Free Traffic Legal Advice
Live cases legal advice => Civil penalty charge notices (Councils, TFL and so on) => Topic started by: ComputerGuy on November 04, 2024, 10:38:37 pm
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27/09/2024 = Old BB expiry date
28/09/2024 = New BB start date
??/10/2024 = Congestion Charge Exemption renewal attempt
18/10/2024 = Congestion Charge Exemption expiry
21/10/2024 = Monday = 1st PCN non payment of CC
??/10/2024 = Expected PCNs for non payment of CC
01/11/2024 = Friday = Paid CC for 1st Nov
01/11/2024 = Friday = Autopay setup.
Is all the above correct?
When you submit your representation then please include a copy of both sides of your new BB. Especially since the new badge was issued and became valid before your congestion charge exemption expired. Make it clear that you did have a valid BB and were entitled to an exemption on the relevant dates. There was no intent to avoid paying a charge as there was none to pay. Unfortunetly the CC exemption renewal process went wrong. You only became aware that your exemption was no longer valid and in place when you received the first PCN on Nov 1st. Had you known there was a problem then you would have made arrangements to pay and would have tried the exemption renewal again. Terribly sorry, an honest mistake, I won't do it again.
The problem you face is that if you appeal to the Adjudicator then you'll be looking at £180 per PCN if you lose. That's the full PCN rate and 7 PCNs amount to £1260. And I don't see that you have a case, only mitigation, and the Adjudicator cannot consider mitigation. The fact is that you had a 3 week grace period to get your exemption renewed and you failed to do so. Making you pay all 7 of the penalty charges is disproportionate, £1260 for an honest mistake. It's not in the interests of justice to pursue the PCNs. Remind them that you are a disabled person as evidenced by the Blue Badge (copy enclosed).
It's highly likely you'll lose at adjudication. what you need to happen is that TFL use their discretion to cancel as many PCNs as they ware willing to before any appeal. So I would consider offering to pay the unpaid charge underlying each PCN if they agree to cancel the PCNs. And so on in that vein.
Get a representation delivered within the discount window and they will probably reoffer the discount if they reject. So there's nothing to lose by having a go.
Post up a draft of what you want to say for scrutiny. And what's the number of the PCN you've had and the car reg number?
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Hi Encleadus,
Thank you for your response!
The 25 day extension is true, however only applicable to the issuing borough and not others.
I was told this as my new BB was going to be delivered later than the expiry date of previous.
Yes it’s via email and attachment, no physical letter.
When I did the renewal it didnt ask for ID just the new blue badge. ID request came after they sent an email and asking to send everything again via email and not the portal.
Yes expired on 18/10
I initially did it around beginning of October with my white badge application as that’s when the new BB came. However, there doesn’t seem to be a record of this.
27/09/2024 old expiry date
New BB is 28/09/2024 (though I received it beginning of October)
No renewal and no confirmation
I submitted an application again on the weekend, only because I received the PCN the Friday evening.
Yeh, in hindsight I should have checked, but I assumed because theres no confirmation of receiving the application there’s no confirmation of being successful.
Gonna have to be a Hail Mary and hope someone’s forgiving at TFL.. which is unlikely lol.
Thanks for your assistance!
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The BB exemption does not seem to expire on the expiry date of the BB itself. It looks like it expires 21 days after the BB expiry. However I can't find where that grace period is defined.
TFL send a renewal notice 25 days before the badge expires. The notice is a PDF attachment to an email. The email is sent to the address you provided when you set up the London Road User Charging Account. I can't remember if they post a copy of the notice as well. I suspect they do, or did.
To renew the exemption you need to upload proof of ID as well as the requested details from the new badge. Once your renewal passes scrutiny TFL will email confirmation. Once again the notice is a PDF attached to an email. I'm not sure if they also send a postal hard copy.
I suspect that you can't renew until you are within the 25 day window, even though you might have the received the new BB earlier. You can request renewal of a Blue Badge within 12 weeks of expiry.
So your BB discount for the CC expired 18/10/2024?
When did you apply to renew the Congestion Charge BB discount?
What is the expiry date on the old BB?
What is the commencement date of the new BB?
Did you receive the renewal notice?
Did the receive the confirmation notice?
I think you're going to have to to write a humble and contrite letter of represenation to TFL explaining what happened. Make the point that you were always eligible for the discount but you fell foul of the renewal process.
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Hi all,
Hoping to get some guidance on the above. I will keep it brief.
My blue badge discount expired on 18/10. I had (99%) renewed it by uploading my new blue badge on the system a few weeks prior to expiry.
I received a PCN on 01/11 for a contravention of not paying congestion charge on 21/10. There will be more coming as I drive in 4 days a week.
When updating on the TFL site doesn't give you a confirmation of submission of details ( i uploaded the blue badge again this weekend and no email confirmation). I did get an email from CClondon stating that i need to email my BB details across which I had already done via their site, so it doesn't make sense.
I'm now facing 7 PCN's at £90 each. I paid for Friday 01/11 and set up autopay to avoid any further PCN's and now awaiting on approval of my blue badge application which will get accepted 100%.
Do I have a good chance of challenging these PCN's? What the hell do I do? £630 is crazy!