Can I bet this unlucky? - what a saga?!

v3884

On the 24.8.10 I recieved a letter from Collect Services Limited informing me that I have an Unpaid Penalty Charge of £198.16.

Apparently I recieved a PCN on 21.1.10 for entering a Bus Lane in Greenford Road, Greenford (103).

The issue I have is that I did not recieve any paperwork relating to this and the letter is the first I have heard of the contravention!

I moved address last year and had my post redirected (although have no evidence to prove this), I also sent my driving licence and Vehical Registstration Document to the DVLA to update the new address. This was done successfully for my driving licence but the DVLA say they did not recieve the Vehical Registstration Document (it was at the time when there were lots of Royal Mail strikes back in November) and so it was not until 28.4.10 that I finally got a new document.

Therefore when I recieved the ticket it was sent to my old address, but unfortunately (like much of my other mail) it was not forwarded to me.

I sent the following email to Ealing Council:

RE: Unpaid Penalty Charge PCN Ref: EA50897166

I received a letter (dated 24th August 2010) from Collect Services Limited informing me that I have an Unpaid Penalty Charge.

Unfortunately, I was not aware of any charge as I have received no paperwork informing me of the bus lane contravention at Greenford Road, Greenford (103) on 21/01/10.

I can only think that the reason for this is on Friday 20th November 2009 I moved from ***** Ealing, W5 *** to the above address. I had difficulty in updating the address of the Vehicle Registration Certificate due to the DVLA losing the paperwork, therefore until 28/04/10 the vehicle was registered at my previous address so I assume all paperwork of the penalty notice was posted there.

Would it be possible to receive a copy of the original notice with the photographic evidence as I cannot recall knowingly entering a bus lane?

I am willing to pay the initial £60 fine if I mistakenly entered the bus lane but do not feel it is fair to be penalised with further penalty payments, currently totalling £198.16 as I made every effort to notify the DVLA of my new address.





I recieved the following response via email:
Further to your e.mail of 26/8/10, we would advise you that all previous correspondence would have been sent to the address that the vehicle was registered to with the DVLA at the time. You are legally required to advise them of any change at the time that it takes place. If you had problems you should have ensured that your mail was redirected.
We do not hold copies of original documents here or photographic evidence. These would have been sent to you by our client, London Borough of Ealing.
We can now only suggest that you settle this in full by return or seek legal advice.




I am unsure of what to do now. I am quite happy to pay the fine if I went in the Bus Lane, but feel that I have been very unlucky, as my post was redirected and the DVLA lost my Vehical Registration Documents so there was a big delay in updating my details.
Surely I should be able to have a copy of the original PCN? I feel I should not have to pay the current amount of money as I have been very unlucky with the post and Royal Mail!

Many Thanks in advance for any advice.

Vicky

peter_the_piper

I suggest that you also put this post on pepipoo.com, this may well need a wider range of experience than most have on here.

Coupon-mad

I see the OP has posted on pepipoo so I have bumped it over there with a reply (as SchoolRunMum) and I did a quick thread search to give some other similar cases for a quick way of finding out what to do in such circumstances. Here's the pepipoo thread for those interested:

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=54505&st=0&gopid=504103&#entry504103

HTH

DaveF327

v3884 wrote: »

We do not hold copies of original documents here or photographic evidence. These would have been sent to you by our client, London Borough of Ealing.

Odd. That paragraph suggests that the mail came from the collection company, not the council, yet you emailed the council?

So, if they don't hold the documents or evidence "here", then where is it? I wouldn't just take this lying down, the evidence must exist somewhere if somebody is going to take it further.

peter_the_piper

DaveF327 wrote: »

Odd. That paragraph suggests that the mail came from the collection company, not the council, yet you emailed the council?

So, if they don't hold the documents or evidence "here", then where is it? I wouldn't just take this lying down, the evidence must exist somewhere if somebody is going to take it further.

I read the op paragraph the opposite way, that they had emailed the collection co when the council should have the copy.