On December 18th 2025 a PCN of 160£ was issued for my motorcycle for accessing a pedestrian only zone in Tower Hamlets London.
The charge was delivered to my address probably on Dec 22 or after, that is after I had flown to Italy for Christmas holidays.
I come back to London on the night of Jan 5th and I arrive home after midnight. I find the PCN in the mail and I immediately pay it at around 2:30 AM.
The system gives me the opportunity to pay half the amount, 80£ as (at least so I thought then) is the case when you pay immediately. I take it, pay it, get receipt of the payment, and with a clean conscience I go to sleep and forget about the whole thing.
Fast forward to Feb 2nd and I receive in the post another letter claiming that I failed to pay the whole amount, and that I made no representation, so now I have to pay the total amount of 240£.
I find this ridiculous. I did not decide the amount the pay, the system gave me the option, why now do I have to pay because their system is clearly faulty?
So in summary
1) I did not receive the communication in time to pay half the price (80£) since I was abroad,
2) when I paid ,the system gave me the option to pay 80£ anyway, so I thought (erroneously) this was still the active option of paying half (how the 14 days are calculated with clear post delays escapes me)
3) I receive a communication confirming I paid 80£ but need to pay 160£ more and that I do not have
made any representation.
Seems quite unfair since I have no fault the letter was sent just over Christmas time and I did pay as soon as I had the option.
Do I have to resign to paying the whole amount?
Any suggestion/advice?