Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hello!

I recently had my appeal against a clamping fine rejected, and now I find myself with the option to take the matter to court. I'm reaching out to the community for some legal advice to help me decide whether it's worth defending my case.

Background:

I’m based in England. My car was clamped by TEC due to an unpaid parking fine issued by TFL in Islington, which I contend was unfairly enforced. I paid £700 to get it removed.

Despite my efforts to update my driving license with my new address, I inadvertently overlooked updating my V5c logbook, resulting in the fine notice being sent to my previous home address which I had no acknowledgment of.

Current Situation:
After my appeal was rejected, I have the option to take the case to court. However, it comes with costs – approximately £100 for a hearing without a judge and £300 for a hearing with a judge.

My Questions:
1. Has anyone faced a similar situation, and if so, what was the outcome?
2. Is it advisable to proceed to court given the costs involved?
3. Are there any legal experts or individuals with knowledge of UK traffic law who can shed light on the likelihood of success in such cases?

I understand that this isn't legal advice, but any insights, experiences, or guidance you could provide would be greatly appreciated. I'm trying to make an informed decision about whether to pursue this further.

Thank you in advance for your assistance!

+1

We see lots of cases on here where people have failed to update their V5 when moving to a new address. The outcome is very seldom favourable to the OP, because they are in a mess of their own making, in not updating the V5.

Yes, it is a harsh lesson, but unfortunately there is no easy get-out, I'm afraid. Just for your information, the only avenue to revert the matter back to the original PCN is to submit an Out-of-Time Statutory Declaration to TEC that you didn't receive the PCN.  Problem is that you have to explain why you are submitting out-of-time, and your reason would not be allowable. In addition, the council (or TfL) can and will object to your submission, whereupon it is rejected.  You can request a County Court judge review. This costs about £110 for a papers-based review, or £255 for an interview with the judge. Neither of these sums is recoverable, and if the review is refused, you'll still have the bailiffs to pay..

I have a different take on it.

You might be dealing with impropriety with the enforcement (clamping) rather than the actual traffic contravention.

Have a look through this https://www.beatthebailiffs.org/stop-parking-ticket-bailifffs.html  and say which of these applies to you.

I acknowledge not updating a V5 with the DVLA is no excuse, but it's no excuse for bailiffs to breach enforcement regulations by clamping without giving statutory notices.