Notice of Intended Prosecution and the 14-day rule
Checked 16 July 2026 · How we check our figures
What it is
A notice of intended prosecution warns the registered keeper that a driving offence, usually caught on camera, is being considered for prosecution; drivers tend to call the envelope a speeding ticket letter or camera letter. It normally arrives stapled to a request under s. 172 to identify the driver. It is not itself a penalty, and it does not say the thing that matters most: the two documents carry two different obligations, and only one of them expires with the speeding allegation.
Reading the notice
The date in the top block is the offence date, not the posting date; the 14 days of s. 1 RTOA 1988 run from the offence
The reference beginning with letters names the issuing force; everything after it is their case number
The speed shown is the recorded speed, before any device tolerance; the tolerance is enforcement practice, not a right
The decision in front of you
Answer the s. 172 request naming the driver and the matter moves to the next stage, usually a course offer, a fixed penalty or a Single Justice Procedure Notice
Where a fixed penalty is later offered, accepting it closes the matter at a flat sum with points; the offer normally lapses 28 days after it is made
Where a speed awareness course is offered it costs about the same as the ticket, adds no points, and is not a conviction, so it carries no code of the kind insurers typically ask about for five years, though some ask about courses too
Silence is the one option that always loses: the s. 172 request is its own offence, six points, and it does not lapse with the speeding allegation
What happens next
After the s. 172 reply, the next letter is usually a course offer, a conditional offer of fixed penalty, or a Single Justice Procedure Notice, most within a few weeks
The prosecution must lay the charge within six months of the offence, s. 127 Magistrates' Courts Act 1980; after that, for a summary offence, silence from the force is the end of the matter
The numbers
Fixed penalty for speeding: 100 pounds and 3 points (gov.uk, checked 2026-07-16)
Court fine bands A to C: 50, 100 and 150 per cent of relevant weekly income, ranges 25-75, 75-125 and 125-175 (Sentencing Council, effective 24 April 2017, verified unchanged 16 July 2026)
Failing to identify the driver: 6 points (s. 172 RTA 1988, gov.uk)
Current caps and the surcharge rate: see the speeding calculator, figures dated there
The deadlines
The notice must be served within 14 days of the offence, s. 1 RTOA 1988; late service usually defeats the prosecution, with narrow exceptions such as the keeper's details being untraceable
The s. 172 request must be answered within 28 days; not answering is itself an offence
The charge must be laid within six months of the offence, s. 127 Magistrates' Courts Act 1980
What people get wrong
Ignoring the s. 172 request because the speeding allegation looks weak; the failure to identify carries six points where the speeding itself might have carried three
Counting the 14 days from the date the letter arrived; the clock runs from the offence, and service on the registered keeper's address is what the statute asks
Assuming a company car breaks the chain; the request simply moves through the company, which must name the driver or commit the offence itself
Authority
s. 1 Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988
s. 172 Road Traffic Act 1988
s. 127 Magistrates' Courts Act 1980
Sentencing Council, Speeding (Revised 2017)