How Can I Challenge A Peterborough PCN?
This blog serves to answer the question “How Can I Challenge A Peterborough PCN?”You have to write down your thoughts regarding the traffic violation scene on paper before you can extract the correct reasons to dispute your Penalty Charge Notice. Any reasons for challenging a Peterborough PCN need to be supported by authentic evidence material to effectively communicate your point of view of the incident. This blog includes detailed instructions on recovering your impounded vehicle from the custody of the Cambridgeshire Constabulary.
How Can I Challenge A Peterborough PCN?
You need to assemble evidence relating to your Peterborough City 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 PCN appeal. So you should regularly record your road journeys in the Peterborough City Council as every day’s recording matters. You can upload scanned copies of your evidence documents such as pay and display tickets and medical certificates to your laptop or computer.
A family member or friend travelling with you can operate the digital camera or camcorder (which has a powerful digital zoom feature) to timely capture precious evidence relating to your potential traffic contravention. If you miss out this evidence, there is no other way of explaining your point of view regarding the alleged traffic violation or of arguing that the contravention never occurred (as the CCTV shows it did).
It is necessary for you to capture evidence relating to your traffic violation so that you are not left helpless after getting a PCN from the Peterborough City Council. Your formal representation is incomplete without adding authentic evidence material to prove the grounds of your challenge. There are only a handful of acceptable reasons for successfully challenging a certain kind of PCN which need to be mentioned in order to convince the council of the authenticity of your point of view and beyond this it is also essential to add evidence for these reasons (which has to be collected beforehand).
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 Peterborough PCN?
You can submit a formal representation to your Peterborough City PCN by writing a letter addressed to the Peterborough City Council or by filling in the online formal representation form on the council’s official website.
You need to brainstorm reasons for challenging a Peterborough 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 Peterborough City Council. You need to visit the Peterborough City Council website to submit a formal representation to your PCN. You have to open this webpage to enter your PCN number and your Vehicle Registration Number. You need to click on “Search” to view your PCN details before filling in the online appeals form.This payments and appeals service has the same account so you must be careful not to click on the PCN payment option after you log in.
It is essential to upload authentic evidence material with your PCN challenge to describe your mitigating circumstances to the Peterborough City 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 Peterborough City 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 Peterborough City Council (by mixing up the contraventions) or reasons which involve forgetfulness to justify your actions, you can submit the formal representation.
Another way to send in your Peterborough City PCN challenge is by mail. You can write a formal representation to the Peterborough City 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 Peterborough 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:
Parking Services,
POBox 1077,
Dorking,
Peterborough,
PE1 9JR
The Peterborough City 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.
What Can I Do If My Vehicle has been towed away?
If your vehicle has been towed away from Peterborough City Council you need to call 101 to ask the Cambridgeshire Constabulary about the matter. If your vehicle was towed away for violating your driving license rules, you should have received a form 3078 (seizure notice) by post. Your inquiry will be addressed by the Cambridgeshire Constabulary staff and in case your vehicle has been towed away you will have to visit the Peterborough Police Station to get it released.
At the Peterborough Police Station, you will be required to verify 2 kinds of ID documents such as a passport and a driving licence. You could also use 2 other combinations of documents such as your original birth certificate and your vehicle registration certificate. You should also have the insurance certificate for your vehicle and your V5C vehicle registration certificate (with you) unless this has already been used as one of the 2 ID documents.
Vehicles are seized by the Cambridgeshire Constabulary under Section 165 A or the Road Traffic Act 1988 due to a violation of your driving license rules. You must remember to visit the Peterborough Police Station within 7 days of the date mentioned on your form 3078. The amount of money you will need to unclamp your vehicle includes a £200 release fee and storage charges of £20 per day.
So for example if your vehicle was towed away by a parking company 5 days ago, you will need (£20×5) + £200 = £400 to get it released from the vehicle pound. These vehicle release fees and storage charges are set under The Road Traffic Act 1998 (Retention and Disposal of Seized Motor Vehicles).
