Free Traffic Legal Advice
Live cases legal advice => Civil penalty charge notices (Councils, TFL and so on) => Topic started by: user789 on September 05, 2025, 02:59:05 am
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Thank you all for your help. The charge was cancelled.
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It was all correct at the time. I have sold the car over the past few days yes.
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Once again. The long delay in issuing the (defective) PCN is unexplained.
Is this your own vehicle? Not any more
Is the V5c in your name? It was, but I no longer own this vehicle.
Is the address on the V5c correct and current?
Is the car leased, rented or a company car or similar? At the time I owned the car.
Was the name and address of the Registered Keeper correct and current on the 27th of March 2024? It looks like it may not have been.
The V5c registration document was last updated on the 6th September, last Saturday. Was that you selling the car.
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Yes use Mr Andersen's draft. I just meant intervene now rather than wait for it to progress further.
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I would stick with my longer draft.
There's nothing to be gained by being minimalist and expecting them to join up dots.
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Thank you. I will.
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They had 28 days to serve the PCN so that's something you can add to receiving a zero PCN. Just send them a note using the challenge option and enclose a pic of the PCN.
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Once again. The long delay in issuing the (defective) PCN is unexplained.
Is this your own vehicle? Not any more
Is the V5c in your name? It was, but I no longer own this vehicle.
Is the address on the V5c correct and current?
Is the car leased, rented or a company car or similar? At the time I owned the car.
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@Enceladus, this issue which, as we know, has such procedural importance has been virtually drowned out by other matters by the OP, but their answer is here in reply #9:
'This was my own vehicle at the time. I no longer own it and I owned it, no finance etc.'
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Once again. The long delay in issuing the (defective) PCN is unexplained.
Is this your own vehicle?
Is the V5c in your name?
Is the address on the V5c correct and current?
Is the car leased, rented or a company car or similar?
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Apologies, I had it in my mind it was £250. You are right; it is, in fact, £240. Sorry for the annoyance.
Thank you very much for your detailed explanation and suggestions for how to proceed. I really do appreciate your sharing your expertise with me. I will make contact with them as suggested.
Best wishes.
The CC is for £240 not £250.
Why do you continue to refer to £250?
IMO, you could submit an Statutory Declaration on the grounds:
You did not receive the Penalty Charge Notice in question.
IMO, this applies because the CC states:
'The above Penalty Charge has not been paid ..and..as a result has now increased to £240.'
You did NOT receive a PCN which demanded a penalty of £160(which is the implicit penalty which gives rise to a surcharged value of £240).
It's not your burden to check PCN numbers and to explain the authority's c**k-up.
But before this I would go with stamfordman's suggestion to write to the authority - after all, so far they've NOT been made aware of any of this and their system has churned out this nonsense.
But I would draft along the following lines:
Sir,
Please find enclosed a copy of a Penalty Charge Notice for £0.00 issued by yourselves approx. 4 months after an alleged contravention, namely 23 March and 11 July 2025 respectively.
I also invite you to see the enclosed Charge Certificate in which you've calculated that a penalty of £0.00 when surcharged by 50% achieves a value of £240.
Until now I've not responded to your invalid documents in the (mistaken) belief that your internal procedures applied correctly would pick up your mistakes, however, I've been advised that I should write to you as I cannot be confident that you would rectify your mistakes unaided.
For the purposes of regulatory correctness, I require confirmation from you that the PCN for £0.00 has been cancelled.
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Thank you; your advice is appreciated.
I've checked online and there's no history section for the PCN but there is the option to challenge with an online form and you can attach things.
But is this a leased car and is it your name and address on the PCN. If it's your PCN then you can just tell them they've wrongly issued the charge certificate as you had nothing to pay.
(https://i.ibb.co/bjzv7Rvg/A772-FBA7-FFA5-4-ABC-BA39-982-C0-AC9-E102-ezgif-com-video-to-gif-converter.gif)
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Hi H C,
Thank you for taking time to reply.
Yes the date is correct it was in March. I was surprised to get this in July. It arrived on the 18th July and the other letter came on Wednesday, 4th September.
This was my own vehicle at the time. I no longer own it and I owned it, no finance etc.
The other page of each letter only contains Lewisham Council's generic data protection information, which is why I did not include them.
Yes £240 is the correct amount, not £250. Apologies. I only have a charge certificate.
Thank you.
