How Much Is a Speeding Fine?
FixMyCar explains how much you could be fined for speeding.
Book a car repair nowEllie Dyer-Brown
Tuesday January 14 2025
10 min read
Have you ever experienced that sinking feeling you get when you realise you’ve been caught speeding? If so, you’ll also be familiar with the anxiety that can follow as you wait to find out your punishment. Rather than worrying about unknowns, it’s a good idea to read up on your legal rights and learn about ways you might be able to dispute your penalty notice.
This guide explains what to expect when you’re caught speeding, including the fines you might face and how many points you could get on your driving licence for different offences.
In a nutshell: The minimum penalty for speeding is £100 and three points on your licence. The amount you are fined is calculated by looking at how much faster you drove than the speed limit and your weekly income. You may be offered a speed awareness course instead if this is your first speeding offence in three years.
How do speeding fines work in the UK?
When you drive faster than the speed limit, you are breaking the law and putting the safety of road users at risk. That’s why the UK has speed limits enforced by the police and speed cameras.
If caught speeding, you will receive a Section 172 notice and a Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP). You must not ignore these, or you could go to court. Instead, you should return the Section 172 notice to inform the police who was driving the vehicle.
If you receive an FPN, you can plead guilty and pay the fine or not guilty and take the matter to court.
When you’re caught by a camera
You’ll be sent a Notice of Intended Prosecution and a Section 172 notice. You must then fill in the Section 172 notice within 28 days to inform the police who was driving the car.
When you’re caught by a police officer
A police officer may do one of three things:
Let you off with a verbal warning if it’s a minor offence
Give you a Fixed Penalty Notice
Order you to go to court
How much is a speeding fine?
| Speed limit (mph) | Recorded speed (mph) | Recorded speed (mph) | Recorded speed (mph) |
|---|---|---|---|
| - | Band A | Band B | Band C |
| 20 | 21-30 | 31-40 | 41+ |
| 30 | 31-40 | 41-50 | 51+ |
| 40 | 41-50 | 51-60 | 61+ |
| 50 | 51-60 | 61-70 | 71+ |
| 60 | 61-70 | 71-80 | 81+ |
| 70 | 71-80 | 81-90 | 91+ |
| Points/disqualification | 3 points | Disqualify 7-28 days OR 4-6 points | Disqualify 7-56 days OR 6 points |
| Fine | 25-75% of relevant weekly income* | 75-125% of relevant weekly income* | 125-175% of relevant weekly income* |
*Shows roughly what you can expect to pay, but the magistrate can fine you anywhere in this range. The fine is capped at £1,000, rising to £2,500 if caught on a motorway.
For low-income offenders or people on state benefits, the Sentencing Council bases the fine calculation on “an amount that is deemed to represent the offender’s relevant weekly income”. At the time of writing, this is calculated as a weekly wage of £120.
For unemployed offenders, the calculation depends on several factors, including current outgoings, financial circumstances, savings and earning potential.
How much is a speeding fine for doing 40 in a 30?
Driving at 40mph in a 30 zone means you will be prosecuted under Band A rules, meaning you’ll get three penalty points on your licence. You will also receive a fine based on 25-75% of your weekly income.
How long do speed tickets take to come through?
You should receive a fine or Notice of Intended Prosecution in the post within 14 days. However, it may take longer if the vehicle you were driving isn’t registered to your home address. Documents will always be sent to the address of the registered keeper.
Can you check if you’ve been caught speeding?
You won’t necessarily know if you’ve been caught speeding unless the police stop you. The only way to determine whether you’ve been caught is to wait for a Notice of Intended Prosecution to arrive in the post.
What is the punishment for speeding?
Most instances of speeding are classed as a ‘minor offence’, with the offender receiving a Fixed Penalty Notice of a £100 fine and three points on their licence.
A speed awareness course might be offered as an alternative to receiving licence points - it depends on which police force is handling your alleged offence.
The National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme (the body that manages speed awareness courses in the UK) says you will only be offered the course if “you haven’t been convicted of any other speeding offences in the past three years.”
In some cases, the punishment can be more severe. For example, you could be prosecuted in court, resulting in a much higher fine, more points on your licence and even a potential driving ban or disqualification.
It’s up to the police officer’s discretion whether you get a speeding fine or are prosecuted in court. Typically, the police only prosecute if you are a ‘serious offender’ and have either severely exceeded the speed limit or repeatedly committed the offence. You will also end up in court if you receive a fine and ignore it or choose to dispute it.
Am I allowed a 10% leeway of the speed limit?
You’re technically breaking the law as soon as you exceed the speed limit - even if you’re going 31mph in a 30 zone. However, guidance from the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) recommends giving drivers a leeway of 10% plus two. You can learn more about speed limit leeways in our guide to speed cameras.
