Council took 39 days to respond to PCN challenge

jonelkins

Hi All

Just a quick question, as I can't seem to find the information on any council or government website...

I'm appealing a PCN as the ticket machine next to the parking bay was out of order (it took my money, but didn't issue a ticket). The council are contesting this, however it took them 39 days to respond to my appeal. Now, I've found loads of legislation stating that, as a driver, I must appeal within 28 days, or I need to pay within 14 days to get a 50% discount, etc, however there's NO mention of how long the council has to respond to my challenge.

I'd like to think that the council (Rushmoor Borough), should HAVE to respond within a certain timeframe, and believe that 39 days really is a little excessive.

Any other advice on how to tackle this would also be much appreciated. I left a note in my car window stating the machine wasn't working, but they've told me they have photographic evidence that I didn't - so I guess the next step would be to ask for copies of the photos.

Thanks...

Jon

peter_the_piper

Check this with pepipoo.com but AFAIK they have 28 days to respond on the pcn but its longer on the NTO. Hopefully others will be more exact and correct me if in error.

m1974m

AFAIK it is 56 days for the council to respond to a formal appeal.

Coupon-mad

Post about it on pepipoo forums as advised by PTP above:

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

Read the FAQs and sticky threads, and some other threads as well first, so you get the hang olf the forum etiquette. You will see that you will need to show the posters pictures of your letters and the PCN (front and back, all small print but no PCN number or car reg showing).

jonelkins

Big, big thanks to peter_the_piper - I had a look on pepipoo.com and eventually found some legislation that states the council should respond to informal challenges within 14 days. Was ready and waiting for Rushmoor to refuse my challenge again so I could start quoting the law to them, but would you believe it, just 24 hours after sending my initial email, they've emailed me back and agreed to cancel the fine!

In case anyone else is interested, here's what I found...

Unfortunately, as a newbie I can't post links, however the thread can be found on the pepipoo.com forum by searching for 55625 (this is the topic ID), it's entitled 'How long do the council have to respond to a PCN Challenge'...

This thread quotes paragraph 88 of the Traffic Management Act 2004...

"88. It is likely that an enforcement authority will receive informal challenges
against PCNs before they issue the NtO (this does not apply to PCNs issued
by post where the PCN will act as an NtO). They are likely to receive these
within the 14 day discount period. Enforcement authorities should give proper
consideration and respond to these challenges with care and attention, and in
a timely manner in order to foster good customer relations, reduce the number
of NtOs sent and the number of formal representations to be considered. The
Secretary of State suggests that authorities should respond within 14 days."

Done and dusted!

peter_the_piper

Thanks for letting us know, often we are left hanging wondering what happened. Congrats by the way.

done_2

I will try and use the same text, because in my case they have sent me an email to cknowledge the appeal, but didn't answer in writing as stated. This was on 23/05. Today though, I have received a notice to owner, completely ignoring my informal appeal. So I will send the initial one again with the added text from the legislation.

Big thank you :Tpeter_the_piper and jonelkins

jonelkins

"Done"... Will you post the outcome here? Just to see what the council come back with, as in my case I didn't get this far. That and the fact that I'm just a bit nosey!

Thanks...

Jon

done_2

I shall post it Jon, hope will help, just fingers crossed to achieve a positive result