What is an MS90 offence?

An MS90 conviction is the DVLA endorsement code for the motoring offence of failing to provide the driver details when requested by the police. This carries an endorsement of six penalty points and a fine of up to £1,000.

When does this type of offence happen?

This happens when you fail to respond to a request for driver details following an alleged moving traffic offence, such as speeding. That request is made pursuant to section 172 Road Traffic Act 1988. Such a request is ordinarily made at the same time as the issuing of an initial notice of intended prosecution relating to the alleged offence, but a request for driver details can be made at any time by the investigating police force.

The police can send the request for driver details to:

1. The registered keeper of that vehicle to the address registered to that vehicle with the DVLA;
2. To any other person in the event that the registered keeper identifies someone else as being the driver at the time of the alleged offence; or
3. To ‘any other person’ as referred to in section 172 (b) Road Traffic Act 1988. This might include any person named on a policy of insurance associated with the vehicle alleged to have been involved in an incident.

It is not a defence to ignore the request if the vehicle does not belong to you or if you do not have any recollection of driving the vehicle. Once a request is received, you must use your reasonable diligence to provide any information relating to the driver.

This offence can often arise when a driving offence, such as speeding, has been committed around the time you have moved address or traded in a vehicle.

If you have failed to update your vehicle logbook (V5C form) when trading in a vehicle, update your driving licence with your new address or failed update your insurance company with your new address, and the request does not make it to you as a consequence this could result in the charge of failing to provide the driver details.

If you have ensured that all of your details are up to date with the DVLA, but you still do not receive any request and can identify and evidence legitimate postal issues as the reason for this, this can amount to a defence.

Finding out about the conviction

You may be made an allegation of failing to provide diver details at various stages along the prosecution process. You may receive a letter form the police confirming that, as you have failed to provide those details, the matter will proceed to court. It may be that you are unaware of the matter until you receive a single justice procedure notice (SJPN) with the original offence (e.g. speeding) and failing to provide driver details offence referenced on there. 

You may not notice until it has progressed to an MS90 conviction and you are involved with checking your driving licence record online or receiving correspondence from the DVLA, the court or even a collection agency appointed by the court in relation to an unpaid fine. If you do receive notice from a debt collection agency, do not panic as this does occur more often than you think. Please contact Stephensons for further legal advice and how the outstanding fine can be settled.

What should I do when I find out about the conviction?

As soon as you are notified or you become aware of the conviction, you should contact the motoring team at Stephensons on 0161 696 6250 . You should provide as much information as possible to give our team the best opportunity to help resolve your situation.