Free Traffic Legal Advice

I don't have that money, we are just a normal family.
The penalty is so out of wack with the crime - forgetting to chase up a V5c update during the pandemic. I have my back up now and happy to fight these people.

If you didnt update the V5, how did you get a Notice of Enforcement? And how many of them have you been given?

Finding where people live is what bailiffs do for a living. 

I am selling the car this weekend to my friend.

We are looking for somewhere to move to, were planning to move anyway.

Gonna stick to the "tough it out" plan.

I will post back in 6 months to update.

Thanks all for your advice.

Your advice about selling the car and moving is IMO foolish.

My suggestion to pay to halt escalation of the debt is sound unless you think you can buck the system which it now appears you do.

You're feeding us snippets, and unsupported snippets at that.

IMO, your reluctance to engage with any part of the procedure cannot end well for you, however many times you work out in a gym. The pen is mightier than the sword or dumbbells.

Give us accurate info so that your dilemma can be addressed. The longer you keep the council machine(and at present it is a machine) in the dark the less likely it is that they'll exercise discretion because their agent is incurring costs.

Submit OOTs AND write to the council. You write to them to give them far more info than TEC could ever be interested in, for example every PCN which is not the subject of the OOT! If you don't, then the only input which the council would get would be your individual OOTs which are copied to them.

You need a story. Why did you drive into the CAZ area so often between the dates? With respect, it's too difficult to trawl back through this thread with its distractions.

Dear Sir,
PCNs **;***;***;***........................

On *** out of the blue I received Notices of Enforcement in respect of two PCNs, nos. ** and *** for CAZ infringements. Thankfully your agent has given me until 9 August to pay in each case and this breathing space has allowed me to find out what these are all about and what procedures apply.

As you will see from the list of PCNs above, ** in total, it appears that my car has been driven into your Clean Air Zone area by different drivers between *** and *** accumulating £***** in penalties with potentially £***** (no. PCNs * £310) more in fees to be added by your enforcement agents.

These actions have not been carried out deliberately but because [** and this is where the thread is a little thin]. But as you might reason, to enter and not pay over such an extended period must surely be a positive act because I can see that you sent PCNs smartly after each occurrence and therefore the registered keeper must have known.

But I didn't. And I didn't because when I last changed my address I forgot to update my V5C, instead thinking that updating my driver's licence would be sufficient.

£****** of penalties and fees has brought home to me the error of my ways. However, I would ask the authority to agree that to penalise a registered keeper to this extent is disproportionate. I am reaching out to you in this way to avoid placing the burden of **** Out of Time submissions on the Traffic Enforcement Centre and similarly the authority by way of their response. I also understand that although the diligence of your agent has given them my current address, it is possible that many, if not all, of the warrants give my historical V5C address and would therefore need to be amended through the court process.

I am sending this letter by email as well as post in an endeavour to begin a speedy dialogue with the council regarding an outcome which suits the circumstances and is fair to all concerned.

*- OP, I've added reference to the warrants in order to forestall anyone suggesting that wrongly made out warrants is a panacea. It isn't, it's simply part of the process. IMO, in your mind you need to separate issues related to enforcement post-Orders for Recovery from the PCNs. TEC couldn't care two hoots whether you've got 1 or 101 PCNs, it's outside their remit.

Fairness in this case is a legal principle which applies to the council.

I give the above to stimulate discussion, but don't forget that 9 August is looming so you need to do something intra-procedure as opposed to hiding your car, which isn't the be all and end all anyway. They want money and only clamp to get your attention, not to remove and sell.

The status of this snippet is part of a non-legally binding National Standard which is 'offered as a helpful tool'. (para. 3 of the Introduction refers)

As regards the PCNs, local authority may, and in fact must, act on the basis that the DVLA address is correct unless notified otherwise by a competent person.

IMO, nothing about this, what I refer to as 'post OfR procedure', affects whether the OP should contact the council. The snippet has no effect on TEC's decision.

According to the OP, they're in the mire unless they can get the number of PCNs reduced, or at least their financial impact.

The council now know, or should know, where the OP lives and as observed by others they would not be able to duck and weave for the rest of eternity. 

I have online submitted and registered posted a letter based on HC kind contribution and other helpful comments in this thread to Bristol CC asking them to take on a view on the situation.

Other than that I don't have any other option.

When I mention judo etc. I am just referring to the fact these bailiff types from what I have seen, are invariably 55, male, overweight, grumpy. They probably get decent results out of intimidating single mums and other vulnerable people. The one I saw come to the door for a previous tenants immediately stood back into the footpath once I filled up the door. I'm not trying to make myself out to be all tough, just that these bailiff types are pretty cowardly and from what I can tell aren't very confident when they come up against someone who can stand their ground.

Date: 30/07/2024
Parking Services (PCN Appeals),
PO Box 3399,
Bristol City Council,
Bristol, BS1 9NE.

To whom it may concern,

Regarding these PCNs:

....


On 25/07/2024, out of the blue I received Notices of Enforcement in respect of four PCNs, nos. BS54238314, BS53986109, BS52018394, BS54026076 for CAZ infringements.

Thankfully your agent has given me until 9 August to pay in each case and this breathing space has allowed me to find out what these are all about and what procedures apply.

As you will see from the list of PCNs above, 28 in total, it appears that my car has been driven into your Clean Air Zone area by different drivers between 18/12/22 and 18/05/24 accumulating over £5000 in penalties with potentially over £8000 (no. PCNs x £310) more in fees to be added by your enforcement agents.

These actions have not been carried out deliberately but because the car in question is not subject to CAZ charges in Bath, where I often visit, nor any other CAZ in the country. I therefor not unreasonably was under the impression that my car was treated similarly in the Bristol CAZ zone.

But as you might reason, to enter and not pay over such an extended period must surely be a positive act because I can see that you sent PCNs smartly after each occurrence and therefore the registered keeper must have known.

But I didn't. And I didn't because when I last changed my address I forgot to update my V5C, instead thinking that updating my driver's licence would be sufficient.

Over £5000 of penalties and fees has brought home to me the error of my ways. However, I would ask the authority to agree that to penalise a registered keeper to this extent is disproportionate. I am reaching out to you in this way to avoid placing the burden of more than 20 Out of Time submissions on the Traffic Enforcement Centre and similarly the authority by way of their response. I also understand that although the diligence of your agent has given them my current address, it is possible that many, if not all, of the warrants give my historical V5C address and would therefore need to be amended through the court process.

I would also note that creditors must not issue a warrant knowing that the debtor is not at the address, as a means of tracing the debtor at no cost (Paragraph 12):

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/353396/taking-control-of-goods-national-standards.pdf

I am sending this letter by email as well as recorded post in an endeavour to begin a speedy dialogue with the council regarding an outcome which suits the circumstances and is fair to all concerned.

Yours faithfully,

....