Please post up all of the remaining pages of the postal PCN and also for the Charge Cert. At the moment we only have pg1 of each. Please only redact your name and address where present. Please leave everything else visible.
The alleged contravention was on 27th March 2025. The postal PCN is dated 11th July 2025.
That's an extended delay and maybe out of time.
So is this your own vehicle?
Is the V5c in your name?
Is the address on the V5c correct and current?
Is the car leased, rented or a company car or similar?
The PCN does say the penalty is £0.00, at least that's what it says on page 1 of the PCN. A PCN has to correctly state the penalty so I would say this PCN is a defective notice.
I'm aware that some London authorities, eg TFL, have sent out £0.00 PCNs as warning notices when new arrangements have been made, such as ULEZ expansion. But they usually say it's a warning and they don't follow up with a Charge Cert.
I assume your references to £250 being due are typos. A Charge Cert in your case would be for £240. An Order for Recovery would be for £250. So do you have an OfR? I guess not but please let's be certain.
There is no "ground" on a statutory declaration that applies to a defective notice. It's really for missing notices.
So I suggest that you submit a late representation/challenge to the Council pointing out that their PCN is served out of time (assuming it is confirmed) and is defective because the amount of the charge is not accurately stated. Ask them to cancel the PCN and Charge Cert.
You are late with your representation, I calculate that the deadline was the 11th August. Strictly speaking they are no longer obliged to consider your representations, so you're relying on common sense prevailing. Common sense is rare within Local Authorities as that implies work.
Please answer the questions before you try and submit anything.
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The CC is for £240 not £250.
Why do you continue to refer to £250?
IMO, you could submit an Statutory Declaration on the grounds:
You did not receive the Penalty Charge Notice in question.
IMO, this applies because the CC states:
'The above Penalty Charge has not been paid ..and..as a result has now increased to £240.'
You did NOT receive a PCN which demanded a penalty of £160(which is the implicit penalty which gives rise to a surcharged value of £240).
It's not your burden to check PCN numbers and to explain the authority's c**k-up.
But before this I would go with stamfordman's suggestion to write to the authority - after all, so far they've NOT been made aware of any of this and their system has churned out this nonsense.
But I would draft along the following lines:
Sir,
Please find enclosed a copy of a Penalty Charge Notice for £0.00 issued by yourselves approx. 4 months after an alleged contravention, namely 23 March and 11 July 2025 respectively.
I also invite you to see the enclosed Charge Certificate in which you've calculated that a penalty of £0.00 when surcharged by 50% achieves a value of £240.
Until now I've not responded to your invalid documents in the (mistaken) belief that your internal procedures applied correctly would pick up your mistakes, however, I've been advised that I should write to you as I cannot be confident that you would rectify your mistakes unaided.
For the purposes of regulatory correctness, I require confirmation from you that the PCN for £0.00 has been cancelled.
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I've checked online and there's no history section for the PCN but there is the option to challenge with an online form and you can attach things.
But is this a leased car and is it your name and address on the PCN. If it's your PCN then you can just tell them they've wrongly issued the charge certificate as you had nothing to pay.
(https://i.ibb.co/bjzv7Rvg/A772-FBA7-FFA5-4-ABC-BA39-982-C0-AC9-E102-ezgif-com-video-to-gif-converter.gif)
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Please post up all of the remaining pages of the postal PCN and also for the Charge Cert. At the moment we only have pg1 of each. Please only redact your name and address where present. Please leave everything else visible.
The alleged contravention was on 27th March 2025. The postal PCN is dated 11th July 2025.
That's an extended delay and maybe out of time.
So is this your own vehicle?
Is the V5c in your name?
Is the address on the V5c correct and current?
Is the car leased, rented or a company car or similar?
The PCN does say the penalty is £0.00, at least that's what it says on page 1 of the PCN. A PCN has to correctly state the penalty so I would say this PCN is a defective notice.
I'm aware that some London authorities, eg TFL, have sent out £0.00 PCNs as warning notices when new arrangements have been made, such as ULEZ expansion. But they usually say it's a warning and they don't follow up with a Charge Cert.
I assume your references to £250 being due are typos. A Charge Cert in your case would be for £240. An Order for Recovery would be for £250. So do you have an OfR? I guess not but please let's be certain.
There is no "ground" on a statutory declaration that applies to a defective notice. It's really for missing notices.
So I suggest that you submit a late representation/challenge to the Council pointing out that their PCN is served out of time (assuming it is confirmed) and is defective because the amount of the charge is not accurately stated. Ask them to cancel the PCN and Charge Cert.
