Posts Tagged ‘exceptional hardship’

Exceptional Hardship – Tony Pulis Defence

Posted on: March 23rd, 2012 by steve

Specialist Motoring Lawyer Steve Williams reviews the argument for Exceptional Hardship.

Tony Pulis kept his licence yesterday despite speeding at 96 in a 60 and already having 9 points on his licence. The court gave him 6 points for speeding which meant he had a total of 15 points. Once a driving has 12 points or more the court have to disqualify them for 6 months unless they can show exceptional hardship.

Exceptional hardship is more than just inconvenience or hardship, it has to be over and above what you would normally expect from being banned for 6 months and can relate to either the driver or anyone else.

Steve Williams specialises in exceptional hardship applications and is proud of the fact that he has rarely lost a case, this case would have been a challenge though.

“The problem here is that Tony Pulis is very well paid and although he has to do a lot of driving for his job he could not argue that he would lose his job if he was disqualified. The court would expect a football club who pay players £50,000 a week to be able to afford to pay a driver for their manager, or indeed Tony Pulis could have paid for a driver himself. The normal type of application in these circumstances is that someone would lose their job and then suffer exceptional financial hardship. This wasn’t going to work here.

The application was made on the basis that a lot of his work is very confidential and has to be kept secret and although he could afford a driver this would mean that he could not discuss confidential issues in front of the driver and therefore his ability to work would be severely curtailed to the detriment of the football club and this would have a knock on effect on the people of Stoke who benefit from their football club doing so well.

It’s an interesting argument that the town folk of Stoke would suffer if their team were unable to sign star names in secret. Presumably not an argument that the manager of Hereford Town could use given their precarious position at the bottom of the table they couldn’t suffer much more than they already are!”

Motoring Solicitor’s Diary – Nottingham Magistrates Court

Posted on: November 4th, 2010 by motoringlawyers

Today was a pretty typical day for Steve Williams, a Motoring Solicitor

I was in my local Court, Nottingham Magistrates Court. My client had been caught speeding, travelling at 37 in a 30mph limit. This would normally mean that she would be dealt with by way of a fixed penalty of 3 points and a £60 fine.

Unfortunately for my client she already had 9 points on her licence at the time of the offence which meant that she would have to be disqualified for 6 months by the court. This would have an awful effect on her and her family, she was the only wage earner and she could not do her job without her driving licence.

I had previously advised my client that I was confident that I would be able to convince the court to let her keep her licence as we would be able to argue that she would suffer exceptional hardship if she was banned.

The case at Nottingham Magistrates Court was listed along with many others, most of the defendants were facing simple speeding fines, where the speed was too high to be dealt with by way of a fixed penalty. Just before our case was called on a man in his 30’s appeared before the court to argue the same thing as us. He was a senior account manager for a large company and was well presented and articulate. He was not represented. He presented what was on the face of it a good case however it started to crumble as the Crown Prosecutor probed his case and cross examined him.

The upshot was that the court refused his application and banned him for 6 months. I felt sorry for him, he had a good case. With proper preparation and forewarning of the type of questions he would have been asked he would have kept his licence and job. I am confident I would have won that for him and for the cost of less than a weeks wages he would have kept his job.

My client had sat at the back of court and despite my reassurances that she would win her exceptional hardship application she looked terrified after seeing the mauling that the previous defendant had got. When her case was called on I went through her case asking her all of the questions I knew the prosecutor would ask. There were no questions from the prosecutor, no room for him to argue and the court allowed her to keep her licence. She left court very relieved.

**Steve Williams is the Motoring Solicitor, these diaries are based on true case, details, including the court have been changed in order to protect the clients confidentiality. Not all of Steve Williams’ cases are reported in the diary.

If you would like advice from Steve Williams call 01623 397200

How to avoid a driving disqualification on 12 points

Posted on: July 21st, 2009 by motoringlawyers

When you get 12 points on your driving licence then the court has to disqualify you for 6 months unless it would cause exceptional hardship.

But what counts as exceptional hardship?

As a motoring solicitor this is one of the most common enquires I get.

With all of the speed cameras around these days it is a surprise anyone has a licence. Get caught 4 times within 3 years and you are on a minimum of 12 points. With Government proposals to increase the fixed penalty for some speeding to 6 points you could be on 12 points by breaking the speed limit twice.

The effect of losing your licence can be devastating, you could lose your job, your livelihood and all that goes with it. It’s hard enough to get a job these days but without a licence it can be almost impossible.

So how do you go about avoiding a disqualification? unemployment queue

You will need to show the court that you will suffer exceptional hardship. This is not just your run of the mill hardship it has to be exceptional! Basically the court expects people to suffer hardship when they lose their licence. That’s part of the punishment. You will have to show that you have suffered over and above what is normally expected.

Losing your job isn’t necessarily enough, you need to show the court that this will have a dramatic effect on your, or your families finances. If you work part time and your partner’s income is enough to cover all of the bills etc then you will probably not establish exceptional hardship. If you live at home with your parents it will be difficult.

There are no hard and fast rules as to what is exceptional hardship, there are no definitions or case law to follow. Each case is dealt with on its own merits. I have seen lots of people presenting their own case and completely missing the point and losing, even though they have a very good case.

You need to be prepared, you will probably only get one shot at this, the court will not adjourn it just because you are missing some information. Get it wrong first time and you are catching the bus home from court.

It’s not enough to say you will lose your job, where is your evidence that you will?

The court won’t just accept that you can’t get to work on the bus, have you looked into it? Have you worked out the cost of taxis? Have you checked the bus timetables?

The courts are generally reluctant to allow people to keep their licence unless there is a real good reason.

An experienced motoring solicitor will know what documents you need to present your case, he or she will know what points the court will accept and what points they consider irrelevant (and what points will simply wind them up)

Losing your job isn’t the only exceptional hardship the court will take into account, they may look at other instances. They might take into account what effect this will have on other people, so think – who relies upon your driving? It’s not enough to say you need the car to get to Asda once a week but there are some things that the court will be prepared to consider.

The list of things that might amount to exceptional hardship is never closed and a good motoring solicitor will be able to explore all possible avenues to see if there is anything that will convince the court to let you keep your licence.

How do you go about it? You will need to give evidence on oath. Check with the court beforehand that there is time to to hear an exceptional hardship application, they may not have set aside enough time on the first hearing and you will have had a wasted trip. Ring up, ask to speak to listings and tell them what you want to do and ask if they can do it on the day. Worst case scenario it gets adjourned and you get to keep your licence for a few days longer.

After you have pleaded guilty you need to tell the legal advisor that you want to make an exceptional hardship application, you will then be asked to go into the witness box and take the oath. After you have given evidence the prosecutor will cross examine you and pull your case apart so make sure it is water tight and you can back it up. Once you have been cross examined you will then need to make the application to the court.

Should I get a motoring lawyer to represent me? Consider what you have to lose and decide whether a lawyer is a good investment. I have seen so many people get it wrong. It is an area where you would benefit from the experience of a motoring solicitor. I offer 2 services, either prepare the case for you. Get all the documentation and advise you how to present the case or do all of that and attend court on your behalf.

Motoring Advice Blog

Posts Tagged ‘exceptional hardship’

Exceptional Hardship – Tony Pulis Defence

Motoring Solicitor’s Diary – Nottingham Magistrates Court

How to avoid a driving disqualification on 12 points

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