Free Traffic Legal Advice

Thanks everyone for your comments and advice.

I took some legal advice on my car insurance (LV=) and I decided to pay instead of making a Statutory Declaration. If TfL took it to court, I would have to argue that I was 'not notified' about the rejection of my representation, even though I was specifically warned not to assume the representation was accepted.

However, I think it's pretty obvious to anybody who has had to pay a PCN, CC, or any other charge TfL levies on motorists, that they make every effort to make payment as ambiguous as they possibly can in order to maximise the amount they get from you, while staying just adroit of the legal framework. Before Auto Pay was rolled out a couple of years ago, you needed to know if you needed to pay CC. So if you weren't sure if your car had been in the CC zone (e.g. if you lent your car to someone), you had two choices:

• Pay the charge (TfL is glad to have your money even if your car was parked in your garage!)
• Wait for a fine in the post

Yes, TfL monitors vehicles entering the CC zone, and instead of looking up your details in order to issue a legally-regulated driving toll, it ISSUES A FINE. Whoever came up with that system is an evil genius.

Between this and the illegitimate bus lane fine I got from Brent council I've had it, I'm not taking any more chances in London.

PCN and Charge Certificate: https://imgur.com/a/c2Q75Ba



PCN status history with my email address removed: https://imgur.com/a/ZF9AqSB




If you look closely at the photo on the PCN, you can see that the license plate LR21DJJ belongs to the car at the top of the photo and is not the main subject. On this basis I made a representation on the TfL website straight away. The PCN status history on the website says that TfL sent me a confirmation email with the subject 'Representation receipted' which I don't have a record of.



I received a Charge Certificate from TfL today. I checked the PCN status history on the website, and apparently the representation was rejected in December. The history doesn't show the reason for the rejection or any attempt to notify me. I called the red routes phone number at 0343 222 2222 and explained that I don't think I broke the rules and the evidence they showed me proves nothing. I was informed that:

• my car was in the junction for 7 seconds
• TfL will continue with the enforcement process
• My next options are either to pay the PCN, or wait for the Order for Recovery and appeal to the Traffic Enforcement Centre with a Statutory Declaration

I checked the PCN spreadsheet Google doc in the sticky, and according to TfL's Enforcement Operations Agreement document 6.3 indicates if the car is stationary for more than 5 seconds when even partially inside the box, the representation is rejected. It's a fair cop! However...



tfl.gov.uk states I may make a Statutory Declaration if "You made a representation to us but did not receive a reply - This only applies if you made a representation within the time limit to the correct address provided on the PCN and did not receive a response from us. It does not apply if you received a reply you disagreed with or if we refused to consider your representation because it was late."



I think I may be able to make a Statutory Declaration on this point? As I mentioned, the PCN status history on the website says I was sent an email on receipt, but I was not sent an email telling me about the rejection, and I still do not know why my representation was rejected. However, I do not know what my entitlements are according to TfL rules. I would be obliged if anyone has any information about whether I should wait and make a Statutory Declaration or if I should try to do something else.