Fixed Charge Notice Sent to Wrong Address
A fixed charge notice has to be properly served, and where it is not, that is not a technicality — section 35(2) of the Road Traffic Act 2010 says no prosecution may be brought unless a notice was served under that section and went unpaid. Which address is the right one depends on how you were identified. Where the Garda did not identify the driver and the offence involved a vehicle, the notice goes to the registered owner, and the register is the National Vehicle and Driver File — so if you had updated your details there before the alleged offence and the notice went to your old address, that is worth raising. Where you were identified in person, section 35(3) allows service in more than one way, including at the address where you ordinarily reside, so an address that is not the one on the register is not automatically bad service. Say which situation applies to you, give the date you updated the NVDF and the evidence of it, and ask the Garda authorities to state the address used and the basis on which it was chosen.
Legal basis
Road Traffic Act 2010 s.35(1)(b) permits service on "the registered owner of the vehicle" where the member does not identify the person and the offence involves the use of a mechanically propelled vehicle, and s.35(3) sets out how a fixed charge notice may be served on a person identified under s.35(1)(a) or on a registered owner under s.35(1)(b), including by delivery to the person or by leaving it at the address at which the person ordinarily resides. Section 35(2) then provides that a prosecution "shall not be instituted unless a fixed charge notice … has been served on the person concerned under this section and the person fails to pay", so defective service is not a technicality — it removes the precondition to prosecution. The register of ownership is the National Vehicle and Driver File maintained under the Finance (No. 2) Act 1992 and the vehicle registration and taxation regulations made under it. NOTE: s.35(8) is not relevant to service. It provides that where the registered owner "is not an individual, the obligation under that provision shall be discharged by a person acting on behalf of or employed by the owner", which concerns corporate owners and the driver-identification duty, not the address a notice is sent to.
How to identify this in your case
FCN sent to old address despite NVDF change-of-address being filed before offence. Vehicle sold pre-offence with VRC Form RF200 acknowledged by NVDF. Vehicle scrapped with Certificate of Destruction.
Sample appeal wording
Sample wording to adapt and send yourself — it may not fit your notice or the stage you are at. Replace the bracketed prompts with your own details; leave any case citation as it is.
To: FCPO, P.O. Box 50, Thurles Re: FCN [NUMBER] / Reg [REG] [SELECT] A. CHANGE OF OWNERSHIP I was not the registered owner of [REG] on [OFFENCE DATE]. I sold the vehicle on [SALE DATE] to [BUYER] and submitted change of ownership to NVDF on [DATE]. Acknowledged VRC enclosed. B. CHANGE OF ADDRESS My NVDF address at the offence date was [NEW ADDRESS]. The FCN was sent to [OLD ADDRESS], from which I had moved and notified NVDF on [DATE]. Acknowledgement enclosed. C. VEHICLE DISPOSED OF The vehicle was disposed of via [Authorised Treatment Facility] on [DATE]. Certificate of Destruction enclosed. In each case I am not the liable person. Cancel the notice and pursue the correct party. Yours faithfully, [NAME]
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