Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hi @cp8759 and the team,

On January 24th of this year, I received a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) for parking my electric vehicle on a red route to charge it at the fastest available charger in the area. The contravention occurred outside 34 Christchurch Road SW1 on October 20th, 2024, at 09:55, and the outstanding amount is £240. There is a sign indicating that the space is reserved for electric taxis for one hour, but my PCN was issued by a static enforcement camera. I appealed the notice, explaining that my car was running out of charge and I had to charge it for an hour and seven minutes in an emergency. Unfortunately, I was unaware of the sign and that the space was not supposed to be available to the public.
I did not receive any rejection notification via email or post, despite checking my spam folder. When I called TfL, I was informed that nothing could be done, the discount period was lost, and I would have to pay the full amount of £240. I inquired about appealing and was told to wait for an "order of recovery," which would include a form I need to complete.

There seems to be a pattern developing where somehow the letter of rejection is not received either via email or post. This is the second time it has happened to me.

I am seeking advice on what to do next, as I do not want to lose the discount period. I am willing to pay £80.

Thank you for your help.

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As above, you need to show us the actual PCN and all other paperwork you have received. This might be an easy one but you're very short on time, so please try and get back to us today.

OK, thanks. So is the name and address on the Charge Certificate correct and the same as on the V5C Registration Certificate ?

OP, this is pretty standard fare. It's a parking contravention therefore this procedure applies:

https://www.londontribunals.gov.uk/eat/understanding-enforcement-process/parking-penalty-charge-notice-enforcement-process

You're at the Charge Certificate stage. Nothing can happen until the 14-day period has elapsed (last day is 30 March). After this the only procedural route open to the authority is to issue an Order for Recovery.

To fast-forward.....ultimately the matter would be referred to the adjudicator for their directions which would include you providing evidence that you submitted formal reps in-time and in due form to TfL. Once the adjudicator is satisfied on this point the case would be listed as an appeal. (it's an odd quirk that even when the authority advise the adjudicator that a NOR was sent they still seem to want to see the reps despite their submission not being in dispute!).

So IMO all you can do in the interim is to keep your eye on their website post 30 March to see when the amount outstanding increases to £250 at which point this tells you that an Order for Recovery has been issued. You're allowed 21 days in which to respond to the Traffic Enforcement Centre, so no rush, just come back here when you see £250 on the scoreboard.

You should also dig out your reps pl.

@Razz while H C Andersen is not wrong, there's a much quicker and easier way to deal with this. We know a notice of rejection was issued on 6 February, because the TFL website says so:



In the circumstances, the quickest and easiest way to deal with this is to file an out of time appeal with London Tribunals.

The first step is to make a subject access request to dpo@tfl.gov.uk asking for a copy of the notice of rejection to be emailed to you, remember you will need to attach either a copy of your ID or proof of address. You don't need to get the response before you can file an appeal, but it's best to get the ball rolling just in case you need it later.

In the meantime I'll drop you a PM in case you'd like me to help you with the out of time application to the tribunal. Assuming the tribunal agrees to consider the case, the email from the tribunal confirming that your appeal will be heard has the effect of cancelling the charge certificate, and this saves you having to faff about with TEC, or going to have forms sworn, or waiting for weeks and weeks for TEC to process them and then for TFL to refer the case to the tribunal.