If you think you might have an outstanding court fine, it’s important to know you’re not alone. From traffic violations to unpaid TV licences, over 800,000 court fines are served in the UK each year.
The good news is, you should be able to get an overview of any fines in your name and check the balances on them quickly and easily online. This can give you a clearer picture of what you owe and how you should deal with it.
Understanding court fines in the UK
In the UK, a fine is the most common type of sentence given out by the courts. It is typically handed out for low-level crimes, such as minor driving offences, but there’s no set amount or level fixed to a particular crime.
Instead, the court issuing the fine will decide the amount based on a number of factors, including your personal situation, the seriousness of the offence, and how much you can afford to pay based on your financial situation. They can be issued to both individuals and businesses.
Here is a brief outline of the most common fines and how they work:
Parking and motoring fines
Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) and Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) are among the most common court fines issued by authorities in the UK. A PCN is typically used for less serious offences, such as driving in a restricted area or parking on double yellow lines, while an FPN will earn you points on your licence.
In most cases, you’ll need to pay this type of fine within 28 days to avoid further court action being brought against you.
Criminal fines
This type of fine can be issued in response to a low-level criminal offence being committed, such as theft, assault, or drug charges, but it is often used for less serious crimes to deter individuals from reoffending.
The amount charged will be set by the court and reflect the seriousness of the crime and your income. Failure to pay a criminal fine can result in it being added to your criminal record, which can have a knock-on effect on various aspects of your life, such as your home and your job.
Magistrates’ Court fine
Magistrate’s Courts primarily enforce criminal fines, but they can also be used to deal with other offences, such as cases of unpaid council tax and child support arrears.
The severity of the fine will match the severity of the offence, but the court should always take your financial situation into account when determining your payment amount.
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How to check my court fine balance (UK) and make payment
If you think you may have a court fine or maintenance order but you don’t know how much for, you should be able to not only check your balance online, but also pay it quickly and easily.
Here are the steps you should follow to check and pay your court fine balance:
Identify the court
The first thing you should do is to identify the court that issued the fine.
This information can be found by looking at the document the court sent you (known as a ‘notice of fine’) and contacting the enforcement office listed on the notice. However, if you can’t locate any correspondence from the court, you can search for a court’s contact details on the GOV.UK website.
Contact the court
Once you have identified the court in question, you should reach out to them. They might ask for some identifying details, such as your name, case number, and date of birth, which you must give them to ensure they locate the right case.
However, if some time has passed since the fine was issued, a debt collection agency might be responsible for recovering the debt now and you’ll be instructed to contact them instead.
Make payment
Some courts have accessible online portals where you can check your balance and make payment. To find out if your local court offers this, check the court’s website. The GOV.UK website also provides an option for paying a court fine if you have the notice of fine to hand.
Alternatively, contact the court by phone and enquire about potential payment options (e.g. bank transfer, payment card, direct debit, and credit card).
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What happens if I can’t afford to pay a court fine?
If you’ve checked your court fine balance and discovered you can’t afford to pay it, you should act quickly. However, it’s important not to be concerned or resort to loans to repay the debt as you have options.
First, contact the court and ask if you can pay in a way that’s more manageable for you. This might require debt adjusting, which is when you adjust the way you pay the debt, for example, if you need to pay it in smaller instalments, over an extended period, or at a later date.
The court might ask you to prove that you can’t pay the court fine. If they do, you’ll need to analyse your finances and create a budget to show how much you can realistically pay towards your balance. Similarly, if you can’t pay because your income has decreased, you’ll need to prove this to the court.
If you receive a summons for an unpaid court fine, it’s crucial that you attend so you can explain to the judge why you haven’t paid. The only situation where you don’t need to attend is if you pay the balance in full before your expected court date. There can be serious consequences for not attending a scheduled court hearing, including imprisonment.
In some cases, the court might agree to write off the debt if your circumstances have changed and it’s clear you can’t afford to pay anything towards it. However, appeals are at the court’s discretion.
It’s important to respond to the court by the deadline given on the notice, even if it’s just to say you can’t afford to pay it. Failure to do so will only lead to another letter informing you of subsequent legal action.
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Can I get a court fine overturned if I didn’t know about it?
If you were only recently made aware of a court fine (e.g. because the letter was sent to an old address), you must contact the court that issued it and request something called a ‘Section 14 Statutory Declaration’. This is essentially a statement made under the Magistrates’ Court Act (1980) that declares that you were unaware of legal proceedings against you.
Once this has happened, the legal proceedings will be immediately invalidated. In other words, all information, summons, and actions related to the fine will be void. This can potentially stop bailiffs from visiting you and you might even be refunded any fees you’ve already paid.
However, this must be done within 21 days from the date you became aware of the fine. The court might still agree to invalidate a court fine after this deadline, but you will be required to explain the reason behind the delay.
Some people only become aware of legal proceedings when they are contacted by an enforcement agent (bailiff) or debt collection agency over an unpaid court fine that they didn’t know they had. In this case, the 21-day timer will start from the date of the visit.
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Where can I get further advice about court fines?
If you’ve recently discovered you have a court fine and you don’t know how to deal with it, don’t hesitate to reach out for further advice from a company specialising in credit information services, such as a qualified adviser from a debt counselling firm. They will review your individual circumstances and advise you on the best course of action.
Be aware of companies asking for a fee for advice and ask for a firm reference number to confirm the business is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Alternatively, seek help from an advisor at your local Citizens Advice Bureau. They provide specific debt advice on a range of matters, including court fines, and can help you become aware of all your options.
It’s important to note that most debt solutions, including Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs) and Debt Management Plans (DMPs), can’t be used to deal with court fines and they can’t be added at a later date because they are priority debts. The Insolvency Practitioner (IP) managing your solution should let you know this before submitting your application.
Conclusion
Discovering you have an unpaid court fine in your name can be daunting, but familiarising yourself with all the options available to you can help you ease some of the stress you might be feeling and, more importantly, deal with it head-on.
The court should send you a document called a notice of fine giving you information about the fine, including the original offence, fine amount, and due date. However, if you discover a court fine you didn’t know about, you might be able to get it cancelled.
If you need advice about how to pay court fees, don’t hesitate to reach out for free debt counselling from an independent service set up to help people manage their money, such as a trusted debt counselling company.
