How Can I Challenge A Sarum North PCN?
This blog serves to answer the question “How Can I Challenge A Sarum North PCN?” You need to direct your Sarum North PCN challenge towards one active line of focus such as that the traffic violation didn’t happen, and then proceed to provide evidence on how this is true. Evidence relating to your PCN challenge needs to be collected beforehand and stored on your computer or inside a video camera with you.
How Can I Challenge A Sarum North PCN?
Sarum North is a part of Wiltshire Council, which is the administrative division responsible for enforcing Parking, Bus Lane, and Moving Traffic contraventions in the town Council. The CCTV cameras and Civil Enforcement Officers of the Wiltshire Council observe the parking zones, streets, and roads of Sarum North town council for catching any breach of contravention codes enforced in the region.
The Wiltshire Council will also respond to your informal representation and your formal representation to a Sarum North PCN and decide whether to cancel your PCN or issue a “Notice of Rejection”.
You can write a challenge to your Sarum North PCN by mentioning your authentic mitigating circumstances such as a medical emergency that led you to abandon your vehicle at a parking lot or other parking space. This kind of a PCN challenge will have to focus on the legitimacy of your situation as regards to your vehicle which was stalled or stopped incorrectly. ‘You must provide evidence of your medical condition by using a medical report or letter from a licensed General Practitioner that clearly states you have a problem from that specific type of condition.
This medical report needs to be dated from before the traffic violation incident taking place, at least a week or two before the event occurred. The medical report can further be backed by a video clip which shows how you fall ill and suffer from symptoms related to the health condition in your vehicle, before you are helped out by someone else.
All this evidence clearly demonstrates that you actually were a victim of genuinely serious mitigating circumstances which led you to abandon your vehicle or to leave it parked unsafely, which can help you to create a case for challenging a Sarum North parking PCN.
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.
What is the procedure for appealing against a Sarum North PCN?
You can submit a formal representation to your Sarum North PCN by writing a letter addressed to the Wiltshire Council or by filling in the online formal representation form on the Wiltshire Council website.
You need to brainstorm reasons to challenge a Sarum North 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 Wiltshire Council. You need to visit the Wiltshire Council 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 Penalty Charge Notice.You need to click on “Continue” to view your PCN details before filling in the online formal representation form.
It is essential to upload authentic evidence material with your PCN challenge to describe your mitigating circumstances to the Wiltshire 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 Wiltshire 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 Sarum North 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 here.To access the form you need to enter your PCN number and Vehicle Registration Number on this webpage. Once you have typed in these details, you can click on “Continue”
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 Sarum North PCN challenge is by mail. You can write down a formal representation on paper and attach evidence documents or photographs to the form by 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. This PCN challenge written on the back side of your Notice to Owner needs to be sent to Wiltshire Council’s Parking Services address.
Evidence to support your formal representation can be attached to the form by using a stapler or paper clip. Your PCN appeals form and all accompanying evidence documents (enclosed in an envelope) need to be sent to:
Parking Services,
Wiltshire Council,
Monkton Park Offices,
Monkton Hill,
Chippenham,
Wiltshire,
SN15 1ER
How Can I Pay my Sarum North PCN fine?
You can pay your Sarum North PCN on the online payments page, by sending a check or postal order through the mail, or by calling Wiltshire Council’s automated payments hotline.
If you choose to make your PCN fine payment online, you should visit the Wiltshire Council Payment Reference Entry page. Here, you can enter your PCN number and Vehicle Registration Number and click on “Continue” to log in to your PCN account. You will see an option to pay your PCN, which needs to be selected.
On the next page, you have to enter your payment card details to complete your Sarum North PCN payment. Wiltshire Council accepts Mastercard, Visa Card, Maestro Card, UK Maestro Card, and Visa Electron card for PCN fine payments.
You might want to call on Wiltshire Council’s automated payments hotline for paying your PCN. For this, you have to call on 0300 456 0119. 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.
You can also pay your Sarum North PCN by sending a check or postal order payable to “Wiltshire 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 on the back. This payment needs to be sent to:
Parking Services,
Wiltshire Council,
Monkton Park Offices,
Monkton Hill,
Chippenham,
Wiltshire,
SN15 1ER
How much is the PCN fine for each of the 3 kinds of PCNs served in Wiltshire Council?
A Parking PCN in Wiltshire 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 Wiltshire 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 Sarum North 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 Wiltshire Council. Per your driving license rules, you are bound to abide by Parking, Bus Lane, and Moving Traffic contravention codes in Wiltshire Council.
If you neither pay your Wiltshire 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 Wiltshire 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 Sarum North PCN with the Traffic Penalty Tribunal if the Council dismisses my appeal?
Yes, you can dispute the decision of the Wiltshire 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 Wiltshire 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 Wiltshire 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 Wiltshire 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 Wiltshire Council.
Conclusion
This blog post addressed the question “How Can I Challenge A Sarum North PCN?” You can challenge a Sarum North PCN by constructing a PCN challenge around your evidence and the grounds of your appeal (which are to be decided by considering what actually happened at the traffic violation scene). You must remember the contravention codes for parking, bus lane and moving traffic contraventions enforced in the council as these are used in Penalty Charge Notices.