It’s important to emphasise that this leeway is for guidance only; there’s no guarantee that each police force will implement it. When a mobile camera catches you, whether or not you’re prosecuted is up to the police officer operating it because travelling even one mile an hour over the limit is breaking the law.
What happens after you’re caught speeding?
What happens next depends on the severity of your speeding offence.
Minor speeding offences
The police have 14 days to issue a Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) - that’s how long you’ll have to wait to find out if you’ve been caught. The NIP will be sent to the address of the vehicle’s registered keeper, who will then have to confirm who was driving the car.
If the offence is minor and you’re eligible, the police may offer you a speed awareness course.
Serious speeding offences
It’s rare for a speed awareness course to be offered for more severe offences. The most serious speeding cases are automatically referred to court, where the penalty could reach £1,000-2,500.
You face disqualification from driving if you get more than 12 points on your licence in three years. You can apply to have points removed after four years.
Disqualification from driving
You could receive an instant ban if you’ve been caught speeding and it’s referred to court. Magistrates will typically only consider an instant driving ban if you go significantly over the speed limit.
Typical bans range from seven to 56 days, depending on the seriousness of the offence, and in extreme cases, you could be disqualified for up to 120 days, after which you’ll have to apply for your licence again. You may have to retake your driving test or take an extended test.
Ultimately, the court has some discretion over driving bans and will consider the circumstances in which you were caught speeding. You might be granted more leniency if you were speeding due to an emergency.
How to pay a speeding fine
Pleading guilty will result in a Fixed Penalty Notice. The minimum fine is £100 and three points on your licence.
How you pay depends on where the offence happened:
In England and Wales you pay online.
There are four ways to pay in Scotland, explained here.
In Northern Ireland, you must contact the Loganside Courts Complex directly here.
28 days is usually the amount of time you have to pay the fine. Failure to pay within this timeframe could result in the case being referred to court.
If you plead not guilty, you will go to court and could receive the maximum fine and more penalty points.
How to get out of a speeding ticket in the UK
Speed limits and penalties are in place for the safety of all road users, so you should only dispute a speeding ticket if you genuinely believe you have been given it in error and are not guilty of going above the speed limit. In this situation, you should complete the correct section of the Notice of Intended Prosecution within 28 days.
However, think carefully about whether you have grounds for dispute before proceeding. If the police don’t accept your appeal, you’ll have to go to court to challenge the conviction. In this situation, it’s best to seek legal advice, as you could get a more significant fine.
What are acceptable grounds for dispute?
Successful appeals have been made based on:
Incorrect, absent or obscured road signs (with photographic evidence)
Missing or incorrect details on the NIP
Proof that the driver in question wasn’t speeding
Proof that the recipient of the NIP wasn’t driving at the time of the offence
If you believe you weren’t speeding and decide to go to court, you can ask for the relevant speed camera calibration certificate to be presented as evidence.
What are unacceptable grounds for dispute?
Excuses that won’t be accepted include:
Being unaware of the speed limit
Being in a rush
Claiming that it was night time and the roads were quiet
Being in a genuine emergency
Some of these excuses could be classed as mitigating factors, earning you a more lenient penalty if you plead guilty, but they won’t allow you to get out of the speeding ticket.
Frequently asked questions
The UK has a 14-day rule for speeding offences, outlined in Section One of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988. A notice of intended prosecution (NIP) must be issued to the vehicle’s registered keeper within 14 days of the alleged offence.
Penalties must be paid immediately in full. If you cannot afford to pay, you could choose to have your case heard in court by magistrates who will consider your financial situation and may arrange for you to pay in instalments.
Your insurance premium will likely increase after you get a speeding ticket. However, the increase in the amount will depend on the severity of the offence and any other points on your licence. Every insurance provider has a unique way of working out prices.
Yes, you can be disqualified from driving for speeding. This usually happens for speeds above 100mph or more than 30mph above the speed limit.
Penalty points stay on your licence for four or 11 years, depending on the driving offence you committed. When points expire, they are automatically removed.
The minimum penalty for speeding is £100.
Looking for affordable car repairs or maintenance? FixMyCar can help you find the right garage at the right price.
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Ellie is FixMyCar's Content Manager. She has over three years of experience writing about cars and regularly collaborates with automotive experts to provide trustworthy advice for drivers that is easy understand. Her work has been featured in Yahoo! Finance, iNews, The Daily Express and The Sun. She has a BA in English literature and an MA in creative writing from Durham University. Outside of work, Ellie follows F1 and eagerly awaits Ferrari's next era of dominance in the sport. She drives a Suzuki Swift.