What to do if you get a Parking Ticket
The following explains the procedure as set down in the Road Traffic
Act 1991 for contesting the issue of a Penalty Charge Notice. There
is also further explanation of how the services offered by Bexley's
Parking Services exceeds those that must be provided as set down
in the Road Traffic Act 1991 and other relevant legislation.
Notice to Owner: Formal representation
On receipt of a NTO the owner has a further 28 days to either make
payment against the charge shown on the document or complete the
relevant section and submit a written formal representation to the
Local Authority.
On receipt of a formal representation the Local Authority will
place the case on hold whilst investigations are carried out. If
the Local Authority upholds the issue of a PCN, a Notice of Rejection
will be sent to the owner of the vehicle explaining what the outstanding
charge is and how to make payment against it. There will also be
an appeal form attached for the Parking and Traffic Appeals Service.
What do I do if I receive a Notice of Rejection of Formal Representation?
You have only two options, and one must be taken
within 28 days of the date of the Notice of Rejection of Formal
Representation, otherwise further charges may be incurred:
- Make payment against the outstanding charge as stated in the
Notice of Rejection of Formal Representation
- Fully complete the appeal form and submit directly to the Parking
and Traffic Appeals Service (the full address is contained on
the form). Appeal Forms sent to Bexley Council will be returned
via second-class post. Please note: - an independent adjudicator
will consider the merits of the case submitted and make an impartial
and objective decision which is binding on both you and the Local
Authority. Should your appeal be refused you will be given another
28 days to pay the outstanding charge due.
Failure to make payment within the specified time periods or to
submit an appeal application to the Parking and Traffic Appeals
Service will result in a mandatory surcharge of 50% of the outstanding
charge being added to the outstanding charge.
Charge Certificate / Order for Recovery (PE2) / Statutory Declaration
(PE3) / Warrant of Execution:
At the Charge Certificate stage there is no formal right to contest
the issue of the PCN and payment of the outstanding charge should
be made within 21 days.
If payment is not made in full within 35 days,
the outstanding charge due will be passed to a debt recovery
agent for collection.
At this stage, all correspondence should be directed
to the debt recovery agent as they have been charged with
managing and collecting the debt on behalf of the Council.
The Council has agreed with the debt recovery agent a
number of circumstances where the debt recovery agent
can refer correspondence to the Council; however, no direct
correspondence should be sent to the Council as this may
delay the process in stopping recovery action, and the
Council accepts no liability for losses incurred in such
instances.
For the purposes of the pilot study, the debt collection
agent is not permitted to add their own charges and can
only collect the outstanding debt due to the Council.
Please note: using a debt recovery agent
to recover outstanding debt associated with Penalty Charge
Notices is a pilot programme devised to improve customer
service.
If payment is not made to the debt recovery agent within
a set period of time, the Council will apply to the Traffic
Enforcement Centre, Northampton County Court to register
the case as a debt and to produce Order for Recovery (PE2)
and Statutory Declaration (PE3) forms, which will be sent
to the owner/s of the vehicle. At this stage there is
a mandatory £5 court administration charge added
to the outstanding charge.
If payment is not made, the Council will make an application to the Traffic Enforcement
Centre, Northampton County Court to have a Warrant of Execution raised against the
outstanding charge due which will then be passed to a certificated bailiff company
for recovery. Once a case is passed to the bailiffs, you may incur further mandatory
charges imposed by the bailiff based on the costs incurred when attempting to recover
outstanding charges due.
Please note: - The Council has no direct involvement with cases
when passed to the bailiffs, as they become the responsibility of
the bailiffs to recover and resolve. Should you have any dispute
with the outstanding charge this must at first be raised with the
bailiff, as the Council will take no action unless the bailiff has
first been contacted.
Payment
Payment can be made in a number of different ways. You can:
- Pay
a parking fine online, using a credit or debit card
- Pay a parking
fine by telephone, using a credit or debit card, by calling either our 24-hour
TouchTone Telephone Payment Service on 020 8294 6789, or by
calling VINCI Park UK directly on 020 8301 5200 during working hours.
- Pay a parking
fine by cheque or postal order, posted to: The Parking Control Office, PO Box
379, Bexleyheath, Kent, DA6 8LE.
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