How Can I Challenge A North West Leicestershire PCN?
This blog serves to answer the question “How Can I Challenge A North West Leicestershire PCN?” Your North West Leicestershire PCN challenge should either convince the Leicestershire County Council that the contravention never occurred or that it occurred as a result of unforeseen mitigating circumstances which affected your driving abilities. The evidence you attach with your formal representation should be the focus of the grounds of your appeal, as you describe your mitigating circumstances or make the assertion that the traffic contravention never occurred.
How Can I Challenge A North West Leicestershire PCN?
You can challenge your North West Leicestershire PCN by accessing your online formal representation form on the Leicestershire County Council website or by writing a written formal representation on the reverse of your Notice to Owner Document. The text of your appeal should be written down after you have decided on which evidence material to upload (or attach with) your PCN challenge as this will form the basis of your formal representation.
You can ensure that you have the right kind of evidence to support your case by preserving used pay and display tickets, paid PCN fines, any medical reports about your health conditions and video recordings of your road journeys in the North West Leicestershire District Council.
The video footage of your vehicle’s movement through areas with moving traffic and bus lane restrictions in place is the most important piece of evidence to collect beforehand. Other evidence documents can be easily recovered from your possession and uploaded onto your computer within a day or two. So unless you designate another person travelling regularly with you to film these video clips or remember to use the assistance of a passenger in your vehicle for creating these recordings, you will not have any proof to suggest that a traffic contravention never occurred.
If you wish to attach evidence for mitigating circumstances to challenge a North West Leicestershire PCN such as medical certificates to prove a serious health condition which influenced your driving actions and led to the traffic violation, you can connect the symptoms of the disease to being unable to properly brake or steer your vehicle (as your limbs were incapacitated). Some photographs or a video to show how you actually go through these events can further strengthen your case, although one piece of authentic evidence should be enough.
In many cases, PCNs are not enforceable and you may be able to win your case and avoid having to pay your fine.
You could begin the process by speaking to an online solicitor for as little as £5.
What is a Penalty Charge Notice?
A Penalty Charge Notice is a monetary penalty issued to drivers or motorists for committing certain traffic contraventions including violating Parking, Bus Lane and Moving Traffic restrictions. A PCN is issued for failing to follow Parking zone, bus lane enforcement and moving traffic restrictions mentioned in the Road Traffic Act 1984 and the Traffic Management Act 2004.
A penalty charge notice can be handed to you by a Civil Enforcement Officer or dispatched to your (DVLA) residential address by post. CCTV cameras and Civil Enforcement Officers observe traffic contraventions before a violation is detected and the vehicle is charged with a PCN.
A PCN might also be issued for failing to pay road charges on time. You have 28 days to decide how and if you would like to challenge your Penalty Charge Notice. After 28 days if you have neither paid nor challenged your PCN, you will be sent a charge certificate from the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.
If you don’t challenge a PCN, you should pay the fine within 28 days, otherwise, its amount will increase by 50%. A £70 PCN will be worth £105 if you pay it in the 14 days after receiving your charge certificate.
What is the procedure for appealing against a North West Leicestershire PCN?
You can submit a formal representation to your North West Leicestershire PCN by writing a letter addressed to the Leicestershire County Council or by filling in the online formal representation form on the council’s official website.
You need to brainstorm reasons for challenging a North West Leicestershire PCN from the day of the incident and list them down in word processing software or on paper. It is essential to have some authentic evidence to attach with your PCN appeal in the form of video footage of the traffic violation, medical certificates explaining your mitigating circumstances, or pay and display tickets.
The evidence must be matched with the grounds for your appeal before describing the incident from your point of view. Your rough formal representation can be edited for clarity multiple times before it is ready to attach to your online appeal to the Leicestershire County Council. You need to visit the Leicestershire County Council website to submit a formal representation to your PCN. You have to open this webpage to enter your PCN number, vehicle registration number and a Web Code mentioned on your Penalty Charge Notice. You need to click on “Continue” to view your PCN details before filling in the online appeals form.
It is essential to upload authentic evidence material with your PCN challenge to describe your mitigating circumstances to the Leicestershire County Council and for explaining your point of view of the events which took place at the traffic violation scene. If you made a video clip of your traffic contravention, you should save snapshots from it by using a video player or video editing software.
