Glasgow fines dodgers pay up hours after clampers call

A Crookston man who had fines totalling £469 for a number of offences and had avoided paying in spite of numerous warning letters and even having his earnings and bank account arrested stumped up the money when fines officers at Glasgow JP Court issued a vehicle seizure order and his Mercedes van was immobilised.

Another Mercedes van driver paid the £432 he owed for driving without tax or insurance less than two hours after discovering his vehicle had been clamped. The other drivers paid sums varying from £100 to £270 for a variety of road traffic offences after action was taken by fines teams at Glasgow JP Court.

The Glasgow drivers were among fines dodgers across Scotland who paid up after finding their vehicles immobilised as a new electronic interface between the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) and the DVLA vehicle database makes it easier to track down drivers with unpaid fines.

Drivers face having their vehicles clamped if they do not settle their fines and have to pay additional clamping costs and mounting daily fees when a car is taken into storage Vehicles are ultimately scrapped or sold off if they do not settle their fines.

A new report released by SCTS today reveals that the fines collection rate remains consistently strong.

It shows that 88 per cent of the value of Sheriff Court fines imposed during the three-year period between 2015/16 and 2017/18 has either been paid or is on track to be paid – a rise of one percentage point compared with the figure at 18 July 2018.

The report shows that 88 per cent of JP Court fines by value imposed over the three-year period has also been paid or is on track to be paid by instalments.

The new edition of the report contains enhanced presentation of the statistics, using charts and tables, designed to give the scale and context of the three-year figures. The changes have been made in response to customer feedback on the document.

SCTS Chief Operations Officer David Fraser, said: “The fines enforcement teams continue to be highly effective in securing unpaid fines – ignoring your fine and not speaking to an enforcement officer if you are having difficulty paying is very unwise.

“Failure to pay, or to engage with our officers, will result in strong sanctions being taken including arrestment of wages, bank accounts, your car being clamped or inconvenience and embarrassment by being arrested when travelling abroad.”