STEP BY STEP GUIDE IF YOU HAVE RECEIVED A BAILIFF'S NOTICE FOR A PCN.

A Bailiff cannot enforce an unpaid Parking Charge Notice unless his company is in receipt of a valid Warrant of Execution from the Traffic Enforcement Centre in Northampton. Immediately the bailiff company receives this warrant, they must by law send you a letter and they can charge a fee for this of £11.20 plus vat (£13.16). To avoid any further bailiff action you should ensure that this letter is dealt with as a matter of urgency and we would advise that you pay the sum requested as quickly as possible.

If you do not pay, you will normally then receive a hand delivered notice to your home.

These notices vary from company to company but most of them state that they have visited “With a Removals Team” or that they “Attended today to Remove” etc. All such letters will instruct you to contact the individual bailiff on a mobile telephone number.

If you have received such a letter DO NOT IGNORE IT. Most bailiffs will return the following day or certainly within 48 hours and in the majority of cases that we see, they will immediately clamp your vehicle before knocking at your door. (The matter of clamping a vehicle before knocking at your door is the subject of a recent Court case that can be accessed by visiting the heading “News from the Courts” on the front page of our site.

It may be that you have no knowledge of ever receiving a Parking Charge Notice. This could be for a variety of reasons, for instance; that you have moved home or that you have had problems with your postal service etc. 

In addition, you may have written to the local authority to complain about the ticket and as you did not receive a response, you may have assumed that the ticket had been cancelled. Alternatively, you may have appealed to the Parking Adjudicator but did not receive a response either.   

If any of the above applies, then you have grounds to file an Out of Time late Statutory Declaration with the Traffic Enforcement Centre. This will prevent and freeze any bailiff action until such time as your application has been determined. If a bailiff has already clamped your vehicle then most companies will agree to release the clamp if advised of an Out of Time application.

It is vitally important that this application is made as soon as possible to ensure that a bailiff visit in avoided. However, if you have grounds to file an Out of Time but that your vehicle has already been removed to the pound, then by completing the Out of Time late Statutory Declaration this application will not only ensure that your vehicle is not sold, but vitally important that you do not incur any further storage related costs either.

Although most bailiff companies will agree to release a clamp when notified of an Out of Time late Statutory Declaration being filed.......most companies will not agree to release a vehicle back to you if it has already been taken to the vehicle pound. For this reason, if you have grounds to file an Out of Time late Statutory Declaration, you must not delay in making this application.

You will find more information about this process in our parking section.

Alternatively, you can contact our office, and for a small fee we will complete the Out of Time late Statutory Declaration on your behalf which can then be e-mailed back to you within a short period.