Driving without due care and attention

[Dazzstar]

Hi,
My wife has been summons for an accident last year. She intends to plead guilty although she will complete the mitigating circumstances section of the form. She only works 5 hours per week and therefore her salary is low. She has to complete a statement of financial circumstances. As all the household bills and mortgage, etc. comes out of our joint account should we complete the form based on our joint outgoings?
Many thanks
Daz

[New Judge]

No. She should state her share of the income and outgoings only. There is also, I believe, a box on the form for partner's income.

The process that Magistrates use when setting a fine is to use the defendant's weekly net income and base the fine on a multiple of that. The other information, such as outgoings and savings, is usually for information only to gain a fuller picture of the defndant's circumstances and is not usually taken into consideration when setting the fine.

Incidentally, Magistrates' sentencing guidelines suggest a "starting point" for careless driving of a fine of between half a week and one and a half week's net income, depending on the seriousness of the offence. All fines are reduced by a third for an early guilty plea. She will also have to pay prosecution costs of about £85 and a Victim Surcharge of £15. I addition, assuming she is not disqualified (which is unlikely unless the offence is particularly serious) she will have between three and nine points inposed on her licence.
However, when setting the fine the Magistrates will consider only her earnings

[Dazzstar]

Many thanks New Judge for the reply. I'm still a little confused to be honest as both her salary and mine go into a joint account and all outgoings are shared and joint. Her monthly salary currently is circa. £280 and this is likely to go down as her hours are being cut. How should we complete the form?

[New Judge]

Your situation is probably similar to many couples, Dazz.

I can only say that the only real figure that matters is your wife’s net income. Of course, if she completes the form to show that half the household outgoings are down to her then her outgoings will probably exceed her income by a fair amount. If she completes the form on that basis she can explain to the Magistrates (if asked) how this comes about. Alternatively you could “pro rata” your outgoings according to your individual incomes. As I said, it really does not matter that much as it is her income that is the most relevant figure. She should do all she can (legitimately, of course) to reduce the amount she states as her income to a minimum, but you should know that most benches, when setting fines, assume a minimum income which is somewhat more that your wife’s income. Where I live this is currently set at £110 per week and I think most Benches use a figure around this mark. This means your wife may see a fine set at somewhere between £75 and £220 (assuming a minimum income figure of £110 pw and an early guilty plea).

[Dazzstar]

Thanks again New judge. By pro rata I assume you mean to work out as a percentage her monthly income compared to mine. She earns £280 and I £2400, therefore around 12%. Our mortgage is £808 per month and based on this 12% her contribution would be £96.96. Am I on the right track here?

[New Judge]

Yes, that's about it, Dazz.