If you cannot afford to pay the fine by the date on the Court's letter you should go to the Court’s Collections (Fines) Office and arrange an extension, or arrange to pay by instalments or make an application under section 78B of the Summary Proceedings Act 1957.

You can apply for a section 78B application only under limited grounds e.g. if you never received a Reminder Infringement Notice for the offence, or if you applied for a court hearing but never received notice of the hearing, or if some other irregularity (problem) occurred in the procedure leading up to the order for the fine, or costs or both.

To apply you have to make a statutory declaration. You should contact any District Court and ask for Form 57. You must prove to the Registrar’s satisfaction that service of the authorities’ or court’s papers (e.g. Reminder Infringement Notice or Notice of Fine), has not taken place.

To do this you must provide proof that you have shifted or you weren’t residing at the place the papers were sent to at the time (such as tenancy agreements or your passport showing you were out of the country).

Note: the court may request you to pay an additional filing fee and enforcement fee if you do not pay on time.

The court will send you a letter telling you the outcome of the application. If it is unsuccessful the courts will continue with proceedings to collect the fine. If the application is successful, the Prosecuting Authority may issue the original Infringement Notice again meaning that the infringement process starts again at its first stage, or may withdraw the original Infringement Notice.

The court sends you a “Final Notice of Fine” seven days before the due date. This is your final warning before a court fine (that started off as an Infringement Notice issued by a prosecuting authority) becomes overdue. See the section below: "If you can't afford to pay the fine" for more information on this.