come along, but ...

I believe it's likely your reply will be taken as a refusal of the COFP, and a summons will follow. That will have the error corrected.

[andy_foster]

Just got my confirmation of the accept-the-points-and-fine-or-contest-in-court letter and noticed that the registration is wrong - they've typed in an S instead a 5.

Having just re-checked the Traffic Offence Report given to me by the policeman at the time, I can see the S/5 is ambiguous, but has the correct make, model and colour of my car.

Could I possibly reply with "I've received a FPN for a vehicle I have no connection to" or are they allowed a bit of leeway?

Is it at least worth a try?

There is no legal requirement to issue a COFP and any error contained within a COFP would not prevent subsequent prosecution after the end of the suspended enforcement period.
Even if the error was carried over into court proceedings, it would not constitute a defence.

N.B. Finding an exploiting errors and loopholes generally requires a great deal of attention to detail. If you can't tell the difference between an FPN and a COFP, I would suggest that you are not really cut out for this. The same sadly applies to a number of our regular posters.

[peterguk]

The same sadly applies to a number of our regular posters.

Didn't seem worth points scoring - especially since it didn't affect the answer to the question posed by the OP.

[The Rookie]

As above really, you are in no way disadvantaged and it’s an absolute explained error even if it makes it onto the charge, errors on the fixed penalty are not at all relevant to you anyway, you will need a lot more than that to contest it in court.