How Can I Challenge An Adur PCN?
This blog serves to answer the question “How Can I Challenge An Adur PCN?” Your challenge to the Adur and Worthing councils should be based on facts and backed by authentic evidence material to soundly prove that the traffic violation didn’t happen. This blog notes that the best way to collect evidence is to record video clips of your vehicle driving through the roads of Adur and Worthing councils.
How Can I Challenge An Adur PCN?
You can challenge an Adur PCN by visiting the Adur and Worthing councils website to fill out the formal representation form there or by writing a letter to the Adur and Worthing Council’s mailing address.
Your PCN challenge needs to either state that the traffic violation didn’t happen or mention authentic mitigating circumstances for your actions leading to the incident. If you choose to contest the PCN based on the assertion that the traffic violation never occurred you need to have concrete evidence to support your appeal.
This concrete evidence can be a video clip that shows your vehicle being driven correctly and managing to avoid breaching an enforced contravention (such as a banned turn). It may also be a series of photographs (showing the same thing) that are extracted from the video clip by using a video player or editing software.
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 an Adur PCN?
You can submit a formal representation to your Adur PCN by writing a letter addressed to the Adur and Worthing Councils or by filling in the online formal representation form on the Adur and Worthing council’s official website.
You need to brainstorm reasons for challenging an Adur 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 Adur and Worthing Councils. You need to visit the Adur and Worthing 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 as well as a web code mentioned on your PCN. 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 Adur and Worthing Councils 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 Adur 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 Adur and Worthing Councils (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 Adur PCN challenge is by mail. You can write a formal representation to the Adur and Worthing Councils 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 Adur 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:
Adur and Worthing Councils,
PO Box 3584,
Chippenham,
Wiltshire,
SN15 9EF
The Adur and Worthing 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 Adur PCN fine?
You can pay your Adur PCN on the Adur and Worthing Council’s online payments webpage, by sending a check or postal order to the Adur and Worthing Council or by calling on the Adur and Worthing Council’s automated payments hotline.
If you prefer to make your PCN fine payment online, you can visit the Adur and Worthing 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 “Continue” to access your Adur 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 Adur and Worthing Councils accept 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 Adur PCN eliminates any possibility for challenging the Penalty Charge Notice.
Your Adur PCN can also be paid by calling on the Adur and Worthing Council’s telephone payments service. You have to dial 0345 680 0189 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.
The Adur and Worthing Councils also accept PCN fine payments by post. You need to send a check, postal order, or bank draft payable to “Adur and Worthing Councils”. You can write down your PCN Number and Vehicle Registration Number on the back of your check or postal order. The Adur and Worthing Councils do not accept post dated checks.
Send your PCN fine payment to this address:
Parking Shop,
52 Chapel Road,
Worthing,
BN11 1BE
How much is the PCN fine for each of the 3 kinds of PCNs served in the Adur and Worthing Councils?
A Parking PCN in Adur and Worthing Councils 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 Adur and Worthing Councils, 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 Adur 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 the Adur and Worthing Councils. As per your driving license rules, you are bound to abide by Parking, Bus Lane, and Moving Traffic contravention codes in the Adur and Worthing Councils.
If you neither pay your Adur 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 Adur and Worthing Councils.
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 An Adur PCN with the Traffic Penalty Tribunal if the Adur and Worthing Councils dismiss my appeal?
Yes, you can dispute the decision of the Adur and Worthing Councils 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 Adur and Worthing Councils (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 Adur and Worthing Councils, 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 Adur and Worthing Councils. 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 Adur and Worthing Councils.
Conclusion
This blog post addressed the question “How Can I Challenge An Adur PCN?” You should aim to practice challenging an Adur PCN beforehand to be ready for facing an actual PCN as you need to learn how to match the evidence available with the grounds of your appeal. The evidence required to support your Adur PCN challenge must be collected on a daily basis to ensure that you don’t miss out on any traffic violation incident.