Fixed Penalties and legislative changes in Northern Ireland

The Fixed Penalty Office can only respond to issues with tickets issued in Northern Ireland

Some Fixed Penalties carry penalty points on your licence and some do not. Those that do, will give a time limit within which you have the option of accepting the Fixed Penalty or asking for a court hearing.

Fixed Penalties will issue to Non- Northern Ireland Driver Licence holders who will be issued with a NI licence counterpart on which penalty points shall be endorsed.

There are 3 different types of fixed penalties payable in the Fixed Penalty Office

Non-endorsable eg: parking offences - Fine £30.00

These notices are to be paid within 21 days, but if the driver was not seen by the issuing officer in person when the ticket was issued, the police will complete a search on the car registration and issue a Notice to the owner giving them a further 21 days to pay. You do not need to hand in your driving licence.

Endorsable eg: caught by Police Officer for speeding or having defective tyres - Fine £60.00

These notices are to be paid within 21 days. You must hand your full driving licence (paper and photo) into your local police station within 7 days of the offence. The police will then pass this on to the Fixed Penalty Office. Your licence will be endorsed and returned by 2nd class post within 5 weeks.

Conditional eg: caught speeding on camera - Fine £60.00

These notices are to be paid within 28 days and you must hand your full driving licence (paper and photo) into the Fixed Penalty Office with your payment.

You can either post your payment and full driving licence to the office or call in person. If you call into the Fixed Penalty Office your licence will be endorsed and returned to you immediately while you wait. Licences issued outside Northern Ireland will need to be retained and will be returned by post. Driving licences will be returned by 2nd class post within 5 weeks.

If you have not received your licence within five weeks of paying your fixed penalty, please contact the Fixed Penalty Office directly. Should you fail to receive your returned licence, NICTS will apply for compensation from Royal Mail on your behalf, however, you should note that this must be applied for within 80 days of the item being posted from the Fixed Penalty Office and the maximum compensation available is set by Royal Mail at £20.

Please also note that NICTS will not provide compensation for any loss or delay resulting from items going missing in the post.

The Fixed Penalty Office is located within Laganside Courts Complex and is open from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm.

The Courts and Tribunals Service Fixed Penalty Office deals only with the payment of Fixed Penalty tickets issued in Northern Ireland and the endorsement of driving licences.

All other issues should be addressed to the Central Ticket Office, Lisnasharragh PSNI Station, 42 Montgomery Road, Belfast, BT6 9LD. Telephone 028 9065 0222.

For tickets issued outside of Northern Ireland, you should contact the relevant processing office in the Jurisdiction where the ticket was issued.

Fixed Penalty Office
Laganside Courts Complex
45 Oxford Street
Belfast
BT1 3LL

Telephone:
For payments/ General queries: (028) 9072 8226, 9072 8265, 9072 8231, 9072 8235, and 9072 8234
For driving licence queries: (028) 9072 4594 and 9072 4750

Email FixPenOffice@courtsni.gov.uk

Legislative Changes

The following are the main provisions of the Road Traffic Order (NI) Order 2007 which came into operation on 27 June 2007.

• 3 Penalty points for the offence of driving a vehicle without wearing a seatbelt
• 3 Penalty points for driving with a child in the front/rear of the vehicle not wearing a seat belt
• An increase in the number of penalty points from 3 to 6 for failing to give information to the Police for purposes of identification. Also, an increase in the fine to £120
• Introduction of 3-6 penalty points for exceeding a temporary speed restriction
• Introduction of a fine and 3 penalty points for not having proper control of a vehicle or for using a hand-held mobile phone whilst driving or supervising a vehicle

Recent legislative changes to the Road Traffic (Driving Disqualification) (NI) Order 2003 (SI No 2903 of 2003) will introduce the recognition in Great Britain (GB) of disqualifications in Northern Ireland.

The main provisions in terms of the Fixed Penalty Office are:

1. From 11 October 2004 the holder of a GB Driving Licence committing a road traffic offence in Northern Ireland can avail of the Fixed Penalty System in Northern Ireland. The legislation facilitates endorsement of a GB Licence for a road traffic offence committed in Northern Ireland for which the fixed penalty procedure is applied.

2. When a driver surrenders a GB Licence to the Police in GB, the Police in NI (PSNI) or the Fixed Penalty Office (NI), a NI counterpart will be raised with Driving Vehicle Licensing NI and it is this counterpart rather than the GB Licence that is endorsed. The NI Counterpart must be kept with the GB Licence for future reference.

The Crime (International Co-Operation) Act 2003 provides for the recognition in Great Britain of disqualifications in Northern Ireland. The Road Traffic (Driving Disqualification) (NI) Order 2003 mirror those provisions to the extent that it recognises in Northern Ireland, disqualifications made in Great Britain.