Free Traffic Legal Advice
Live cases legal advice => Civil penalty charge notices (Councils, TFL and so on) => Topic started by: paddymcg on November 20, 2025, 08:09:01 pm
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What mendacious and disingenuous text they have put on the Charge Certificate, one of the worst I've seen.
It is total tosh for them to say the debt will be registered "at the county court". They can only register the debt at the Traffic Enforcement Centre based at Northampton. This is a form of county court, but has no courtrooms or judges, just a team of court officers whose sole duty is to register PCNs, and to also process receipts of Statutory Declarations or Witness Statements. There is no prospect whatever of a CCJ, the legislation for PCNs and their enforcement which goes back to 1990 was written specifically to exclude local county courts.
When they register the debt at TEC, they must then send you an Order for Recovery (OfR). This adds £10 onto the £240 of the Charge Certificate, and also includes the relevant form for submitting a declaration that you didn't receive the PCN. What you submit depends on the legislation the PCN was served under. Looking at the alleged contravention, the PCN will have been served under the London Local Authorities and Transport for London Act 2003, so will require that you submit a Statutory Declaration (Form PE3).
You should definitely NOT pay the amount demanded. Wait until the 14 days to pay expires then after about a week, phone the Traffic Enforcement Centre and ask if the PCN has been registered, then when it has, or when you receive the Order for Recovery, you can submit the form. The CC and OfR will be cancelled by TEC, and the council will have to send you another PCN which you can appeal or pay at the discounted rate. Note that a Statutory Declaration has to be witnessed, so you mustn't sign and date it until your witness is with you. A solicitor will witness for a small fee, or it can be witnessed free at your local county court.
The above description of the process may look a bit daunting, but it is all routine stuff nowadays, and nothing to get worked up about.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/form-pe3-challenge-an-unpaid-penalty-charge-notice
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Should be this process: https://www.ftla.uk/announcements/charge-certificates-london-local-authorities-and-tfl-act-2003-london-local-autho/
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I've added images to the original post
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Please post the charge certificate (redact name and address). There are processes to get it reset to PCN stage, but varies depending on what legislation it was issued under. At the very least you should be able to get back to the original discounted rate.
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Hello
I would be grateful for some advice regarding the following.
I have received a Penalty Charge Certificate dated 11/11/2025 from Lewisham Council, for a traffic offence on 07/09/2025. The letter states that I have been sent a Penalty Charge Notice for this offence. I have not received any previous correspondence regarding this PCN and am now liable to pay £240, 50% more than the original fine. The letter states that I cannot appeal this Penalty Charge, despite having no previous knowledge of it. Any advice or help would be welcome.
Thank you
F
(https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/r6egkhvwljmge3qkqii1p/ACLXEruB0_2EF3ZkqFb93uM?rlkey=4612lbu9ox5hsf3baamdblh1j&st=zoap4awe&dl=0)https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/r6egkhvwljmge3qkqii1p/ACLXEruB0_2EF3ZkqFb93uM?rlkey=4612lbu9ox5hsf3baamdblh1j&st=zoap4awe&dl=0 (https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/r6egkhvwljmge3qkqii1p/ACLXEruB0_2EF3ZkqFb93uM?rlkey=4612lbu9ox5hsf3baamdblh1j&st=zoap4awe&dl=0)