Free Traffic Legal Advice

Good morning and thank you in advance for your help! 

I'll start by saying that the car I am driving is a contract hire and Hyundai already paid the fine on my behalf,but also gave me a letter of authorisation in case I want to make an appeal. I didn't think I could appeal a PCN that has already been paid, so that's why I am including this info.

The fine was issued because I enetered the lane too early. I rememeber realising I did that and mentioning it to my partner at the time. 

The PCN is linked below, there's a picture included. The position of the car shows that I have just entered the lane. Would it be worth it to appeal on the basis that I did not interfere with or block bus travel (no buses around), and the lane ended several feet from where I contravened?

PCN

Thank you!

To start at the beginning, this is the email I have receoieved yesterday, first time I heard of this PCN

Hello

We are getting in touch as we have received a Bus Lane Contravention for the vehicle DY74BUP. This has been paid by us and recharged to you along with our admin fee of £30, in accordance with the terms and conditions of our agreement.

Details are as follows and a copy of the fine can be obtained by using the hyperlink provided below.

Date: 16/05/2025 10:48
Location: BATH ROAD
Reference: RG84099266
Issuing Authority: Reading Borough Council
Fine value:  £35.00

Administration Fee:  £30.00

 

Link to Document

As the fine has now been paid on your behalf, there is nothing for you to do as the fine value and the administration fee will be taken by direct debit. Details are also provided on the invoice that will be sent to you in the post.

Formal grounds on which you may make an appeal are detailed on the notice via the hyperlink above. For your convenience, we have attached a third-party permission letter which you must enclose with any correspondence you send to the Issuing Authority, this will allow the authority to liaise directly with you. Should you be successful, please forward your cancellation notice to us and we will issue a refund to you via the Direct Debit bank details we hold for you on our system.

If your appeal to the Issuing Authority is rejected, depending on the membership of the Issuing Authority; you may be able to take a further appeal to either POPLA or the IAS.

If the Issuing Authority is a member of the “British Parking Association” (BPA) then under the provisions of the BPA you are entitled to make an appeal to POPLA within 28 days of the PCN issue date (https://www.popla.co.uk/). POPLA is an independent service free to all motorists who want to appeal against a Parking Charge Notice.

If the Issuing Authority is a member of the “International Parking Community” (IPC) then under the provisions of the IPC you may be entitled to make an appeal to the Independent Appeals Service (IAS) within 21 days of the PCN issue date (https://www.theias.org/ ). The IAS is Certified Alternative Dispute Resolution provider administered by the IPC.

If you have any further questions, please get in touch using the details below – we would be happy to help.

 

Kind Regards

 

Administration Team

This is what the third party permission letter says:

Dear Sir/Madam

LETTER OF AUTHORISATION
Reg Number: DY74BUP
Incident Number: RG84099266

I refer to the above numbered Bus Lane Contravention document received date 28/05/2025, incident dated 16/05/2025 10:48

We are a vehicle leasing company and we hereby give permission for the below mentioned driver to appeal and discuss the above mentioned:

The name and address of the Hirer/Lessee is:

NAME
ADDRESS

This is a long term lease which commenced on 14/10/2024 and is due on 13/10/2026.

Thank you for your assistance.
Yours faithfully

And this is what the agreement says:

Traffic offences and fines
All traffic offences and fines are your responsibility and should be paid immediately. If you fail to pay any fines, we may pay them
on your behalf and recharge you along with an administration charge. Where possible we will transfer liability for any fines or
penalties direct to you.

I should've looked at that before! They did not offer me the opportunity to pay or challenge the PCN.

IMO, act upon their letter of authority and appeal on their behalf. This has NOTHING to do with the contravention - so there's no need to mention it -but is purely procedural.

Dear Sir,
PCN **********

We write to you with regard to the above PCN which your records will show has been paid.

We have subsequently been advised that we could have made representations to the authority to which end we have now authorised ****** to make representations on our behalf for the purpose of relieving us of liability and giving you the opportunity to enforce against **** direct(see enclosed letter of authority) The council's financial position would be neutral in this matter because we paid at the discount which you could be able to recover from ***** in any event.


Our grounds of representation are:

(c)in a case where the penalty charge notice has been served on the recipient on the basis that he was the owner of the vehicle concerned, that the recipient—

(i)never was the owner of the vehicle in question;

(ii)had ceased to be its owner before the detection date; or

(iii)became its owner after the detection date;

In our case (c)(ii) applies because on the detection date the vehicle was on long-term lease to ***** who therefore became the 'owner' for the purposes of Regulation 2(2) of The Bus Lane Contraventions (Penalty Charges, Adjudication and Enforcement) (England) Regulations 2005 by virtue of being the person by whom the vehicle was kept.

Their being the keeper is shown by the lease contract which is enclosed.

The council should refund the sum of *** as follows ********.


(for later if necessary: https://www.londontribunals.gov.uk/sites/default/files/keycases/francis-v-wandsworth.pdf)

Am I correct in assuming all the *** get replaced with my name? Yes.

I don't have Hyundai's details for refund, would it be me again? Nice try!

No. You'll need to find out. But this shouldn't delay you submitting what you've got. Hyundai have undertaken to repay you. Just amend the reps to and weave in something along the lines of 'we will advise you separately of any arrangements for refunds'

But remember, at all times you are not you, you are Hyundai. By virtue of their letter you are authorised to act on their behalf. Your chance would(hopefully will) come when you get your own PCN.