How Can I Challenge A Pendle West PCN?

This blog serves to answer the question “How Can I Challenge A Pendle West PCN?”  A formal representation is incomplete without authentic evidence material to prove the grounds of your appeal. The wording of your Pendle West PCN challenge should include references to the contravention code and either a clear denial of the alleged contravention taking place (supported by authentic photographs or other appropriate evidence material) or a proper explanation of your mitigating circumstances leading to the driving error.

How Can I Challenge A Pendle West PCN?

You can challenge a Pendle West PCN by writing a formal representation to Chipside Lancashire’s mailing address or by filling in the online form on the Chipside Lancashire website after logging in by using your PCN number and vehicle registration number.

You need to assemble evidence relating to your Pendle West PCN challenge before writing down the text of your appeal. This evidence may consist of medical certificates, pay and display tickets, authentic photographs or video footage of the traffic violation. 

It is necessary to preserve this evidence in digital form to keep it readily available for uploading with your Pendle West PCN appeal. So you should regularly record your road journeys in Pendle Borough Council as every day’s recording matters.

This evidence can be easily matched with the grounds of your Parking, Bus Lane or Moving Traffic PCN challenge to prove your mitigating circumstances or for showing that the traffic violation didn’t occur. 

You have to be sure of the assertions being written down in your formal representation and your appeal should also display a prior awareness of the contravention code on your Penalty Charge Notice (by demonstrating your evasive actions at the traffic violation scene). You can explain how you attempted to steer your vehicle in the correct direction to avoid breaching a moving traffic restriction with the aid of photographs or video evidence

If you narrowly ended up violating the moving traffic contravention, this effort should be able to convince the Pendle Borough Council that your actions were a result of mitigating circumstances. 

But if you (also) have any genuine health issues with strong symptoms such as Covid-19 or any other pre-diagnosed condition which might affect your driving abilities, you can add evidence to support it with your PCN challenge. This evidence will be a medical certificate from a certified General Practitioner diagnosing your health condition.

In the text of your PCN challenge, you need to clearly explain how your special circumstances affected your driving actions and led to your breach of the traffic restriction. This cause and effect relationship will form the basis of such a formal representation and can also be further supported by photographs or video evidence showing what happened on the scene.

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 Pendle West PCN?

As Lancashire Parking Services is responsible for enforcing Parking, Bus Lane, and Moving Traffic contraventions at locations across Pendle Borough Council, you need to visit the Chipside Lancashire website or send a written formal representation on their Parking Services address to challenge your Pendle West PCN. The Pendle Borough Council will also decide the result of your PCN challenge and will either choose to withdraw your PCN or send you a Notice of Rejection of Representations.

Chipside Lancashire is the partnership between West Lancashire Borough Council, Fylde Borough Council, Hyndburn Borough Council, Chorley Borough Council, Ribble Valley Borough Council, Burnley Borough Council, Pendle City Council and Pendle Borough Council. Each council only uses the Chipside Lancashire online PCN appeals (database) and payments service for dealing with Penalty Charge Notices. 

You can submit a formal representation to your Pendle West PCN by writing a PCN challenge addressed to Chipside Lancashire or by filling in the online formal representation form on the Chipside Lancashire challenge PCN webpage (the link on the Pendle Borough Council website redirects to this webpage as well).

You need to brainstorm reasons for challenging a Pendle West 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 Lancashire Parking Services. 

You need to visit the Chipside Lancashire website to submit a formal representation to your PCN. You have to open this webpage to enter your PCN number, your Vehicle Registration Number and a Web Code mentioned on your PCN. You need to click on “Next”  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 Lancashire 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 Pendle West 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 Pendle Borough 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 Pendle West 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 on the Chipside Lancashire website.To access the form you need to enter your PCN number (Notice 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 Pendle West PCN challenge is by mail. You should view the evidence relating to your Parking, Bus Lane or Moving Traffic contravention before writing down the appeal. Chipside Lancashire handles PCN appeals from Pendle Borough Council and will decide the result of your formal representation to the Pendle Borough Council.

You can write down a formal representation on paper and attach evidence documents or photographs to the form using a stapler or paper clip. Your letter should mention your PCN number, date of issue of the PCN, your vehicle registration number, and personal details. 

Your PCN appeals form and all accompanying evidence documents (enclosed in an envelope) need to be sent to:

Chipside Lancashire

PO Box 3584,

Chippenham,

Wiltshire,

SN15 9EF

How much is the PCN fine for each of the 3 kinds of PCNs served in Pendle Borough Council?

A Parking PCN in Pendle Borough 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 Pendle Borough 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

How can I pay my Pendle West PCN fine?

You can pay your Pendle West PCN fine online or by sending a check or postal order payable to “Chipside Lancashire”. The PCN fine can be paid online on Chipside Lancashire’s official website (using Visa Card, Master Card, Delta Card, Solo Card or Maestro Card) This payment method saves time and is also more precise as your details are entered directly into an electronic database.

You need to enter your vehicle registration number and PCN number after opening this webpage to initiate the PCN fine payment online. After clicking “Next” you will be shown your Penalty Charge Notice information on the chipside lancashire website and in the next window, you can enter your payment card details. You must remember to wait for 24 hours after your higher level Parking PCN is issued before attempting to pay it.

You can also pay your Pendle West PCN by sending a check or postal order payable to “Chipside Lancashire”. You also need to attach the payment slip in your “Notice To Owner” document to this payment. The check or postal order should have your Pende West PCN number and Vehicle Registration Number written at the back. This payment needs to be sent to:

Chipside Lancashire

PO Box 3584,

Chippenham,

Wiltshire,

SN15 9EF

You must pay your PCN fine within 28 days. You should pay before 14 days if you don’t want to miss out on the 50% early payment discount (which reduces Parking PCNs to £35 or £25 and Moving Traffic PCNs to £35). If you pay your Pendle West Bus Lane PCN within 21 days, you will have to pay just £35.

What will happen if I don’t pay my Pendle West 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 Pendle Borough Council. Per your driving license rules, you are bound to abide by Parking, Bus Lane, and Moving Traffic contravention codes in Pendle Borough Council.

If you neither pay your Pendle West 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. Ignoring the charge certificate may result in the filing of a court order (for recovery of debts) against you by the Lancashire Parking Services (Chipside Lancashire).

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 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 Pendle West PCN with the Traffic Penalty Tribunal if Lancashire County Council dismisses my appeal?

Yes, you can dispute the decision of the Lancashire 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 Lancashire 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 Lancashire 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 Lancashire 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 Lancashire County Council.

Conclusion

This blog post addressed the question “How Can I Challenge A Pendle West PCN?” You have to preemptively anticipate being handed a PCN in order to save evidence relating to the notice and the best form of such evidence is video footage of the traffic violation scene showing your point of view. The reasons for your appeal can be constructed around this evidence material and can be a simple explanation of the supplementary information which conforms with the established grounds for contesting the relevant contravention code.