Most video players such as VLC player allow you to slow down your video frame by frame and thus take ( a collection of) snapshots to attach with your North West Leicestershire PCN challenge.The text of your appeal must state the relevant contravention code on your PCN and explain how you attempted to avoid the error (supported by photos or video footage).
Once you have proofread your appeal to eliminate any reasons for your challenge which might convey a disregard for traffic contravention codes enforced in the North West Leicestershire District Council (by mixing up the contraventions) or reasons which involve forgetfulness to justify your actions, you can submit the formal representation.
You can also submit an informal representation to your North West Leicestershire PCN (CCTV Bus Lane PCN or a Parking PCN served by a CEO which had to be delivered by post) by accessing your PCN details here. To access the form you need to enter your PCN number and vehicle registration number on this page.
You have to fill out the informal representation form by typing your full name, email address, and the contents of your informal representation. Once you are sure that you have constructed a strong appeals case to make the council grant you a formal representation, you can submit your form. The informal appeals stage is applicable to PCNs sent by post.
Another way to send in your North West Leicestershire PCN challenge is by mail. You can write a formal representation to the Leicestershire County Council on the reverse of your “Notice to Owner” document. This handwritten appeal should be composed gradually by incorporating all the available evidence material to support the grounds for your challenge and should be able to convince the council of your mitigating circumstances (or other acceptable reasons).
You should view evidence relating to your North West Leicestershire PCN online before writing down your appeal, so that you end up focusing on refuting the contents of the CCTV video or photographs or your traffic violation. Your PCN appeals form and all accompanying evidence documents (enclosed in an envelope) need to be sent to:
Leicestershire County Council Note Processing Centre,
PO Box 9983,
Leicester,
LE3 7DD
The Leicestershire County Council will respond to your PCN appeal and your PCN will be cancelled or you will be sent a Notice of Rejection or Representations, which needs to be received promptly in order to contest the notice with the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.
How Can I Pay my North West Leicestershire PCN?
You can pay your North West Leicestershire PCN on the Leicestershire County Council’s online payments page, by sending a check or postal order to the Leicestershire Note Processing Centre or by calling on the Leicestershire County Council’s automated payments hotline.
If you prefer to make your PCN fine payment online, you can visit the Leicestershire County Council website. After opening this webpage you need to enter your PCN number and your vehicle registration number. Once all these details have been correctly entered, you can click on “Next” to access your North West Leicestershire PCN account.. Your PCN details will be displayed and you can also view CCTV evidence relating to your case before paying your PCN
For paying your PCN you will be asked for your payment card details. The Leicestershire County Council accepts Mastercard, Visa Card, Maestro Card and Visa Electron card for PCN fine payments. Diners card and American Express card are not accepted for making PCN payments. Once you have entered the credit or debit card information you can proceed to paying your fine. It must be noted that paying your North West Leicestershire PCN eliminates any possibility for challenging the Penalty Charge Notice.
Your North West Leicestershire PCN can also be paid by calling on the Leicestershire County Council’s telephone payments service. You have to dial 0116 3057953 and enter your PCN number by using a * sign for the letters in the code. After this you will have to enter your payment card details. This automated payments service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You should wait to receive a confirmation code before ending your call.
The Leicestershire County Council also accepts PCN fine payments (for your North West Leicestershire PCN) by post. You need to send a check or postal order to “Leicestershire County Council”. You can write down your PCN Number and Vehicle Registration Number on the back of your check or postal order.
Send your PCN fine payment to this address:
LCC Notice Processing Centre,
PO Box 9983,
Leicester,
LE3 7DD
How much is the PCN fine for each of the 3 kinds of PCNs served in the North West Leicestershire District Council?
A Parking PCN in the North West Leicestershire District Council is served for violating higher or lower level parking restrictions. You have to pay £70 for committing a higher level parking contravention and £50 for a lower level parking contravention. If you pay the parking fine within 14 days, you will just be paying £35 or £25 as a 50% discount is applicable to your payment.
