Railway byelaws and potential court action

Inquisitive18

Hi - I've digested as much info as I can find on PCNs and Railway Byelaws - particularly the Newbies and ''Railway PCN - clarifying the process' thread from March 2018 - and would be very grateful for any input on a few unanswered questions:

- Do multiple PCNs for one vehicle increase the likelihood of magistrates court action? (presumably yes?)
- Can multiple PCNs be wrapped up into one court case (again, presumably yes?) and can that case include some that have passed the six month timeframe, if others are still within six months?
- If/when a notification is received of the process moving from solicitors to court, is there an opportunity to pay before reaching court, without incurring extra costs above and beyond the already inflated charges + admin costs being chased by the solicitors?

Thanks and apologies if any of this is obvious! Never realised this area was such a minefield.

waamo

Yes to all.

If it goes to court it will be a proper fine, not their made up charges. You can plead guilty by post (possibly online depending on the charge) and avoid any costs.

Coupon-mad

Depends who it is from, as their approach differs - SABA? VCS? NCP? APCOA?

- Do multiple PCNs for one vehicle increase the likelihood of magistrates court action? (presumably yes?)

Possibly but if this is SABA there have hardly been any, and not from SABA but from a TOC.

- Can multiple PCNs be wrapped up into one court case (again, presumably yes?)

Yes.

and can that case include some that have passed the six month timeframe, if others are still within six months?

Not if they are 'Penalty' Charges from SABA, no, as they time out after 6 months. PARKING charge notices from other firms could be pursued for 6 years but not in the Mags court.

- If/when a notification is received of the process moving from solicitors to court, is there an opportunity to pay before reaching court, without incurring extra costs above and beyond the already inflated charges + admin costs being chased by the solicitors?

Yes but again who are we talking about & are these PENALTY or PARKING Charges?

waamo

Assuming these are penalties then the odds of going to court are remote. The ppc gets nothing. All the money goes into government coffers.

Umkomaas

Why do so many omit the most important piece of information from their posts - the name of the parking firm?

Inquisitive18

Depends who it is from, as their approach differs - SABA? VCS? NCP? APCOA?

Thanks for the replies - v helpful.

PCNs are penalty notices from Saba. Trying to work out whether the general guidance to sit out the six months still applies without creating a situation worse than paying up to £182 (charge + admin) per case?

waamo

Inquisitive18 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies - v helpful.

PCNs are penalty notices from Saba. Trying to work out whether the general guidance to sit out the six months still applies without creating a situation worse than paying up to £182 (charge + admin) per case?

These are proper penalties then. If they don't know who the owner or driver is they can't prosecute. Silence is golden.

If it did go to court they can't charge multiple admin fees. It's one case. As I said plead guilty and there is no admin fee anyway.

Coupon-mad

Definitely sit it out till six months or reply slowly asking questions to tie them up.

Half_way

Never identify the drivers with railway cases.
Next do you know why the vehcilce atracted a ticket?
somethings fall under by laws, somethings dont

Inquisitive18

Many thanks all. Just to check I’ve understood the following correctly –

If it goes to court it will be a proper fine, not their made up charges. You can plead guilty by post (possibly online depending on the charge) and avoid any costs … If it did go to court they can't charge multiple admin fees. It's one case.

… it should be a better outcome to pay at this stage, if it ever materialises, rather than at the ‘debt collector’ / solicitor letters stage?

Just conscious of the line in the standard letters about the ‘level 3’ magistrates fine of up to £1,000 per case – is that anything more than a scare tactic?

waamo

Inquisitive18 wrote: »

Many thanks all. Just to check I’ve understood the following correctly –



… it should be a better outcome to pay at this stage, if it ever materialises, rather than at the ‘debt collector’ / solicitor letters stage?

Just conscious of the line in the standard letters about the ‘level 3’ magistrates fine of up to £1,000 per case – is that anything more than a scare tactic?

Like I said if they don't know who to prosecute they can't do anything more that threaten. Unless you tell them what they need to know they can't do anything but send scary letters.

It's all down to you. You can keep quiet and leave them unable to do anything or you can write a confession along with a payment. Your call.