Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hello,

On 22/07/23 I crossed the mersey gateway bridge and forgot to pay the charge within 48 hours.
On 19/08/23 we moved house.
On 20/08/23 I informed everyone that needed to know that we'd moved house including changing the address on my V5C. (I did not set up a forwarding address with Royal Mail as I had switched everything over and had asked the new owners to pass any mail on to their neighbours - they did not)

I recieved no letters, or PCNs or any reminders of any kind.

On 10/01/24 I recieved a phone call from Marston Bailiffs informing me that I owed £381 and if I didnt pay in full they would be at my address the next day to remove items to the value of.

The officer seemingly did not have our new address as he had been to my old house, but when i spoke to him on the phone he told me the address had been updated and I panicked and paid in full.

I was told I needed to fill in a TE7 and a TE9 when I called merseyflow to query what had happened.
Eveyone I spoke to told me to pay in full and deal with it afterwards.

However I am now trying to fill in these forms and I am not sure if theyre right, I also dont have a penalty charge no. having never recieved one.

Can anyone offer me advice on how to proceed, I would have paid the inital fine if I had received it straight away.

Crossing - July 2023

You moved - 19 Aug.
First contact from bailiff - Jan. 2024

Payment - Jan. 2024 presumably.

I am now trying to fill in these forms[TE7 and TE9]- Oct. 2024.

TE7 and TE9 are the correct forms.

Have you obtained copies of the PCN, charge certificate etc. from the authority? The PCN is vitally important because according to your timeline it could have been served late, therefore not served at all: 22 July -19 August is more than 28 days which is probably the applicable period.

Do you have the address details actually on your V5C prior to you moving? NB. this is not the same question as 'do you know your address' because the authority use V5C details?

To be frank, if the PCN was deemed served in law before you moved(dated/posted no later than 16 Aug.) then IMO you'll struggle to get an OOT accepted based upon just your word that you didn't receive the PCN.

 

I understand that receiving a penalty charge notice (PCN) and then having a bailiff arrive unexpectedly, resulting in the distress of having your goods removed and money taken, can be a harrowing experience.

Probably, the Warrant of Control does not reflect your current address. The bailiff company may have located you and proceeded with enforcement actions, constituting a breach of Civil Procedure Rule 75.7(7). This rule mandates that creditors reapply for a warrant using your updated address.

You have the right to apply under Civil Procedure Rule 84.13 to reclaim the funds that were taken from you. The first step is to verify whether the Warrant is associated with an incorrect address, and I can assist you with this process.

If you have moved or the vehicle's V5 registration document displays an address different from the one the bailiff visited, I recommend contacting the Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC) at 0300 123 1059.

Begin by providing the PCN number, and the TEC call centre agent will conduct a "security check," during which you must confirm your postcode. If you provide the postcode for your old address or the one listed on your vehicle's V5, and the TEC accepts it while you pass the security check, the warranty is defective. Consequently, you may apply to recover the funds taken from you.