Free Traffic Legal Advice

Is there anything else that can be added? I am living every day worried about bailiffs coming to take my car or whatever else bailiffs do.

This forum is fantastic, and I feel that I have learned a bit about the traffic ticket system from using it, but I still don’t feel I know how to proceed with my situation. Enceladus - what would you do in my situation? What about you, Neil B - would you simply accept and pay a fine which has been applied to you unfairly (the full PCN amount + bailiff fees)? cp8759 - what would you advise if your partner/ son/ daughter was in this situation?

I am truly grateful for all of the help by everyone, but I am reading conflicting information like the N244 being a “false economy”. Can this be explained further? If I wish to go to a hearing, then can I get my fees back?

I have explained myself as best I know how to - I do not know how to explain why I did not receive letters that I did not receive or know about; I’m an educated person but it feels as though I’m supposed to make up some kind of explanation out of magic.

I proposed that I could change the owner of my car - would this prevent the bailiffs from being able to take it? I can’t afford the fine, I can’t afford to pay lawyers, and I can’t afford to lose my car.

I literally check this post before I go to sleep and the first thing I do is check again when I wake up in the morning - I am stressed to the maximum and I can’t reiterate it any more - because I unknowingly turned right at a left-only turn; is that really justification for me potentially losing my car? This is madness to me. Thereafter, I didn’t know there was a PCN, nor any of the other letters that are required to be sent. I don’t know how many letters I haven’t received over the years - because I haven’t received them.

I also asked about the fact that I declared under oath in front of a lawyer, with the explicit explanation that doing so incorrectly was an act of perjury which has penalties including fines and jail, doesn’t this hold any weight if I then proceed to challenge further? In my view it obviously should - because I did so truthfully and understanding the significance of that declaration. Thank you all again for your input so far. I’d really appreciate any kind of help with how to go forward - the level of stress I am under with this is difficult to portray but it is a serious weight on me.

Thanks,
MPM

Before deciding to file an N244 for review, these reviews can be costly and are often denied.
You need to gather more details from your narrative, specifically regarding whether the address on the warrant of control is your current address. You mentioned being in Asia, but we need to clarify the dates and whether your trip abroad coincided with the contravention debt or the issue date on the Notice of Enforcement (NOE).

It is crucial to understand that receiving an NOE indicates that the warrant address is current. This is significant as it means the NOE would have been sent to a different address, namely the one on the contravention vehicle's V5.

Your car is at risk of bailiff enforcement because the suspension of the enforcement power was lifted when the TEC refused your application. If your car is on finance, it is exempt from enforcement. To offer some reassurance, paragraph 18(a)(d) of Schedule 12 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 prohibits bailiffs from using force to enter a domestic property when recovering an unpaid traffic contravention debt. Therefore, the most you can expect is strong language and a series of demanding letters before the bailiffs move on.

Thank you for the reply.

Re: being in Asia, that was January this year, which is when CDER sent the first letter I attached - dated 15/1/24. Thereafter, an enforcement agent attended my property and put the second (hand-written) letter through my door on 31/1/24. I then returned from Asia on 1/2/24 and seen these letters. The third and final letter came in the post that same week. Meanwhile, that same week, I had contacted Citizen's Advice and Brent Council and it was Brent Council who advised me of the TEC and to file an out of time statement as I hadn't received any PCN.

As to the contravention, it was on 22/7/23 (according to CDER Group letters). I don't deny that I did it; I was unaware at the time that it was a contravention (due to the signage being poor) but I fully admit to turning right in a left-only junction - which from looking on Google, this is known to be a common spot for people getting tickets.

My issue is that I never received a PCN regarding it and the first I knew of it was when I returned from Asia on 1/2/24 to find that I had 2 letters from CDER Group and another following shortly thereafter.

This is why I filed for the out of time, stating I hadn't known anything about a) the contravention or b) that I had a PCN against me for it.

I expected that I'd then receive the original PCN and I'd accept the error of my way and pay the fine. However, when I received the letter from TEC on Wednesday saying it had been refused, I'm just at a complete loss. I can't afford to go to lawyers and get them involved and I can't afford the absurd fee that the enforcement company have applied so that's why I'm worried about them returning.

Thank you for trying to ease the nerves somewhat. However, my car is parked on my driveway - so, if they return then they could take it?

This is a situation I have never found myself in before and is all because I turned right at a stupid junction which has poor signage and which many other people have done the same thing - for years. I didn't receive a PCN so I knew nothing about it but I've then tried to put things right and get the PCN applied so I can accept fault and pay it - only to have the 'system' say no. And why, exactly? Because someone on a power trip decided so? This has made me extremely frustrated with our legal system. When I try to put things right, it's simply whether someone at TEC decides so?

I am and have been completely willing to accept fault and pay the PCN since finding out about it but CDER Group referencing my "continual and wilful refusal to pay [my] outstanding debt" and their additional, ludicrous, fees are two things which I am not willing to accept.

From your response, I think you are suggesting that it may not be best to submit an N244. But if I don't then what options do I have? Wait for bailiffs to move on? What if they don't? Is there anything I can do to resolve all of this? If I sell the car or change the owner of the car to my mother-in-law, will that prevent them from being able to take the car away?

Thanks,
MPM

Hello all, I have found this site via an MSE forum post. Unfortunately, I did not find it when I previously tried to find out some information to try to resolve a bad situation I find myself in:

I have a PCN against me from Brent Council which I did not receive. I was unaware of this until February this year, due to a bailiff attending my property. I was unaware of the contravention, and the PCN and then when the bailiff turned up at my door I was travelling in the Philippines. I seen the lady on my camera but assumed she was a cold-caller as we get a lot of them in my area. When I returned home on 1st February, I was greeted by a hand-written letter from her.

I immediately tried to find out what was happening but couldn't find any further information than what was provided on the hand-written letter and a letter which had been delivered about 2 weeks earlier (which I hadn't received due to being in Asia). When I tried calling the number provided - I got no answer.

When I contacted CDER Group, I was met with hostility and basically told pay it or else, so I contacted Citizen's Advice and Brent Council. Brent Council were helpful and the person I spoke with advised that I contact County Court "to file an out of time declaration on grounds that I did not receive correspondence" - and provided me the phone number (I quote this as I made a note of it at the time and I still have it). I spoke with someone at TEC who emailed me Forms PE2 and PE3 which I completed and contacted a local lawyer to witness me signing at their earliest opportunity. I then scanned them and sent them back to the TEC by email - receiving an email confirmation on 12/2/24.

Thereafter, I haven't heard anything until today when I received a letter from TEC to say that my "application to file a Statutory Declaration/Witness Statement out of time ... has been refused."

I am honestly feeling angry and am at a complete loss.

I have, since filing the forms, found out where the contravention is alleged and it is somewhere that I have visited and, indeed, have incorrectly turned right many times in the past - as the signage is/ was faded. So, I now understand and accept that I have indeed performed a turn where I should not have done (and have since followed the left-turn only when visiting that part of road); I accept full responsibility for the error on my part, but I didn't know about it or receive any PCN for it until a bailiff turned up at my door.

If I had received the PCN then I'd have checked it and, upon finding that I'd been in the wrong - paid the PCN; just as I have done on 2 other previous occasions during my driving lifetime.

I would be truly grateful for any help on how I could move forward with this as I really feel let down by the system right now and a) worrying about bailiffs, and b) having a very significant fine outstanding is causing huge stress on me - all for something I was unaware of and did not receive the correct paperwork for.

Please see attached documents below of CDER Paperwork, TEC Forms PE2 and PE3, and TEC's letter to myself received today.

Thanks,
MPM.