Free Traffic Legal Advice

Quote from: Duggan95 on May 22, 2026, 09:40:31 am

Quote from: Incandescent on May 21, 2026, 11:59:55 pm

Just to expand a bit on what Tincombe has said.

The council cannot enforce the PCN debt until they have registered it with the Traffic Enforcement Centre, (TEC) (a form of county court, but with no courts or judges). They can only do this after the period for payment of the Charge Certificate has expired. Some councils are quite prompt, but others can take weeks.  Registration means the £240 has £10 added to it, being the TEC fee. They then send you an Order for Recovery, at which point you can submit a Witness Statement to TEC ticking the box for "submitted reps but didn't receive Notice of Rejection". TEC will then revert the process to the stage where you submitted representations but got no rejection letter.

Thank you for this, I suppose my biggest worry is if the penalty keeps increasing

Your maximum exposure is the £250 after they have registered the debt. Only if you do nothing at all will it get bigger, because the council will instruct bailiffs to collect the debt.

So be proactive and you'll easily get the matter reverted as explained here.  Witness Statements for parking contraventions are submitted in their thousands, it is a routine matter, and nothing to get worked up about.

Could I just ask when would I know to get the ball rolling with this? Like will they notify me via letter etc.

Just to expand a bit on what Tincombe has said.

The council cannot enforce the PCN debt until they have registered it with the Traffic Enforcement Centre, (TEC) (a form of county court, but with no courts or judges). They can only do this after the period for payment of the Charge Certificate has expired. Some councils are quite prompt, but others can take weeks.  Registration means the £240 has £10 added to it, being the TEC fee. They then send you an Order for Recovery, at which point you can submit a Witness Statement to TEC ticking the box for "submitted reps but didn't receive Notice of Rejection". TEC will then revert the process to the stage where you submitted representations but got no rejection letter.

Thank you for this, I suppose my biggest worry is if the penalty keeps increasing

So they got your reps but you didn't get the notice of rejection. Not a loading bay but poorly marked no loading on double yellows near to your car.

Yes that's correct, apart from two letters saying the charge has/had increased.

Do I have a leg to stand on here, or is it a lost cause?

Quote from: Duggan95 on May 21, 2026, 04:06:13 pm

Following the appeals process. No-one has contacted to say whether an appeal was unsuccessful etc

I think you need to tell us what the PCNs were for or better still show them.
Served on your vehicle or by post, etc.

It was one PCN for being parked in a no loading bay (I had no choice as I am a disabled driver and needed to pick up emergency medication). It was a physical ticket on my car. I appealed this, didn't hear back, it increased to £160. I then appealed this decision, and got another letter in the post today stating it had been increased to £240 as "no representations have been made". I have proof that I made these reps and am 100% certain no correspondence from the council has been received

Following the appeals process. No-one has contacted to say whether an appeal was unsuccessful etc