An MS90 conviction is applied if you, as the registered keeper of the vehicle, fail to provide details of the driver at the time of an alleged road traffic offence.
Prior to an MS90 conviction, you should have received Notice of Intended Prosecution from the police requesting details of the driver at the time of the offence.
It’s common these days, with so many traffic cameras in use for the police to have no idea who was driving the vehicle at the time of the offence. If this is the case, you will be sent a Notice of Intended Prosecution requiring you to provide full details of the driver.
Failing to do this can result in an MS90 conviction which can often incur harsher penalties than the offence itself.
Most commonly a driver may receive a MS90 conviction if he or she:
Often the reason for not replying may be as innocent as a change of address or a change of registered keeper of the vehicle, which leads to conviction in absence.
If this is the situation you find yourself in then you can contact your local Magistrates’ Court to make a Statutory Declaration confirming that you were unaware of the proceedings against you. You have 21 days from when you found out about the conviction to do this.
Assuming the Statutory Declaration is successful the MS90 conviction would then be lifted. The prosecution may then resurrect the original offence for which it was issued e.g. speeding or still proceed to prosecute you for failing to furnish information.
Failing to furnish the identification of the driver of an alleged motoring offence comes under Section 172 of the Road Traffic Act and falls into two main groups:
If you have changed address you may not even be aware of the Notice or even the MS90 conviction if you have moved from the registered address.
In the case of accidental non-furnishing of driver details we can often overturn the MS90 conviction and return the court's attention to the original traffic offence.
If you are pleading guilty to a MS90 conviction we may be able to convince the courts to allow you to plead guilty to the original road traffic offence rather than the failure to furnish offence.
We have an expert team of driving offence lawyers who can listen to your case and advise you on the best way to proceed.
Penalty for an MS90 conviction (Sentencing Guidelines)
Failure to provide driver information is serious and fines are large.
For individuals - the penalty for an MS90 offence is a fine of up to £1,000 and either six penalty points or a disqualification.
For a company - if the vehicle is owned by a company and the driver details are not provided by the business, the company directors may be required to provide the driver details. Again, a fine of up to £1000 would apply but there would be no penalty points
A number of defences may be available for an MS90 appeal:
If any of these apply to you then we have a good chance of having the MS90 quashed.
If applicable, we may be able to argue special reasons in your case or exceptional hardship. If your points are ‘totting up’ you could face a driving disqualification and in this case it’s vital you seek legal help, or you risk losing your licence for something as innocent as having moved address.
If you were the driver of the vehicle at the time of the alleged offence then providing any other details is a serious offence. If there is any suspicion of an attempt to provide false information, the punishment may be a lot more severe and perverting the course of justice can often involve a prison sentence. Here at Lanyon Bowdler, we understand the temptation to provide the details of another driver, especially if you are totting up points towards or over the 12-point limit. However, we can normally help without you having to resort to this measure and risking a charge of perverting the course of justice.
If you have received a Notice of Intended Prosecution or an MS90 under Section 172 of the Road Traffic Act please call the traffic offence team at Lanyon Bowdler on the number at the top of this page or complete our enquiry form and one of our team will be in touch promptly.
The SRA requires us to give indicative prices for limited types of work, this includes motoring offences. For more information please click here.
We offer free initial advice for all driving offences. For a friendly, down-to-earth chat about your circumstances and how best to defend any failure to furnish charges against you, please get in touch with our specialist team.
You can also contact our motoring offences specialist Stephen Scully directly on 07776 184489.
Lanyon Bowdler have established offices with expert teams of solicitors in Hereford, Bromyard, Shropshire, Ludlow, Oswestry, Telford, and Conwy in North Wales.
We are one of the most recognised law firms in Shropshire, Herefordshire, Mid and North Wales, Birmingham and the Midlands. We are able to offer a wide range of pricing options including fixed fees and service level guarantees.
As a leading national law firm, we regularly act for clients all over the UK on motoring offence cases. We can represent you wherever you live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland.
