Help - PCN not attached to car, photos in NTO prove it

79price

I received an NTO on 2nd April (date of notice 31/03/2011) saying that I had not responded to a PCN about parking with one wheel on the curb of a residential road on 24.02.2011 at 17.23. The fine is £120.

There are photos of my car carrying out the contravention but the photos do not show the PCN attached to the car. There was no PCN attached to the car when I returned to it. I sent a letter appealing the fine on a number of grounds including procedural impropriety of the PCN and of the NTO. My letter is below.

I didn't get a rejection but a letter asking me to supply more info about my breakdown. The part I am most interested in seeking help about though is that the council claims the PCN was properly served because "the notes made by the CEO at the time of the contravention show that the PCN was fixed to the vehicle". And it goes onto to say that the notes contain all information "individual to [my] vehicle and can only be observed by standing directly beside the vehicles windscreen". To reiterate, the photos in the NTO do not show an attached PCN.

The letter also does not address any of my points about how the NTO was also not served correctly.

Could somebody help me with where I stand with this? Can I challenge them on the PCN on the basis that the photos do not show an attached PCN?

Any help gladly received!

Cheers.





I am writing to make a formal appeal with regards to Penalty Charge Notice .... I am making my appeal due to the following reasons:

Mitigating circumstances

There has been procedural impropriety on the part of the enforcement officer

There are mitigating and compelling reasons as to why I parked how I did: my, then 15 month old, son injured himself which caused me to stall the car whilst parking. I then couldn't restart the car and was forced to leave my car (with one wheel having very slightly mounted the curb) whilst I went to seek help.

I am a law-abiding citizen who has never received a parking or traffic order before, and who was subjected to circumstances out of my control, which forced me to park in the manner in which I did. I also did everything within my power to rectify the situation as quickly as possible. I was parked in this way for less than hour and no obstruction to passers-by or vehicles was caused, which makes this fine - mitigating circumstances aside - unduly harsh.

In addition to the mitigating circumstances mentioned, proper procedure has not been carried out by the enforcement officer. Your notice mentions that a PCN was served on 24/2/11, but no ticket was attached to my windscreen, evident from the photographs taken, nor did I receive a PCN in the post (The Civil Enforcement of Parking Contraventions (England) General Regulations 2007, paragraph 4 of regulation 10). The first communication I received from you was the Notice to Owner (date of notice 31.03.11).

Equally, in your notice, you specify that if the PCN is not paid in full or if I have not made any representation "within the period of 28 days beginning with the date on which this notice is served" the fine may be increased by 50%, but you have not specified a date for when the notice was served. (The Civil Enforcement of Parking Contraventions (England) General Regulations 2007 - 19 (2)(f)).

Finally, you do not make it clear that this notice "may also be cancelled for other compelling or mitigating reasons" (The Civil Enforcement of Parking Contraventions (England) General Regulations 2007, paragraph 4 (2) (b) (ii)
.
Given the procedural impropriety and the mitigating circumstances, I trust that you will therefore cancel the notice. If it is not cancelled, I will be forced to take the matter to the Small Claims Court.

taffy056

I would suggest you try this on pepipoo also, there is a direct link below to the correct forum, they will need to see scans of your PCN, and copies of any letters sent and received by you and the council, there is a FAQs on the site to help you do this. Just register and create a new thread like you have done here.

Best of luck

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showforum=30

79price

I was thinking of sending this ... any suggestions very welcome, thank you very much!!

Thank you for you correspondence.

When I returned to my car there was no PCN attached to it and the photographs in the NTO prove the same.

Your letter also does not address the points I raised regarding the procedural impropriety of the NTO.

On the basis of procedural impropriety, I trust that you will cancel the notice, otherwise, please could you send me a copy of the notes made by the PCN and address the point I raised in my earlier letter regarding the procedural impropriety of the NTO.

Yours sincerely,

taffy056

By the way you appeal council PCN through PATAS and the council directly, not the small claims court

79price

Thanks for all your suggestions Taffy056, 30 mins on I'm still waiting for my registration link from Pepipoo to be able to post so any words of advice in the meantime are very welcome.

Also, I am appealing to the council at the moment, but got the small claims court line from the mse letter template? Am I wrong to include that?

Thanks again.

taffy056

If you haven't received your confirmation email, check your spam folder as it's normally immediate, as for suggestions I don't think it matters to much photographs to be honest, not so much that the pcn will be cancelled, but again pepipoo users know far more than me.