For failing to comply with a bus lane contravention code or a moving traffic restriction in the North West Leicestershire District Council, you will be charged a £70 Penalty Charge Notice. The 50% early payment discount reduces both these types of PCN fines to £35 if a bus lane PCN is paid within 21 days and a moving traffic PCN is paid within 14 days
What will happen if I don’t pay my North West Leicestershire PCN within the 28-day limit?
You should not ignore traffic contraventions or the Penalty Charge Notices resulting from them or cultivate a careless attitude towards driving in the North West Leicestershire Council. As per your driving license rules, you are bound to abide by Parking, Bus Lane, and Moving Traffic contravention codes in the North West Leicestershire District Council.
If you neither pay your North West Leicestershire PCN within 28 days nor decide to appeal against it, you will be sent a charge certificate from the Traffic Penalty Tribunal. The charge certificate increases your PCN fine by 50%, which means you will be paying £105 (or £75) now. You should pay the charge certificate within 14 days as it cannot be appealed and ignoring the charge certificate may result in the filing of a court order (for recovery of debts) against you by the Leicestershire County Council.
You will be sent a “Notice of Debt Registration” and a witness certificate from the Traffic Penalty Tribunal, if you don’t pay the charge certificate amount within 14 days. The unpaid amount will be treated as a debt with the Traffic Enforcement Centre at the Northampton County Court.
The court order for debt recovery enforces that the charge certificate amount must be paid in full within 21 days or the county court will have to use additional powers to recover the money from your possession which means employing Enforcement Agents to (contact you or) visit your personal premises.
Can I Dispute A North West Leicestershire PCN with the Traffic Penalty Tribunal if the Council dismisses my appeal?
Yes, you can dispute the decision of the Leicestershire County Council in your “Notice of Rejection of Representations” with the Traffic Penalty Tribunal. The Traffic Penalty Tribunal website requires you to enter details given on your Notice of Rejection of Representations, after opening this webpage.
You can watch this instructional video here to learn about your challenge process. The video clearly explains how to use the online service offered by the Traffic Penalty Tribunal. On the Traffic Penalty Tribunal webpage, you will first have to select the type of PCN you were served by the Leicestershire County Council (shown on the bottom part of the page).
After clicking on your specific type of Penalty Charge Notice, you should select “England” (Outside London). In the window which opens up, you should click on the orange box which reads “If you don’t agree with the PCN, you can make representations against it”.
After viewing the instructions on the following page, you need to click on “Start your appeal here” at the bottom of the webpage You will then be required to enter your Vehicle Registration Number, the reference number from the “Notice of Rejection” letter from the Leicestershire County Council, and your PCN number for which the appeal was rejected on this page.
You can use the online service to challenge multiple “Notices of Rejection” simultaneously. You will require a valid email address to create an account on the Traffic Penalty Tribunal website. You have to upload a copy of your “Notice of Rejection of Representations” letter to your application by using the Traffic Penalty Tribunal’s online portal.
You can upload evidence such as video clips of your traffic violation scenes (taken from inside your vehicle), medical certificates from a certified General Practitioner, maps of the area showing the exact distance your vehicle travelled inside a no-entry zone, and scanned copies of “pay and display” tickets. You should construct a strong appeals case to communicate your mitigating circumstances or to deliver your assertion that the traffic violation never occurred.
The Traffic Penalty Tribunal should be able to ascertain the legitimacy of your situation by viewing evidence material uploaded to the PCN appeals system.
Your appeal of the “Notice of Rejection of Representations” should be submitted to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal within 28 days of receiving your Notification of Rejection from the Leicestershire County Council. You must avail yourself of this chance of a free and independent hearing of your case.
You will be able to contact the Traffic Penalty Tribunal adjudicator during the formulation of your appeal. The result of your appeal will be communicated to you within 14-28 days of submitting your representation. If the adjudicator decides the case in your favour, the PCN will be cancelled by the Leicestershire County Council.
Conclusion
This blog post addressed the question “How Can I Challenge A North West Leicestershire PCN?” You need to create a habit of preserving your used parking permits, recording daily videos of your road journeys in North West Leicestershire District Council and keeping scanned copies of medical certificates relating to any serious health condition you might be experiencing. You can only have this evidence with you to upload with your formal representation if you regularly maintain a folder on your computer with data relating to your driving actions and mitigating circumstances.