There is a difference between a penalty notice issued by a local council and backed by legislation and a fine issued by a private company, the council has the law behind them and are legally allowed to issue penalty notices backed by a court. Private companies do not have the force of law behind them and are using contract law instead to argue their case and issue a fine, that's all dandy but what people don't realise is that in order for the contract between you and the private company to be enforceable in law you have to , wait for it........ Sign a contract agreeing to their terms and conditions or admit liability, they are not and never have been enforceable in law as you don't sign a contract agreeing to pay and if you know the law you don't contact the company issuing the private fine concerning payment which is tantamount to admitting liability. It like me asking a member on Here for the £500 they owe me for the advice I gave them, they wouldn't pay because they hadn't agreed to it and I couldn't prove they had agreed in a court of law as I had no signed contract. Contract law and civil law are very different beasts. Gatso cameras have the force of law behind them and so are allowed to issue fined backed by law and enforce them in a court, mobile speed vans with "operating with herts police" do not have that law and are operated by civilians or civil servants so are not enforceable, there must be a police officer present to witness the offence or its all hot water and bluffing if this were not the case what is there to stop any one of us painting a transit van, getting a speed camera and issuing fines out willy nilly to everyone who does 1mph over the limit? Ask for the badge number of the police officer who was present and witnessed the offence and you will get "we don't give out personal details of police officers sir" which is bollocks as you asked for their badge number not their personal address and underwear colour. They don't contact you again after asking this one usually.
M Mobile speed vans also have to operate in accordance with the law so if parked on a grass verge, pavement or kerb MUST have the appropriate paperwork in place from the local highways authority to "close off" the public road or byway or part thereof they are blocking to perform their duties, otherwise they are breaking the law and operating illegaly anyway, this does not apply to a policeman in a uniform with a speed gun or any Gatso or gantry style fixed cameras which have different legislation. The new one if you had loaned your car to your friend bill at the time of the alleged speeding offence who has now returned to Transylvania is to try and Nick you for allowing someone to drive your vehicle without insurance(a fairly new offence designed to get around people who do this), It's not your job to prove he had insurance though and this is a play on words once again Trying to trap you into confessing to something or swallow the fine, so long as you can honestly say *clears throat* "of course I asked him if he had proper insurance in place before I loaned him my car officer and he assured me he had" you have not broken the law by "allowing"and offence, your responsibility is to not allow anyone to drive your car on the highway without insurance, that's where your responsibility ends , you are not responsible for checking the validity of anyone's insurance and so long as you haven't "knowingly allowed anyone to drive your vehicle uninsured" you have complied with the law and have nothing to worry about, it's all in the way you word your replies.
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