How Can I Challenge A Rotherham Council PCN?
This blog serves to answer the question “How Can I Challenge A Rotherham Council PCN?” Your Rotherham PCN challenge is an attempt to convince the council that you have been wrongly charged with a Penalty Charge Notice by mentioning your authentic mitigating circumstances or by clearly showing that the traffic violation didn’t happen. The evidence material you attach with your formal representation forms the missing piece of the puzzle to help explain why you ended up breaching the relevant contravention code.
How Can I Challenge A Rotherham Council PCN?
You need to recall the circumstances influencing your driving actions at the traffic violation scene to list any acceptable mitigating circumstances. For parking contraventions, the only acceptable reason for challenging your PCN could be a medical emergency that caused you to leave your vehicle unattended.
You should eliminate any reasons for challenging your Rotherham Council PCN which involve mentioning that you were unaware of the traffic restriction in place by memorising the contravention codes enforced at the different locations along your daily route. Your formal representation must be supported by evidence material to prove your mitigating circumstances or to show that the traffic contravention never took place.
This evidence can only be available to support your PCN challenge if you create a habit of recording video footage of your road trips in Rotherham Council, keep medical certificates relating to any health conditions, and save your pay and display tickets.to use as proof for challenging a Parking PCN.
It is essential that you formulate a strong appeals case before submitting your formal representation to the Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council so that you don’t end up with a Notice of Rejection of Representations from the council. The “Notice of Rejection” implies that your appeal has been refused.
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.
Can I Only Challenge A Rotherham PCN on the official website?
Yes, you can only challenge a Rotherham PCN on the Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council official website.
You need to brainstorm reasons to challenge a Rotherham 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 Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council. You need to visit the Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council website to submit a formal representation to your PCN. You have to open this webpage to enter your PCN number and 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 Rotherham Metropolitan 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 Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council (by mixing up the contraventions) or reasons which involve forgetfulness to justify your actions, you can submit the formal representation.
What Can I Do If My Vehicle has been towed away?
If your vehicle has been towed away from the Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council you need to call 101 to ask the South Yorkshire Police 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 South Yorkshire Police staff and in case your vehicle has been towed away you will have to visit the Rotherham Police Station to get it released.
At the Rotherham Police Station, you will be required to verify 2 kinds of ID documents such as a passport and a driving licence at the vehicle pound. 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 South Yorkshire Police 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 vehicle pound 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 3 days ago, you will need (£20×3) + £200 = £260 to get it released from the vehicle pound. This vehicle release and storage charges are set under The Road Traffic Act 1998 (Retention and Disposal of Seized Motor Vehicles).
You should pay your Rotherham Parking PCN online before collecting the vehicle from the pound at the Rotherham Police Station. But even if you just have £200 or £260 with you (for leaving your vehicle in the pound for up to 3 days), you can still pay the amount at the vehicle pound and claim your vehicle. It is more important to collect your vehicle from the Rotherham Police Station than to pay 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.
As you will have to pay your Rotherham Parking PCN within 14 days when you are recovering your impounded vehicle, it 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 South Yorkshire Police by dialling 101 and tell them your vehicle registration number you will be guided to the Rotherham Police Station for recovering your impounded vehicle.
You will have to make the payment to release your vehicle from the Rotherham Police Station by visiting the location in person with at least £200 in cash or available as credit on your payment card. The South Yorkshire Police accepts Visa Card, Master Card, Maestro Card, and Solo Card for the payment of vehicle release and storage charges. You can call Rotherham Police Station on 01709 382121 to reconfirm the status of your vehicle before visiting the location.
Rotherham Police Station is located at this address :
Riverside House,
Main Street, Rotherham
South Yorkshire S60 1QY.
You can visit the Rotherham Police Station at any time between 08:00 am and 08:00 pm from Monday to Saturday. Rotherham Police Station also opens on Sundays from 10:00 am to 06:00 pm. Staff from the South Yorkshire Police will be available at the pound to address your queries and for receiving the vehicle release charges. You must remember to be courteous to the police officers at the Rotherham Police Station, as your vehicle might be freed in a period of up to 2 or 3 hours.
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 all these documents have been verified by the South Yorkshire Police staff, your vehicle seizure notice will be stamped to authorise the release of the vehicle.
You should remember to take with you a cash payment of around £200 to £300 or your debit/credit card for payment of vehicle release charges and any vehicle storage expenses (incurred by the vehicle pound). Next, you need to pay the required charges and your vehicle is free.
You must remember to recover your vehicle within 7 days from the vehicle pound. If you leave it there for more than 14 days the car might be scrapped or auctioned off by the South Yorkshire Police.
How can I pay my Rotherham PCN fine?
You should be aware of the fact that you can only pay your Rotherham PCN fine online. The PCN fine can be paid online on the Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council’s official website (using Visa Card, Master Card, Direct Debit, or Maestro Card) This payment method saves time and is also more precise as your details are entered directly into an electronic database.
If you were looking for a postal order payment option or a choice for paying your PCN fine via the council’s telephone hotline, you might be disappointed to learn that these options are unavailable in Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council.
You need to open this webpage to initiate your Rotherham PCN fine payment online. You need to enter your PCN Number and Vehicle Registration Number here. After clicking on “Search” you can access the Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council’s Online Payments system. On the next page you can enter your payment card details to complete the payment process.
You must remember to wait for 24 hours after your PCN is issued before attempting to pay it.
You have to pay your Rotherham 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 Rotherham Bus Lane PCN within 21 days, you will have to pay just £35.
What will happen if I don’t pay my Rotherham 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 Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council. As per your driving license rules, you are bound to abide by Parking, Bus Lane, and Moving Traffic contravention codes in Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council.
If you neither pay your Rotherham 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 Rotherham Metropolitan 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 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 Rotherham PCN with the Traffic Penalty Tribunal if the Council dismisses my appeal?
Yes, you can dispute the decision of the Rotherham Metropolitan 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 Rotherham Metropolitan 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 Rotherham Metropolitan 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 Rotherham Metropolitan Borough 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 Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council.
Conclusion
This blog post addressed the question “How Can I Challenge A Rotherham Council PCN?” You have to anticipate being charged a PCN at any time while driving around in Rotherham District Council, in order to collect and save evidence to support the grounds of your prospective PCN appeal. A strong appeals case backed by authentic evidence proving that the PCN was issued in error (or by overlooking your mitigating circumstances) will never go to waste as “A Notice of Rejection of Representations” from the Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council can be disputed at the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.
