Is this Legal - can they do this.... ?

Be careful with free legal advice. I had "£250 worth of free legal advice" from a lawyer on pistonheads a couple of years ago regarding a mobile phone contract.

It was completely wrong, had I listened to him I would not have had a sucessful resolution to my complaint. Thankfully I spoke to someone on alfa owner who did know what they were talking about, and I got everything sorted with a couple of carefully worded emails.

Lawyers are 90% bullcrap 10% knowledge. I'm not completely comfortable with the lawyer I have at the moment following my accident, as he's already told me a few things I KNOW from past experience are wrong.

 

which bit the serious bit or the not so serious, and for fook sake doesn't anyone else do a job with any training? However,

you said you gave them your licence, fact! surely your name and address is on that licence, fact! they kept it, fact ......so much so that they wrote to that address which we know is your address, fact! you now just told me its your photo licence, which i presumed correct and it is fact! a picture licence with your picture that the cop there would of compared to your face at the side of the road, fact!............which bit have i got wrong?

hell my lot cant even get my name right and ive been working with them for 20 something years, its not uncommon! but im sure there will be a stated case in france about mis spelt details not prejudicing the case...

the good news is your not in france its not the end of the world, get the french papers translated even if you use google, if more money is require then its cheaper than a solicitor...............its the system driven by money you were easy pickings, doesnt make it right but thats the way it is.

if you ignore it, hmmmmm, next time you get stopped through france it could come back and bite you.

 

That, Gav, was your second mistake......your first was getting caught - Merry Christmas :0)

 

998GSB -
Advice on way.
Pete

 

If you want the papers translated you can send me a scan by PM and I'll tell you what they say (I'm a French graduate living in French-speaking Switzerland for the past 25 years and occasional translator).

My view is it's a fairly piffling fine for a pretty big speed-limit bust. I'd fork out and forget about it. It would be worse in most other European countries.

They may or may not follow it up - ie continue to send you letters. They are currently very keen to increase taxation via speeding fines and have an army of bureaucrats trying to justify their existence.

France is a great country - for biking and holidaying. Pity to blot your copy book there indefinitely. BTW - don't sit on this forever. My recent French fine had 50% off if I paid it in about 10 days, so make sure yours isn't the same.

 

had a bit of bother once few years back and got a court summons, worries you a bit even though i didnt think i did anything wrong so after contacting a solicitor on phone for advice, the very nice lady told me thay charge £175 per hour and as the money involved was a small amount she advised going to citizens advise bureux, i did, they where brill, write me letters, translated all the legal jargon, told me there was no case and i was right, i did go to court locally, i won, happy days, think like most court letters tend to worrie the crap out of you and you just pay up,

 

Have you found where your licence is ....and what its status is?

 

Glad it's resolved at least - it's a good feeling to put the whole thing 'to bed' and start afresh.

 

As an aside i wonder when the day will come when a ban in France Europe applies here.......i mean the question on an insurance application is "have you ever been banned from driving/riding?" It doesn't say that that just applies to the UK....given their ability to look for any route away or out of paying out.....

 

Naturally, if you are a regular visitor to France your lawyer will tell you to pay the fine. However the fact is the summons is not correct and the name is not yours. Although it is only one letter, you are not here to interpret French law, only English and if ,for instance, an English Court summoned you and got your first name wrong you will be entirely right to stand up and say you are not that person. You are also entirely right to rely on this defence because of the misspelling of your surname. The next action to expect is that the French authority will apply to the English courts for payment of the fine (unlikely but not unknown), again you would receive a summons to an English court and ditto the above defence. The English court will then inform the French that this person is not known, however if you were to correct the French authorities (ie volutarily interpret French Law) they might re-issue a corrected summons (which is exactly what an English court would not do), and that is why you must not reply to the French demand. If you hear nothing more it is wise not to visit France for at least 5 years because you could be arrested upon entry.

 

Have you checked French law for any stated cases? If I were you I'd just pay it and not have to worry about spending a few nights in a French prison with 'Big Pascal' as my cell mate!

 

Can I ask that you report back on the outcome and if the advice worked, although I understand you might not want to do this until things are resolved? This might be helpful for others in a similar position.

 

A bit late to the party I know but would it be worth posting the same questions here and see what their take is on things?

 

Sorry but this advice is not very good. Perhaps it is intended as a joke. Whatever, it needs further thought.

 

Hahaha. Well done. that's the spirit!