Mystery over how French driving fines continue to reach UK addresses

Mystery remains over how France is continuing to send speeding and other motoring fines to UK addresses despite a data-sharing agreement no longer being in place post-Brexit. 

France has a partnership with 20 EU countries to exchange data, including postal addresses, of registered owners of vehicles caught by cameras committing offences such as speeding or going through red lights. 

However, a recent official report from French road statistic body ONISR shows that in 2023, along with fines sent to ‘partner countries’ – the top countries concerned being Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands – 62,780 fines were sent to the UK. 

This is up from 59,836 in 2022. 

The report says fines were also sent to other non-partner countries, but the UK was the most significant named destination. 

The UK has not been a ‘partner country’ since 2021, as the agreement was based on an EU directive that was discontinued after Brexit. 

A spokesman for France’s Sécurité Routière department confirmed that the UK is no longer a partner and said “there is therefore no exchange of information with this country”. However, he did not clarify how fines are still being sent to private addresses in the UK. Several readers report being affected. 

One says: “Last year, my husband got two speeding fines travelling to the Saint-Malo port and back. 

“The fines came to our UK address, which came as a shock. We paid them, but we were under the impression that there was no agreement and DVLA should not have given them our address.” 

30 million sanctions for drivers

The figures are part of an ONISR report on motoring offences in 2023, including more minor contraventions and serious délits, which showed a record more than 30.1 million sanctions last year. 

More than half – 16.8 million – were by automatic cameras. 

Just over 17.2 million relate to speeding, with the next highest category being parking-related offences, though not relating to paid-for parking spaces, which are treated separately. 

Fines issued by national police and gendarmerie were slightly down, but those from automatic cameras or issued by municipal police were up. 

The latter, in particular, issued 23% more fines than in 2017, a year used in the report for comparison. 

Read more: Record rise in driving fines in France: what offences and how caught

The report said: “The part played by the municipal police in controlling motoring law rules – not including parking – via the use of the PVe [‘electronic’ fines] is now very significant.” 

The PVe involves the offence being recorded digitally and a fine being sent to the registered owner’s home. 

It has gradually replaced physical tickets. 

Offences related to insurance road worthiness checks were significantly up, as were fines for rodéos motorisés (dangerous stunt driving, often by motorcyclists), drug and alcohol use, and involuntary deaths and injuries. 

Minor offences sanctioned by municipal police included use of headphones while driving (up 29% on 2022, and 867% on 2017) and driving in public transport lanes (up 49% on 2022, and 2,920% on 2017). 

Similar issues for drivers in London

In the other direction, a legal case is continuing into how EPC, which acts as a debt collector for Transport for London (TfL), obtained the addresses of people in France and sent them fines for going into London’s low-emissions zones, known as Lez and Ulez. 

Not only is there is currently no information-sharing agreement in place between the UK and France (as mentioned), but the agreement that existed before Brexit related only to driving offences, not pollution rules. 

Read more: London Ulez fines: French judge's decision over 'data breach' due soon

In 2023, the Dutch vehicle licensing authority found evidence that EPS had illicitly obtained data on Dutch drivers via the Italian authorities. 

In many cases, Lez/Ulez fines were handed to French residents because their foreign-plated cars were not recognised by automated TfL systems. 

Lawyers acting for people involved, Woog et associés, told The Connexion they received acknowledgment from the public prosecutor of their com plaint only on July 30 – more than a year after they lodged it. 

More information had been requested and supplied, he said. 

He said France’s data protection agency Cnil has also not updated them about inquiries they have been making with its British counterpart. 

Anyone with a non-UK-plated vehicle is asked by EPC to register it with the firm online before visiting London here so the vehicle can be correctly identified.

 Read more: British retiree in France refunded after paying £2,100 to drive in Ulez