How Can I Challenge A Parking PCN With The Contravention Code 28?
This blog serves to answer the question “How Can I Challenge A Parking PCN With The Contravention Code 28?” You need to avoid parking your vehicle at a spot in front of a pedestrian crossing and be mindful of this on street parking contravention whenever you are driving in your local council. Evidence to be used for supporting your PCN challenge needs to be collected beforehand by recording video clips of your parking actions or road journeys.
How Can I Challenge A Parking PCN With The Contravention Code 28?
You can challenge a parking PCN with the contravention code 28 by writing a PCN challenge on the council website’s online page or by mailing in a response to your local council on the Notice to Owner document.
You can only challenge a Parking PCN With The Contravention code 28 if you did not breach the restriction as no mitigating circumstances can explain parking your vehicle in front of a pedestrian crossing. It is essential for you to be aware of the existence of this contravention whenever you choose to park your vehicle in an “on street” location.
It is important for you to know which grounds for challenging this kind of PCN will be accepted so that you don’t end up wasting your challenge by writing the wrong reasons. If you are sending in your PCN challenge online, you can attach a video clip of your vehicle at the specific date and time. This video can show that your vehicle was either travelling along a road or parked somewhere, other than this location adjacent to the pedestrian crossing.
If you choose to send in your PCN challenge by mail, the evidence showing your vehicle needs to be converted into photographs. So you need to play your recorded video clip in a video editing software and select a few snapshots that show your vehicle parked or moving at a certain location. This video must show an authentic date stamp that matches the moments of your traffic violation.
Why Have I Been Served A Parking PCN With The Contravention Code 28?
You have been served a Parking PCN with the Contravention code 28 for leaving your vehicle parked in an area adjacent to (or in front of) to a pedestrian crossing point. This type of traffic violation is usually detected by a CCTV camera and the only way to contest the PCN is to clearly prove that you did not stop or park your vehicle at such a location.
In order to support your PCN challenge you must have evidence to show that your vehicle passed by the location without stopping or did park somewhere else (where it was legally permissible to do so). You are asserting that your vehicle was being driven at the date and time mentioned on your PCN or parked safely somewhere else.
These grounds of challenging the parking PCN essentially put forward the case that the traffic violation didn’t happen. The evidence to be used for supporting your appeal needs to be a video clip which is filmed by someone travelling with you in your vehicle. You should record daily videos of your road journeys and save them in a folder on your computer.
Can I submit a challenge to a PCN with the contravention code 28 on the council website?
Yes, you can challenge a PCN with the contravention code 28, on the council website. You need to access the online formal representation form on the council website by entering your PCN number and your Vehicle Registration Number.
In some cases you have to enter your PCN Number and your Contravention Code Number which is 28. Some councils also require you to enter a Web Code mentioned on your Penalty Charge Notice to access your Penalty Charge Notice details.
You need to select a formal or informal representation option on the website depending on the kind of PCN you have received. An informal challenge is only required for a CCTV Bus Lane PCN or a Parking PCN served by a CEO which had to be delivered by post.
So generally if your PCN has been sent by mail, you have to submit an informal representation on the council website or by email, before you can get a chance to register a formal representation. If you left the scene of the traffic violation without taking your Penalty Charge Notice or were charged by a CCTV camera, you need to register an informal representation first.
On some council websites you have to select the contravention code (mentioned on your PCN) from a list of options and then choose an acceptable reason for your appeal from another list, Here it is important to understand that this reason that is being chosen will also be the same reason you will mention in your written formal representation and you have to provide authentic evidence material for proving the grounds of your appeal as well.
It is advisable to prepare the contents of your PCN challenge by typing it into a word processor first and eliminating any reasons which cannot be supported by available evidence material or which do not conform to the established grounds for challenging the relevant contravention code.
Once you have ensured that your explanation reinforces the evidence material you are going to upload with your formal representation, you can copy the text into the online formal representation form.
Evidence to use with your PCN challenge can be stored inside a folder on your computer by filming video clips of your road journeys in the council, which can be used to show how the traffic contravention never happened. Other evidence files in picture formats or pdf, doc formats can also be saved in separate folders for easy access.
You never know when you might be handed a PCN so it is essential to always be prepared with evidence from your vehicle’s journeys in the parking zones of the council. It will be difficult for you to suddenly come up with evidence to use with a PCN challenge within 28 days and all this information would be lost unless you actively donate some time and effort into collecting and preserving evidence material.
Can I also challenge the Parking PCN with the contravention code 28 by mail?
The second method for challenging your PCN which is available in most councils is by using the postal service. You can write your formal representation on the last page of your Notice to Owner document or in a printed downloadable form (in some cases) and send it by mail to the council’s address.
You must remember to attach evidence material with your letter in this case as it is an essential component of your formal representation. Photographs from the traffic violation scene filmed by a passenger travelling with you, medical certificates to explain your mitigating circumstances such as a serious health condition or a pay and display ticket (for challenging a Parking PCN) can be placed inside a small transparent file or stapled to your Notice to Owner Document.
