Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hi all.

Out of the blue, I received a court summons stating that Tower Hamlets were after fees for an unpaid PCN for "failing to comply with a restriction on vehicles entering a pedestrian zone" on "West Tenter Street".

The thing is, I remember driving through that road for a work meeting at 10am and being very careful not to enter during the displayed restricted hours which were 8.13-9.15am and 3-3.45pm.

The letter offered three options for defence: challenge not accepted, challenge not responded to or non receipt of pcn.

I had to go to my local court to make a statutory declaration of non receipt of PCN.

The court cancelled the claim and Tower Hamlets send me the PCN.

Their image and letter states that I entered at 9.26 am. This is obviously outside the sign restrictions (and even their website confirms this) but their images conveniently do not show the full sign.

I challenged stating that I did not agree that a contravention occurred.

They then sent me a letter stating they cancelled the PCN, and apologising for any inconvenience caused.

I can only assume their automated systems do not match the stated restrictions.

I am so angry. Imagine the number of drivers obeying the law yet receiving this BS PCN. I would bet that most of them pay believing they actually made an error.

Me going to the local court to make a declaration, and parking there, and driving to the location again to take pictures (I wanted to make sure I wasn't going crazy) all cost me money.

Can I claim any of this (and the anxiety and stress) back? I'd like to donate it to this site.

I'd like to punish them so that they don't do this to anyone else.

What a waste of the courts' time, and taxpayer funds.

Thanks for advice.

IMO, the answer to your question is no, you cannot 'claim any of this (and the anxiety and stress) back?'. Your remedy was procedural i.e. get the Order for Recovery(OfR) revoked etc.

I can understand your frustration, but IMO are mixing two issues.

The Order for Recovery (from the council, but issued under the authority of the Traffic Enforcement Centre(the 'court')) was NOT cancelled because the contravention did not occur, it was cancelled because you asserted to TEC that you did not receive the PCN.

The PCN however was cancelled because you made representations to the council that the contravention did not occur.

From your account, your expenses and stress related to the OfR(they couldn't refer to the PCN because at that time you hadn't seen it). TEC revoke OfRs hundreds of times a week and if every time they did a council was on the hook for a claim from a motorist, then you could see that this might encourage '000s of motorists to do this even when PCNs were received because TEC doesn't ask for proof of non-receipt(which would be impossible) it acts simply on a motorist's say-so(signed statement of truth).

You then have the apparently clearly wrong PCN allegation which was dealt with from home without any fuss or bother.

If the former you want to punish the council for a process that makes you fill in a couple of pieces of paper?

you seem somewhat derisive of people who can be very distressed at court or the threat of court papers.

When you say went to court do you mean you filled in a TE9 witness statement, possibly accompanied by the TE7 out of time form? Or you had to physically attend a court.

Me going to the local court to make a declaration, and parking there and driving to the location again to take pictures (I wanted to make sure I wasn't going crazy) all cost me money.

Apologies if I have not been clear.

To clarify, yes, I think my post is going astray. There have been huge delays with my mail and sometimes I've been waiting for important mail and it hasn't turned up.

I had to go to the local court to sign a witness statement. I understand that it is not the council's fault that my post does not get to me in a timely manner, but the following is the councils fault:

1-Not setting the auto PCN system to match the sign restriction times/website restrictions times;
2-Not checking the data before sending the second council letter
3-Not checking the data before complaining to the court to get them to send me an order for recovery
4-Not checking the data before sending me the PCN a second time

These are 4 failures by the council that are easily resolved, and if was, would have saved taxpayer money. It seems the council are relying on automated systems and in doing so are sending threats to law abiding motorists who may pay a false charge because they may not remember specific details out of fear of an increased charge.

I understand automated systems need to be relied upon to save money but that shouldn't stop human intervention at any of the 4 points above.

It seems to me that this is just a money making scam. I was just trying to find a way to get them to open their eyes to the situation so it doesn't happen again.

Thanks for your responses.

1-Not setting the auto PCN system to match the sign restriction times/website restrictions times;
2-Not checking the data before sending the second council letter
3-Not checking the data before complaining to the court to get them to send me an order for recovery
4-Not checking the data before sending me the PCN a second time

Sorry but you are wrong as regards addresses.

The council MUST use the info provided by DVLA as regards the registered keeper on the day of contravention in ALL correspondence unless you notify them to the contrary.
You could put in place mail forwarding if you move to prevent such problems or notify the council to use a new address for correspondence.

No need to apologise my friend.

The address was all correct. I am not blaming the council for my mail.

When I wrote "not checking data" I mean "not checking system restriction timing data against actual restriction timing data on road signs and website"

@stamf
or it could be the tip of the iceberg.