How Can I Challenge A Richmondshire PCN?
This blog serves to answer the question “How Can I Challenge A Richmondshire PCN?” The wording of your Richmondshire PCN challenge must display your awareness of the relevant contravention code and the text of your formal representation should also be backed by specific evidence to justify your mitigating circumstances or to prove that the traffic violation didn’t occur. A Richmondshire PCN challenge can only be submitted online, which requires using evidence documents and photographs in their digital form to support your appeal.
How Can I Challenge A Richmondshire PCN?
You can only challenge a Richmondshire PCN by visiting the Scarborough Council website. Parking fines in Richmondshire District Council are overseen by the Scarborough Borough Council. Scarborough Borough Council is therefore responsible for enforcing Parking, Bus Lane and Moving Contravention codes in Richmondshire Council and will also decide the result of your PCN challenge.
Appealing a Richmondshire PCN online enables you to attach your own video recordings of the traffic violation scene. Your own video evidence can show how your vehicle did not breach a restricted street, bus lane or how it did not make a banned turn that day.
Challenging your PCN on the website also provides you with the opportunity for utilizing online information relating to the enforcement of the relevant contravention code in the Richmondshire District Council. This can be through a map of the council or from a list of contraventions enforced at specific locations in the council. These maps can also help you to correctly name the roads and town areas around your traffic violation scene.
Once you have seen your PCN from the Richmondshire District Council, you can write down the contravention code on paper to begin constructing your formal representation. This Parking, Bus Lane, or Moving Traffic contravention code should form the basis of your PCN challenge, as you either mention mitigating circumstances for your actions or attempt to prove that the traffic violation never happened.
It is necessary to attach authentic photos or video evidence to describe your version of events on the scene of the traffic violation The only way to have video clips showing your vehicle at the traffic contravention location is to constantly keep on recording video footage by employing the services of a friend or relative who travels with you.
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. Traffic contraventions are observed by CCTV cameras and Civil Enforcement Officers 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.
Can I Only Challenge A Richmondshire PCN on the official website?
Yes, you can only challenge a Richmondshire PCN on the Scarborough Borough Council official website.
You need to brainstorm reasons to challenge a Richmondshire 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 Richmondshire District Council. You need to visit the Scarborough Borough Council website to submit a formal representation to your PCN. You have to click on “Appeal A PCN” on this webpage. On this webpage you can enter your PCN number and Vehicle Registration Number 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 Scarborough Borough Council and for explaining your point of view of the events which took place at the traffic violation scene. 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 Richmondshire District Council (by mixing up the contraventions) or reasons which involve forgetfulness to justify your actions, you can submit the formal representation.
How much is the PCN fine for each of the 3 kinds of PCNs served in Richmondshire District Council?
A Parking PCN in Richmondshire 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 Richmondshire 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
How Can I Pay my Richmondshire PCN fine?
You can pay your Richmondshire PCN on the Scarborough Borough Council online payments page, by sending a check or postal order through the mail or by calling on the Scarborough Borough Council’s automated payments hotline.
If you choose to make your PCN fine payment online, you should visit the Scarborough Borough Council website. On this page you need to click on “Pay your Penalty Charge Notice” In the window which opens up you can enter your PCN number to initiate your PCN fine payment. Your Richmondshire PCN starts with the letters “FJ” or “FK”. In the next step of paying your PCN, you need to enter your payment card details to complete the online payment process. Scarborough Council accepts Visa, Mastercard, Maestro Card and Delta Card for PCN payments.
You might want to call on Scarborough Borough Council’s automated payments hotline. For this you have to call on 01723 232 523. On the call you will need to enter your PCN number and your 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.
You can also pay your Richmondshire PCN by sending a check or postal order payable to “Scarborough Borough Council. 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 PCN number and Vehicle Registration Number written at the back. This payment needs to be sent to:
Scarborough Borough Council,
Town Hall,
St. Nicholas Street,
Scarborough,
North Yorkshire,
YO11 2HG
What will happen if I don’t pay my Richmondshire 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 Richmondshire District Council. As per your driving license rules, you are bound to abide by Parking, Bus Lane, and Moving Traffic contravention codes in Richmondshire District Council.
If you neither pay your Richmondshire 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 Scarborough Borough 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 Richmondshire PCN with the Traffic Penalty Tribunal if the Council dismisses my appeal?
Yes, you can dispute the decision of the Scarborough Borough 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 Scarborough Borough 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 Scarborough Borough 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 Scarborough 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 Scarborough Borough Council.
Conclusion
This blog post addressed the question “How Can I Challenge A Richmondshire PCN?” The reasons for challenging your PCN must be supported by photo or video evidence presenting your point of view of the traffic violation and clearly showing how the contravention never occurred or showcasing the evasive actions you had taken to try to avoid it. It is essential to rehearse for writing a PCN challenge by memorising Parking, Bus Lane and Moving Traffic contravention codes and by filming video clips of your road journeys which can be used to support your case.
