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Civil penalty charge notices (Councils, TFL and so on) / Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs), County Court, Statutory Declaration Out of Time
« on: October 22, 2024, 01:27:42 am »
Hi,
My question relates to Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) issued to me by my local authority. I made two very stupid mistakes and am I now paying the price for these.
Firstly, when I moved to my current property/new part of the country about 2 years ago, I forgot to update my vehicle registration address with the DVLA and did not realise this until a few months ago. A ridiculously stupid mistake, given that I’m not normally a very organised individual. It was just one of those things that happened when I moved to a new city/busy job/house.
Secondly, I was unaware that a journey that I made several times in my current (new) local area involved driving on a road that had restrictions on it in the morning (a ‘Clean Schools Street’). Again, a really stupid mistake to have made. I think I relied too much on Google Maps/Waze and didn’t pay enough attention to street signs. On looking at Google maps street view now, it is obvious that the signage is clear and unobstructed and therefore it is entirely my fault that I did not notice it.
I am not looking for pity and I am certainly not trying to divert blame for my own failings. I accept that it was my responsibility to update my DVLA address in a timely manner and it was also my responsibility to be aware of street signs rather than rely on Google maps/GPS.
The issue is that because the PCNs were issued over a half a year ago and presumably sent to my old address (because my vehicle was still registered at my old address), I did not receive any of them. I received some debt collection letters recently for unpaid PCNs and I have paid these off to prevent the bailiffs from knocking on the door. This all prompted me to realise that I had not updated my DVLA address. I did of course update the address the moment I realised.
I spoke with someone at the council who gave me a list of outstanding/overdue PCNs dating back to the beginning of this year and apart from the ‘sent to debt collection agency’ ones (which I have now paid), the rest of them state:
“The Penalty Charge Notice has been registered with Northampton County Court as full payment has not been received. It is too late at this stage to make representations. Your options are either file a Statutory Declaration / Witness Statement if any of the grounds are applicable or pay the amount due as stated on the Order for Recovery of Unpaid Penalty Charge within 21 days.”
At this late stage, am I technically able to submit an Out Of Time Statutory Declaration to the Traffic Enforcement Centre? And given that this situation is the result of two mistakes entirely of my doing, would submitting Statutory Declarations be futile, or is there a possibility that the amount I owe would be reduced given that I never received the PCNs in the first place (albeit because it was my own fault for not updating my address)?
Or should I just accept that I need to pay the full amount?
The final issue is that I have never received any correspondence from the Court; this must have all gone to my previous address as well. If filing Statutory Declarations is likely to be futile, how do I now pay for all of these charges? When I type the individual PCN numbers into the council website, there is an option to pay, but if they have gone to the Court already, should I be paying on the council website or via another means (directly with the court)? And how would I do this if I have never received any correspondence (eg case numbers) from the Court? I have found an email address for the Court and I intend to email them a summary of what has happened, with my old address and new address, in the hope that they will send me some sort of correspondence to my new address.
Is there anything else you would do at this stage (apart from cry in despair).
Thanks for your help.
My question relates to Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) issued to me by my local authority. I made two very stupid mistakes and am I now paying the price for these.
Firstly, when I moved to my current property/new part of the country about 2 years ago, I forgot to update my vehicle registration address with the DVLA and did not realise this until a few months ago. A ridiculously stupid mistake, given that I’m not normally a very organised individual. It was just one of those things that happened when I moved to a new city/busy job/house.
Secondly, I was unaware that a journey that I made several times in my current (new) local area involved driving on a road that had restrictions on it in the morning (a ‘Clean Schools Street’). Again, a really stupid mistake to have made. I think I relied too much on Google Maps/Waze and didn’t pay enough attention to street signs. On looking at Google maps street view now, it is obvious that the signage is clear and unobstructed and therefore it is entirely my fault that I did not notice it.
I am not looking for pity and I am certainly not trying to divert blame for my own failings. I accept that it was my responsibility to update my DVLA address in a timely manner and it was also my responsibility to be aware of street signs rather than rely on Google maps/GPS.
The issue is that because the PCNs were issued over a half a year ago and presumably sent to my old address (because my vehicle was still registered at my old address), I did not receive any of them. I received some debt collection letters recently for unpaid PCNs and I have paid these off to prevent the bailiffs from knocking on the door. This all prompted me to realise that I had not updated my DVLA address. I did of course update the address the moment I realised.
I spoke with someone at the council who gave me a list of outstanding/overdue PCNs dating back to the beginning of this year and apart from the ‘sent to debt collection agency’ ones (which I have now paid), the rest of them state:
“The Penalty Charge Notice has been registered with Northampton County Court as full payment has not been received. It is too late at this stage to make representations. Your options are either file a Statutory Declaration / Witness Statement if any of the grounds are applicable or pay the amount due as stated on the Order for Recovery of Unpaid Penalty Charge within 21 days.”
At this late stage, am I technically able to submit an Out Of Time Statutory Declaration to the Traffic Enforcement Centre? And given that this situation is the result of two mistakes entirely of my doing, would submitting Statutory Declarations be futile, or is there a possibility that the amount I owe would be reduced given that I never received the PCNs in the first place (albeit because it was my own fault for not updating my address)?
Or should I just accept that I need to pay the full amount?
The final issue is that I have never received any correspondence from the Court; this must have all gone to my previous address as well. If filing Statutory Declarations is likely to be futile, how do I now pay for all of these charges? When I type the individual PCN numbers into the council website, there is an option to pay, but if they have gone to the Court already, should I be paying on the council website or via another means (directly with the court)? And how would I do this if I have never received any correspondence (eg case numbers) from the Court? I have found an email address for the Court and I intend to email them a summary of what has happened, with my old address and new address, in the hope that they will send me some sort of correspondence to my new address.
Is there anything else you would do at this stage (apart from cry in despair).
Thanks for your help.