When Pablo first contacted our offices in January 2016, we had no way of knowing that our working relationship would last for a year.
Pablo contacted Forrest Williams Legal Ltd via a chat facility on the company website that allowed him to speak to a lawyer online about his situation. He told us that he had been caught travelling at 78mph in a 70mph limit by a mobile speed camera. This offence, which he admitted, would take him to 12 points and a possible six month disqualification from driving under the ‘totting up’ provisions.
As Pablo had only recently started a new senior management job, which involved a lot of driving, it was important to him that he try to avoid the automatic disqualification if at all possible.
We explained that the only way to try and achieve this would be to prepare and conduct a full Exceptional Hardship application on his behalf.
He also explained to his case worker that he was the breadwinner for his household, as his partner was a full time student and therefore not able to make any financial contribution towards their outgoings. In fact, Pablo told us, he was paying his partner’s ongoing university fees as she was not in a position to do this.
Unfortunately, due to health problems, Pablo’s partner could not drive so was also reliant on him in this way.
Pablo’s speeding matter was listed by the court for a full Exceptional Hardship application but, before the date of the hearing, he received notification of a further speeding offence. This had taken place in a different part of the country, so involved a different court.
A process of liaison with both courts followed, the aim of which was to link both speeding offences together for a single hearing. This took time and effort, but we managed to achieve it for our client. The key to this is a combination of knowing how best to liaise with the courts tempered with persistence.
It should be noted that linking the two speeding offences, for a person in a ‘totting up’ situation such as Pablo’s, is vitally important as the law stipulates that no further Exceptional Hardship application can be made within a period of 3 years unless there are distinct and separate grounds for such an application:
“Any circumstances taken into account in the preceding three years to reduce or avoid a totting disqualification must be disregarded (RTOA 1988, s.35).”
We are pleased to report that our Steve Williams was able to conduct a successful Exceptional Hardship application for our client, which meant that he could continue to drive. However, the court’s decision also meant that all points accrued remain on his licence until such time as older endorsements naturally expire. Pablo was, understandably, delighted with the result.
Then, in an unexpected turn of events a short time after this court hearing, Pablo received notification of another speeding offence. Although the speed he was travelling at was not far above the speed limit, the fact that he had already made a successful totting up ban Exceptional Hardship application, and only recently, limited his options considerably.
A further totting up ban Exceptional Hardship application was duly prepared and Pablo was made aware that the chances of success a second time around were much reduced.
However, Steve Williams was able to turn the situation around and Pablo was disqualified for only 36 days with resultant court costs imposed. Once again, our client was delighted with the result.
Hopefully Pablo will now be able to move forward with his life without our further assistance, but his case illustrates the fact that our professional services can be accessed for as long as they are needed.
If you need expert help for totting up ban Exceptional Hardship, call our specialist team now on 01623 397200.
