| Parking charge notices
How to Complain or make Representation.
Complaining to the Adjudicator.
Statutory Declarations
Miscellaneous
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PARKING CHARGE NOTICES (PCN)
A Parking Attendant issues a Penalty Charge Notice. He will have
to either fix this to your windscreen, or hand it to the driver ( see Latest News on our front page).With bus lane contraventions
where CCTV is in operation, you will receive a Parking Charge
Notice in the post. This will also be the case for the yellow line contraventions issued by the London Borough of Westminster as this borough have started using CCTV cameras located in Mercedes Smart Cars.
How much is a penalty charge notice (PCN)?
It varies. Different local authorities have varying rates. In
London the charges are set by a London wide body called London
Council. This ensures that charges are consistent throughout London.
Full Penalty
Band: A £100
Band: B £80
Band: C £60
What is the reduction if I pay within 14
days?
All local authorities offer a discount of
50% if payment is made within 14 days from the date of
the issue of the PCN. A lot of people are of the opinion that
the price doubles after 14 days….this is not true. The ticket
reverts back to its original price. The discount is simply an
incentive to settle the payment early.
An important point that must be made clear is that: if you believe
that you should not have received a Parking Charge Notice, then
you must not pay. Because, if you
do, you are deemed to have given up your right to appeal the PCN.
This is not the case, if your car has been clamped,
as you would have to pay the PCN and release fee before the car
could be returned.
Could the PCN be illegal?
Within this past year, Parking Tickets for every
local authority have had to be re-worded and re-printed.
This is because of a very important legal ruling concerning the
validity of the parking ticket. The two most important points
to emerge from this landmark ruling are that:
A PCN must contain two dates: the date of issue
and the date of the contravention;
and:
Both these dates must appear in the body
of the PCN: it is not sufficient for the date of issue to appear
on just the tear-off payment slip.
This was the result of a Landmark case in the High Court referred
to as the Barnet v Moses case, and as a result
every local authority should have
re-worded and re-printed their Parking Tickets. Unfortunately,
many have still not complied with this ruling; therefore it is
important that you look closely at the PCN to ensure that it has
the two dates. Due to this important ruling, if you have paid,
and are able to locate your original Parking Ticket, we are advised
that many people have successfully claimed refunds, even if the
ticket is a few years old. In our Legal Cases
section of our Downloads area you
will see that we have provided details of this and also of this legal ruling.
Who is liable to pay the PCN?
Under the Road Traffic Act 1991, the owner
of a vehicle is liable for the Penalty
Charge Notice. Even if a partner, son, daughter or friend was
driving the car, it is the owner who is liable.
The Road Traffic Act 1991 says the owner is presumed
to be the registered keeper. The local
authority will usually check with the DVLA in Swansea to see who
was registered as keeper of the vehicle at the date the PCN was
issued. This person will receive the Notice to Owner. (NtO)
If you borrow a car, this does not mean that you are the keeper.
The person whose name is registered
at DVLA is the person liable for the
penalty charge.
Complaining to the Local Authority.
Complaining, or making representation about a PCN is very common. Published figures show that in 2003/2004
there was 8 million PCN’s issued in England, of which 5
million were in London alone. 1.3 million representations (complaints)
were made!!
Before considering your complaint, you may wish to check whether
the contravention listed on your PCN is correct. You will find
an up to date list of the Contraventions Codes under Miscellaneous
at the end of our Parking section together with relevant sections
of the Road Traffic Act of 1991.
If you consider that you should not have received a Penalty Charge
Notice, (PCN) you should contact the council as soon as possible,
but in any event you should aim to do this within 14 days of receiving
the PCN if you want to preserve the right to pay at the discounted
rate. You will normally be asked to put your complaint in writing.
This is referred to as making an informal
representation and a lot of Penalty Charge Notices are
cancelled at this early stage.
Please note that the amount of the PCN will be held
at the discounted rate until a decision has been reached by the
local authority. If the council rejects
your informal representation you will
then be given the opportunity to pay at the discounted rate for
a period of just 14 days. This will be the
final opportunity for you to pay at the discounted price.
Note: If you wish to have your case
considered by the Adjudicator, you
cannot do this unless you first go
through the stages that are outlined here.
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