You should pay your Peterborough City Parking PCN online before visiting the Peterborough Police Station. But even if you just have £400 with you (for leaving your vehicle in the pound for up to 5 days), you can still pay the amount at the Peterborough Police Station to get your vehicle released before you pay the PCN fine. It is more important to collect your vehicle from the Peterborough Police Station, before paying your PCN fine because storage fees of £20 are being added every day and your vehicle will no longer be in the vehicle pound after 14 days.
You will have to pay your Petersborough City Parking PCN within 14 days when you recover your impounded vehicle, which will cost you only £35. Your vehicle pound charges can vary so it is best to get it removed from there as soon as possible. For each week your vehicle is left in the pound you will have to pay £140 extra storage charges.
Once you contact the Cambridgeshire Constabulary by dialling 101 and tell them your vehicle registration number you will be guided to the Peterborough Police Station for recovering your impounded vehicle. The Cambridgeshire Constabulary stores impounded vehicles at the Peterborough Police Station and the Parkside Police Station
You will have to make the payment to release your vehicle from the Peterborough Police Station by visiting the location in person with at least £200 in cash or available as credit on your payment card. The Cambridgeshire Constabulary accepts Visa Card, Master Card, and Maestro Card for the payment of vehicle release and storage charges.
Peterborough Police Station is located at this address :
38 Thorpe Wood,
Longthorpe,
Peterborough PE3 6SD,
Cambridgeshire
You can visit Peterborough Police Station at any time between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm from Monday to Friday. Peterborough Police station is closed on weekends. Staff from the Cambridgeshire Constabulary will be available at the pound to address your queries and for receiving the payment for vehicle release charges.
You should have the 2 ID Documents, a copy of form 3078, your vehicle’s MOT certificate, and your vehicle registration certificate (if this is not your ID document). After the Cambridgeshire Constabulary staff has verified all these documents, your vehicle seizure notice will be stamped to authorise the release of the vehicle.
You must remember to recover your vehicle from the custody of the Cambridgeshire Constabulary before the 14th day. If you leave your vehicle at the Peterborough Police Station for more than 14 days, it might be crushed or sold by the Cambridgeshire Constabulary.
How Can I Pay my Peterborough PCN?
You can pay your Peterborough PCN on the Peterborough City Council’s online payments page or by calling on the Peterborough City Council’s automated payments hotline.
If you prefer to make your PCN fine payment online, you can visit the Peterborough City Council website. After opening this webpage you need to enter your PCN number and vehicle registration number. Once all these details have been correctly entered, you can click on “Search” to access your Peterborough City 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 Peterborough City 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 Peterborough PCN eliminates any possibility for challenging the Penalty Charge Notice.
Your Peterborough PCN can also be paid by calling on the Peterborough City Council’s telephone payments service. You have to dial 0800 389 1977 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.
How much is the PCN fine for each of the 3 kinds of PCNs served in the Peterborough City Council?
A Parking PCN in Peterborough City 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 Oadby and Peterborough City 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 Peterborough 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 Peterborough City Council. As per your driving license rules, you are bound to abide by Parking, Bus Lane, and Moving Traffic contravention codes in Peterborough City Council.
If you neither pay your Peterborough 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 Peterborough City 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 Peterborough PCN with the Traffic Penalty Tribunal if the Peterborough City Council dismisses my appeal?
Yes, you can dispute the decision of the Peterborough City 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 Peterborough City 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 Peterborough City 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 Peterborough City 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 Peterborough City Council.
Conclusion
This blog post addressed the question “How Can I Challenge A Peterborough PCN?” You need to have a sound knowledge of the contravention codes enforced in Peterborough City Council in order to avoid being handed a PCN for ignoring or disregarding the traffic restriction in place at the location. Evidence which has to be attached with your PCN challenge needs to be collected on a daily basis by filming videos of your road journeys with a digital camera and by saving your used pay and display tickets (for challenging a Parking PCN).