How Can I Challenge A Ramsgate PCN?
This blog serves to answer the question “How Can I Challenge A Ramsgate PCN?” Your PCN challenge has to be based on authentic evidence material such as a video clip of your vehicle at the traffic violation scene that clearly shows it avoiding the enforced restriction. This evidence then has to be combined with a strongly worded appeal which shows how and why you feel that the traffic contravention was not breached.
How Can I Challenge A Ramsgate PCN?
Before you write down your Ramsgate PCN challenge, you need to be ready with evidence to support your case. This evidence can be in the form of a video clip of your actions at the traffic violation scene and showing how your vehicle avoids breaching a traffic restriction.
You have to support this video with a narrative of driving down the road correctly while your vehicle is displayed in the video clip and not breaching any traffic contravention in the animation. This video will be available to you if you regularly film video clips of your road trips in Thanet District Council.
You need to write down a PCN challenge in a word editing software such as MS Word first and copy the text into your online formal representation. This will ensure that you can edit out any basic mistakes such as a lack of awareness of enforced contravention codes. You can also edit out any other grammatical errors and refine your text before it is pasted into the formal representation.
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 £130 PCN will be worth £195 if you pay it in the 14 days after receiving your charge certificate.
What is the procedure for appealing against a Ramsgate PCN?
You can submit a formal representation to your Ramsgate PCN by writing a letter addressed to the Thanet District Council or by filling in the online formal representation form on the Thanet District Council’s official website.
You need to brainstorm reasons for challenging a Ramsgate 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 “Thanet District Council. You need to visit the Thanet District 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 “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 Thanet District 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 Ramsgate 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 Thanet District 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 Ramsgate PCN challenge is by mail. You can write a formal representation to the Thanet District 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 Ramsgate 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:
Thanet District Council,
PO Box 1498,
991 9GT
The Thanet District 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 Ramsgate PCN fine?
You can pay your Ramsgate PCN on the Thanet District Council’s online payments page, or by calling Thanet District Council’s automated payments hotline.
You need to visit the Thanet District Council website to pay your Ramsgate PCN. On this webpage, you can enter your PCN Number and your Vehicle Registration Number. Once you have entered these details you can click on “Next”.
On the next page, you have to enter your payment card details to complete your Ramsgate PCN payment. Thanet District Council accepts Mastercard, Visa Card, Maestro Card, UK Maestro Card, and Visa Electron card for PCN fine payments.
You might want to call on Thanet District Council’s automated payments hotline for paying your Ramsgate PCN. For this, you have to call on 0330 0880 671. On the call, you will need to enter your PCN number and payment card details. You can use the * key to enter the letters in your PCN number. This payment hotline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You should wait to receive a confirmation code for your PCN payment before ending the call.
How much is the PCN fine for each of the 3 kinds of PCNs served in the Ramsgate Town Council?
A Parking PCN in the Ramsgate Town 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 Ramsgate Town 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 Ramsgate 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 Thanet District Council. As per your driving license rules, you are bound to abide by Parking, Bus Lane, and Moving Traffic contravention codes in the Thanet District Council.
If you neither pay your Ramsgate 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 Thanet District 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 Ramsgate PCN with the Traffic Penalty Tribunal if the Thanet District Council dismisses my appeal?
Yes, you can dispute the decision of the Thanet District 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 Thanet District 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 Thanet District 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 Thanet District 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 Thanet District Council.
Conclusion
This blog post addressed the question “How Can I Challenge A Ramsgate PCN?” You must be well aware of the parking, bus lane and moving traffic contravention codes enforced across Thanet District Council and even ready to challenge a PCN served for breaching one of these contraventions. Your PCN challenge will be based on either stating that the traffic contravention never happened or mentioning your authentic mitigating circumstances for what led to the traffic violation incident and clearly explaining the relationship between the 2 events.