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Hi,
As a little background information, we moved home in August 2016, (within the same area) and since the beginning of September 2016, my wife drives two miles every morning to drop my 11 year old daughter off at the train station, to get the train to her school. She collects her every evening and she has done this, as I say, every weekday for the last six months. She nearly always drops her off and picks her up in a side road that has double yellow lines.
On 29th March 2017 at 6.20am, a bailiff from Newlyn PLC knocked at our door, having already clamped my wife's car. He was demanding £423 for an alleged PCN issued in September 2016 by my local council, Brentwood Borough Council in Essex.
This was in all honesty the first we knew of the matter. He claimed that in September 2016, my wife's car was issued with a PCN which wasn't paid and it had been to court in January 2017 but under my old address. As it was still unpaid, he claims that Newlyn wrote to us on 8th March 2017, (just 20 days earlier) and as they had received no reply, he was there to collect the debt or seize goods! We knew there had to be an error but we needed the car to get my daughter to the station for 7.30am and my younger daughter to school and he told us we had two hours, until 8.20am to pay or the car would be removed. I felt that I had no option but to pay under protest and try to clear up the issue once the car was unclamped.
Once he had left, we worked out by going by the date he gave us and going through old text messages, that the PCN must relate to an afternoon when my wife pulled up to drop me off at the station and to pick up our daughter at the same time. As soon as I had gotten out of her car, my wife noticed in her mirror, a traffic warden taking down registration numbers. My wife was then approached by the traffic warden who told her that she could not park there. My wife explained that she was waiting to pick up our daughter but the traffic warden told her that she had to move or she would be ticketed. There were two or three other cars also waiting there at this time, presumably also to drop off or pick someone up. My wife, realising she had little option, drove off and went around the block. As she came back into the side road, she saw our daughter coming along from the station and pulled over to pick her up. Our daughter got into the car and they went home.
My wife then texted me to tell me what had happened and as I was sure that stopping on single and double yellow lines was permitted in order to drop off or pick up passengers, I checked online and found that that was indeed the case. I replied to my wife and told her not to worry.
It would now appear, (and I'm assuming here, as Newlyn wouldn't give us any help or information) that the traffic warden did indeed issue a PCN , without informing my wife and after my wife had driven off. As this wasn't put on the car, I assume a Notice To Keeper was sent by the council to our old address and when that went unanswered, court proceedings were issued that were heard, according to the bailiff, in January 2017. Now obviously, we contacted the DVLA with our change of address sometime shortly after we moved and while I don't know the exact date, I do have correspondence from the DVLA dated November 2016 when our tax was up for renewal, so I know their records were up to date by then. Obviously the council obtained our old address but when they received no response and decided to issue court proceedings, aren't they legally responsible to confirm to the court that they have the correct address for the court papers to be served? I'm sure I read that somewhere? Also, and I know they are different departments within the council, but wouldn't it have made sense when they didn't receive a response, for the council to check their own electoral records? They would then have seen that we now had a different address. I mean, they collect our Council Tax and issue voting cards, so they know where we live!
As I said, my wife spoke to Newlyn on the phone once their offices had opened, (they wouldn't speak to me) and asked for a copy of the letter that they allegedly sent on 8th March, (at least for proof that they sent it to the correct address!) and which we had not received, but she was told that, "the letters are computer generated and copies cannot be printed off and sent"! She couldn't or wouldn't give any further information or help and started to be very curt and condescending. In the end, my wife realised she was wasting her time talking to this person and gave up.
What do we do now and how do we find out about the PCN? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
As a little background information, we moved home in August 2016, (within the same area) and since the beginning of September 2016, my wife drives two miles every morning to drop my 11 year old daughter off at the train station, to get the train to her school. She collects her every evening and she has done this, as I say, every weekday for the last six months. She nearly always drops her off and picks her up in a side road that has double yellow lines.
On 29th March 2017 at 6.20am, a bailiff from Newlyn PLC knocked at our door, having already clamped my wife's car. He was demanding £423 for an alleged PCN issued in September 2016 by my local council, Brentwood Borough Council in Essex.
This was in all honesty the first we knew of the matter. He claimed that in September 2016, my wife's car was issued with a PCN which wasn't paid and it had been to court in January 2017 but under my old address. As it was still unpaid, he claims that Newlyn wrote to us on 8th March 2017, (just 20 days earlier) and as they had received no reply, he was there to collect the debt or seize goods! We knew there had to be an error but we needed the car to get my daughter to the station for 7.30am and my younger daughter to school and he told us we had two hours, until 8.20am to pay or the car would be removed. I felt that I had no option but to pay under protest and try to clear up the issue once the car was unclamped.
Once he had left, we worked out by going by the date he gave us and going through old text messages, that the PCN must relate to an afternoon when my wife pulled up to drop me off at the station and to pick up our daughter at the same time. As soon as I had gotten out of her car, my wife noticed in her mirror, a traffic warden taking down registration numbers. My wife was then approached by the traffic warden who told her that she could not park there. My wife explained that she was waiting to pick up our daughter but the traffic warden told her that she had to move or she would be ticketed. There were two or three other cars also waiting there at this time, presumably also to drop off or pick someone up. My wife, realising she had little option, drove off and went around the block. As she came back into the side road, she saw our daughter coming along from the station and pulled over to pick her up. Our daughter got into the car and they went home.
My wife then texted me to tell me what had happened and as I was sure that stopping on single and double yellow lines was permitted in order to drop off or pick up passengers, I checked online and found that that was indeed the case. I replied to my wife and told her not to worry.
It would now appear, (and I'm assuming here, as Newlyn wouldn't give us any help or information) that the traffic warden did indeed issue a PCN , without informing my wife and after my wife had driven off. As this wasn't put on the car, I assume a Notice To Keeper was sent by the council to our old address and when that went unanswered, court proceedings were issued that were heard, according to the bailiff, in January 2017. Now obviously, we contacted the DVLA with our change of address sometime shortly after we moved and while I don't know the exact date, I do have correspondence from the DVLA dated November 2016 when our tax was up for renewal, so I know their records were up to date by then. Obviously the council obtained our old address but when they received no response and decided to issue court proceedings, aren't they legally responsible to confirm to the court that they have the correct address for the court papers to be served? I'm sure I read that somewhere? Also, and I know they are different departments within the council, but wouldn't it have made sense when they didn't receive a response, for the council to check their own electoral records? They would then have seen that we now had a different address. I mean, they collect our Council Tax and issue voting cards, so they know where we live!
As I said, my wife spoke to Newlyn on the phone once their offices had opened, (they wouldn't speak to me) and asked for a copy of the letter that they allegedly sent on 8th March, (at least for proof that they sent it to the correct address!) and which we had not received, but she was told that, "the letters are computer generated and copies cannot be printed off and sent"! She couldn't or wouldn't give any further information or help and started to be very curt and condescending. In the end, my wife realised she was wasting her time talking to this person and gave up.
What do we do now and how do we find out about the PCN? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
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