You can mention a checklist of your evidence material at the end of your PCN challenge to ensure that no item escapes the attention of the parking officer judging your case. Another important point to remember when sending in your PCN challenge by mail is that first class mail takes 1 to 2 days to deliver your formal representation to the council and second class mail takes between 3 to 5 days. So you need to send in your appeal by the 22nd day after receiving your PCN, at the latest.
This formal representation can also first be typed into a word processing software such as MS word to remove any unclear sentences or reasons which display a lack of awareness of the contravention code, as all such grounds for a PCN challenge will be rejected. You can write down the same sentences on paper once you have matched the text of your formal representation with your available evidence material and clearly explained the cause and effect relationship between any mitigating circumstances which led to the traffic violation.
Can I further challenge a Parking PCN with the London Tribunals if my appeal is dismissed by my local council (inside London)?
If you have received a Parking PCN from a council of a local London Authority or by Transport for London, you can dispute your Notice of Rejection of Representations (from the Council) with the London Tribunals.
Your Notice of Rejection of Representations has a form attached to it which needs to be completed.and posted to the London Tribunals. What you will write on the form will be the text of your appeal to the Notice of Rejection served by your council and needs to be carefully composed by mentioning your mitigating circumstances which led to the traffic violation or by stating how you think the traffic restriction was never breached.
The contents of your appeal to the London Tribunals need to be based around evidence material as the London Tribunals is rejudging a case decided by your local council and will be provided by strong evidence from them to contest the trial.
Regardless of whichever council (local London Authority)you have recieved a Parking PCN from, you need to send the completed form to the following address (and ensure that you allow upto 2 days for first class mail to deliver your challenge and upto 5 days for second class mail) :
London Tribunals,
PO Box 10598,
Nottingham,
NG6 6DR
If you would prefer a quicker way to send in your challenge to the London Tribunals you can visit the London Tribunals Website. You can also choose to dispute the “Notice of Rejection” from your council with the London Tribunals online by clicking on the “Access the Appellants Portal” button on this webpage.
All you will be required to do is simply enter your Vehicle Registration Number, PCN number, and the reference number or code from your “Notice of Rejection of Representations” letter. Evidence to be uploaded here can be different from the evidence material you have used to support the formal representation sent to your local council but the evidence needs to be properly matched with the case you have argued in your appeal to the London Tribunals.
For your PCN with the contravention code 28 you have to prove that you did not park your vehicle adjacent to a pedestrian crossing by using a video clip showing your vehicle somewhere else or parked in a permissible location nearby. If you remember the exact interpretation of this contravention code, each time you decide to park your vehicle near a pedestrian crossing, it will prevent you from getting a PCN which is unchallengeable.
Either way, solid evidence relating to your traffic violation has to be ready to send to the London Tribunals which refutes the case put forward by your council.
The London Tribunals is an independent adjudicating authority and it impartially considers the case put forward by your council and your version of the events at the traffic violation scene. So if you have some crucial evidence that shows something new which escaped the knowledge of the council or the CCTV camera monitoring the traffic violation scene, the London Tribunals will consider these details to be true.
Can I further dispute a Parking PCN with the Traffic Penalty Tribunal if my local council (outside London) has dismissed my challenge?
A Parking PCN served from a local authority outside London can further be disputed with the Traffic Penalty Tribunal. The Traffic Penalty Tribunal is responsible for addressing challenges to Notices of Rejections of Representations from councils in England (outside London) and in Wales.
The Traffic Penalty Tribunal website requires you to enter details given on your Notice of Rejection of Representations, after opening this webpage. Once you have entered these details, you can click on “Next” to access the Traffic Penalty Tribunal PCN challenge portal. Before you can access this challenge portal, you need to click on “Start Your Appeal Here” on this webpage and “Submit and Appeal To The Traffic Penalty Tribunal Now” on this webpage. If you access the Traffic Penalty Tribunal’s main webpage, you need to first select the kind of PCN for which you have received a Notice of Rejection from your council.
In this case with the PCN contravention code 28, your Penalty Charge Notice is a Parking PCN. After this you will be redirected to the webpage where you have to select England (outside London). Once you click on England (outside London), you will be led to this webpage where you need to click on “Submit Your Appeal To The Traffic Penalty Tribunal Now”
You can watch this instructional video here to learn about your challenge process. The Traffic Penalty Tribunal requires you to create an email address unless you already have one to dispute your council’s Notice of Rejection of Representations on its website. It is important for you to submit your challenge on the Traffic Penalty Tribunal Website within 28 days of being sent your Notice of Rejection to your Parking PCN.
Conclusion
This blog post addressed the question “How Can I Challenge A Parking PCN With The Contravention Code 28?” Section 86 of the Traffic Management Act 2004 enforces parking penalties for leaving your vehicle in front of a pedestrian crossing, this parking contravention is rigidly enforced and should be challenged with evidence to show that you did not park there at all. The Notice of Rejection of Representations to this PCN from the car park or your local council can further be disputed at the Traffic Penalty Tribunal (London Tribunals) or with POPLA.