You are late with your representation, I calculate that the deadline was the 11th August. Strictly speaking they are no longer obliged to consider your representations, so you're relying on common sense prevailing. Common sense is rare within Local Authorities as that implies work.
Please answer the questions before you try and submit anything.
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Hi,
Sorry about that. The details are:
PCN: ZY11767725
VRM: LO64 LLP
there are two images if you scroll to the right, you will see the PCN.
Thanks.
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I can only see a charge certificate and you've blanked the PCN number and VRM. What are they.
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Below are the images added as a link. I cannot work out how to upload them here.
I have edited the original post as suggested.
Hi all,
I’d really appreciate some advice regarding a £0 PCN and subsequent Charge Certificate I’ve received from Lewisham Council.
Charge Certificate Issued: 1 September 2025
Amount Now Owed: £250
The original PCN I received on 11 July 2025 stated the fine was £0.00 — which I assumed was either a cancellation or administrative error. There was no indication of any payment needed, so I didn’t take action.
Now, I’ve received a Charge Certificate demanding £250 (50% more than a standard fine), and stating I’ve lost the right to appeal.
The original PCN letter showing the charge as £0.00 (photos available if needed).
My Questions:
I can still challenge this PCN despite the Charge Certificate saying it’s too late. How should I do this or do I even have a case for doing so?
Does the £0.00 figure on the PCN give me a strong argument that I was misled or the PCN was invalid?
Is it better to wait for the Order for Recovery and file a Statutory Declaration?
I’d really appreciate any legal insight or guidance on how to proceed.
Thanks in advance! (https://www.canva.com/design/DAGyJQbJ9AM/HrXHb0uTFIqlWp35KkvInw/view?utm_content=DAGyJQbJ9AM&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=uniquelinks&utlId=h4c2b48486b)
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+1, you must post the PCN and CC.
Pl forget about the details of the contravention, they're secondary when compared to procedure.
And pl check your post:
Title: ' .....£250 charge....';
Body of post: 'Charge Certificate Issued: 1 September 2025
Amount Now Owed: £240'
?
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Please show the PCN and charge cert.
This is in the wrong place, I have asked mods to move it.
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Hi all,
I’d really appreciate some advice regarding a PCN and subsequent Charge Certificate I’ve received from Lewisham Council.
Location: Giffin Street, SE8 (Lewisham)
Date of Alleged Contravention: 27 March 2025
Time: 20:16
Contravention Code: 29J – Failing to comply with a one-way restriction
Initial PCN Date: 11 July 2025
PCN Fine Listed: £0.00
Charge Certificate Issued: 1 September 2025
Amount Now Owed: £240
On the day in question, I was returning home when I encountered a full closure of Deptford Church Street due to works being carried out, including the installation of new traffic lights and Tideway tunnelling project. As a result, there was no access to my normal route, and I had no choice but to go up a one-way street (Giffin Street) in the opposite direction in order to get home.
There were no clear diversion signs or marshals. The road closure had effectively made it impossible to comply with the one-way restriction.
The original PCN I received on 11 July 2025 stated the fine was £0.00 — which I assumed was either a cancellation or administrative error. There was no indication of any payment needed, so I didn’t take action.
Now, I’ve received a Charge Certificate demanding £240 (50% more than a standard fine), and stating I’ve lost the right to appeal.
Evidence I Have:
A Facebook post from Lewisham Council confirming the ongoing works on Deptford Church Street at that time:
https://www.facebook.com/LewishamCouncil/posts/1047952577369951/[/img]
Official Tideway June 2025 Info Sheet showing road closures:
https://tideway.london/media/7379/depcs-information-sheet-june-2025.pdf
The original PCN letter showing the charge as £0.00 (photos available if needed).
My Questions:
I can still challenge this PCN despite the Charge Certificate saying it’s too late. How should I do this or do I even have a case for doing so?
Does the £0.00 figure on the PCN give me a strong argument that I was misled or the PCN was invalid?
Given the road closure was probably council-approved and made the one-way restriction unavoidable, can this be classed as a valid exemption or mitigating circumstance?
Is it better to wait for the Order for Recovery and file a Statutory Declaration?
I genuinely did not intend to break any road rules — I was simply trying to get home with no alternative route due to the council’s own works. I’d really appreciate any legal insight or guidance on how to proceed.
Thanks in advance!