I've received an enforcement notice for a traffic violation that happened in Lambeth on 12th Nov 2024. At no point have I received any PCN's relating to this. However, I've realised that I'd not updated the address on my V5c after moving a couple of years ago, so that may explain why?
However... the location of the offence occurred in a road I'm not familiar with, so I looked it up on Google Maps. It's 7 miles away from my home address and not an area I've ever had any cause to drive through.
I contacted the CDER group who are now dealing with the dept recovery (standing at £280) and obtained the PCN number so I could view the evidence. To my surprise, the vehicle and number plate appeared to be mine. However, on closer inspection, the vehicle has details that do not match mine, so I am positive this isn't my car...
Last year in December, my car was stolen, but thankfully I had a tracker device fitted, so I was able to report the location to the police and eventually it was recovered. (Driven 200 miles overnight)
The police photos of my vehicle during recovery show it fitted with different plates. I've reviewed the details using the online MOT checker service and this shows these plates belonging to a vehicle same make, colour and model as mine - just a slightly lower spec. My belief is that the car captured by CCTV is most likely the originator of the plates fitted to my car when it was stolen, that has been fitted with a clone of my registration plates.
I've reported the clone to the police, so that I have a reference number.
But how do I appeal this PCN, since I can't despute via Lambeth Council since it's been pased onto CDER?
Should I pay the fine (as suggested by CDNER) to avoid further escalation - but then I'll still need to fight the PCN and then claim my money back.
Thanks for reading and any help really appreciated!
