Hi,
Today in the post I received a 'notice of enforcement' for parking owed to my local council. This is the first correspondance I received so had no idea what they were referring to. I called the council who said that it was for driving in a bus lane on Christmas Day last year. They said they sent the fine and a number of reminders out, which I hadn't received. It turns out that when I moved house and informed the DVLA to change my licence, I forgot to change my V5C so all correspondance was being sent to my old address. I know this was stupid and I have sent it off today to be changed. So the notice of enforcement says I owe £98.00 for the initial Debt (when I looked online the penalty was £60 so not sure where this amount has come from) and then £75.00 for a compliance stage fee. The total sum outstanding is then £408 which does not add up.
They have said I have to pay by Tuesday 13th August or an enforcement agent will come and seize my belongings which doesn't give me much time considering it is the weekend.
I would appreciate any advice you could give me.
Fee is made up of:
£60 PCN
£30 charge certificate
£8 debt regsitration
£75 compliance
£235 bailiff enforcement
You have the option of an out of time declaration - that you didn't get the PCN - but councils often oppose this if there is no good reason.
Which council?
Thanks for your reply. It's Gloucestershire Council.
I think the OOT will buy you time. Others will advise. You can also pay a small fee for https://bailiffadviceonline.co.uk to help.
See https://bailiffadviceonline.co.uk/index-page/traffic-enforcement-centre-tec/what-is-an-out-of-time-witness-statement
If the £235 is for bailiff enforcement but they haven't actually come out to my house yet then why do I need to pay this?
I have completed the OOT which I will send off. However, I'm concerned about the time frame. They insist upon full payment by Tuesday and my OOT won't arrive with the traffic enforcement agency until Monday and relies on them immediately contacting the council to call off the bailiffs. If they do this all in writing then the deadline will have passed.
https://ibb.co/Wx2V7Jc
https://ibb.co/8Dw8h4x
https://ibb.co/Wcqs5wn
Thanks.
Moved house late 2016.
I rang the enforcement agency as they are the only people I could get hold of on a Saturday (just really wanted to talk to someone as I'm getting very stressed) and they have extended the deadline to the 17th. They informed me that the TEC wouldn't be able to stop them coming after me. Also queried the £235 addition - they said they made a visit to my previous address in May.
I understand that it needs to be sworn and have arranged for someone to do this for me...however what I have written on the PE2 about having paid the fine is what I originally intended to do. It has since become apparent this is probably not the best course of action in this first instance?
https://ibb.co/GHP0CyM https://ibb.co/31wcCx4
print the forms from here then start again
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/traffic-enforcement-centre-forms
Ok, will do. Thank you so much, I really appreciate your help.
Hello again,
My Statutory Declaration has been refused. They have said that I can pay £225 to have the case reviewed by a District Judge but that's a big portion of the £408 fine.
I haven't even had the opportunity to challenge the original fine which I got on Christmas Day! Is it normal for bus lane restrictions to be enforced on a day when there are no busses running but you can use the lane on a Sunday and after 7pm when there is still a restricted bus service?
Am I right in thinking that I either pay the fine or pay £225 to go to court? Are there any other options open to me?
Did you receive a copy of GCC's 'objection'?
No, not from GCC. I'm a bit concerned they've sent it to the old address. The letter from TEC says that the response from the local authority should have already been sent to me but I haven't had anything.
I did put my correct address, yes.
Whilst you can attend a "judge in chambers" to have your OOT reviewed, you can just have the TEC decision reviewed based on the papers by the same judge without attending. This costs £100. What the judge reviews is the correctness of the decision to refuse your OOT, it is nothing to do with the original alleged bus lane infringement.
Frankly, by not updating your V5 until prompted by this forum many months later, you are the architect of your own misfortune so I don't think paying the non-returnable fee of either £100 or £255 will get the matter reverted. These sums are not reimbursable and if the decision is confirmed as is the almost 100% certainty, you will still have the original PCN and bailiff fees to pay.
You are not in a good place. We see so many threads like yours where the OP has failed to update their V5C, The outcome is almost never favourable.
Any advice about the Christmas day part specifically? If there is no bus service, should I be getting a fine in the first place?
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