Parking ticket gone too far

[Rain_is_insane]

A few years ago i bought a car on credit as i couldn't afford a new one outright. Long story short, i lost my job, couldn't keep up with the repayments and it got repossessed (sp) About 10 months ago my neighbour came round with a letter for me, made out in her address, saying I had an unpaid parking ticket from march 07 and it now had charges on it. I called the debt collector and informed him (a) he had the wrong address (b) the car was repossessed the month before the ticket was issued. He was quite happy with this and asked me to send him a copy of the reciept from when the car was picked up, which i did. Haven't heard anything else till the 19th of this month. There was a hand delivered letter through my door stating i now owed £514 and they would be back to clamp my vehicle/remove goods on the 20th. I no longer have that vehicle but got an old bangor to get me to work which is kept on my shared with next doors driveway. Now i am worried that even though I did not incur the ticket that they will clamp my car untill i can prove otherwise at the doorstep, making it impossible for me to get to work if they end up towing the car. Plus they didn't come back on the 20th anyways. Can they clamp any vehicle? or does it have to be the one the ticket was issued against?

 

Where do i go from here??

[green_and_mean]

Who issued the parking ticket?

[Rain_is_insane]

The local council. But I don't know what the charge was.

[green_and_mean]

Once you have received an Order for Recovery you can either:

 

pay the outstanding amount (penalty charge and court fee) to the council within 21 days, or

complete the Statutory Declaration and return it to the TEC.

 

What is the Statutory Declaration form?

 

The Statutory Declaration form is a legal declaration to say that you never received either a Notice to Owner, Notice of Rejection, or a Notice of Refusal.

 

Your Statutory Declaration must be witnessed by an authorised person. This could be a solicitor or Commissioner for Oaths, Justice of the Peace at your local magistrates court, or an officer of the local county court who is appointed by the Judge to take affidavits. (A fee will usually be charged!)

 

You must then send the completed form to the Traffic Enforcement Centre (not to the council).

 

If you complete a Statutory Declaration it does not mean that the Penalty Charge Notice is cancelled. The Council will go back to the stage of the process where you said that you did not receive notification. For example, if you state that you did not receive a Notice to Owner, they will take your case back to the Notice to Owner stage and send you a Notice to Owner.

 

It is a criminal offence under Section 5 of the Perjury Act 1911 to make a false Statutory Declaration. You could be imprisoned for up to two years, fined or both.

 

On what grounds could I make a Statutory Declaration?

 

There are three grounds on which a Statutory Declaration may be made:

 

I did not receive the notification of the penalty charge (Notice to Owner) - If you did not receive a Notice to Owner, you will not have had an opportunity to make formal representations against the issue of the Penalty Charge Notice. If a successful Statutory Declaration is made on this ground, we will reissue a Notice to Owner.

 

I made representations about the penalty charge but did not receive a rejection notice - If you made representations against the Notice to Owner that were rejected by the council, but you did not receive our response in the form of a Notice of Rejection of Representations, you could not have exercised your right to appeal. If a successful Statutory Declaration is made on this ground, they will treat the case as a formal appeal and forward all documentation to the National Parking Adjudication Service (PATAS in London). Liability for the penalty charge will then be decided by the independent parking adjudicator.

 

I appealed to the parking adjudicator but have had no response to my appeal

If you made a formal appeal to the independent parking adjudicator but did not receive notification of the outcome, you might have missed the opportunity to pay the full penalty charge. If a successful Statutory Declaration is made on this ground, the case should once again be regarded as a formal appeal. If they haven't already done so, they will forward all documentation to the Parking Adjudication Service. Liability for the penalty charge will then be decided by the independent parking adjudicator.

 

What happens when the TEC receive my completed Statutory Declaration?

 

When the TEC receives your Statutory Declaration it will place the penalty charge on hold. A notice of this is produced and sent to you and the council.

 

The Council can then decide to close the case or revert back to the stage in the procedure where you stated you did not receive the necessary document

 

What happens if I do not pay the outstanding amount or make a Statutory Declaration?

 

If the outstanding amount has not been paid and a Statutory Declaration has not been filed after 36 days, the Council can request authority from the TEC to use a certificated bailiff to recover the outstanding penalty charge.

 

This is done with a legal document called a Warrant of Execution.

 

What can the bailiff do to recover the outstanding amount?

 

The bailiff will send out various requests for payment to the person whose name is on the warrant. If no payment is made, the bailiff can remove the vehicle or other goods to recover the unpaid charge. The outstanding amount will also now include the bailiff's costs.

 

I was not aware of this outstanding penalty charge and now the bailiff has contacted me. What can I do about it?

 

After the issue of a warrant you may still make a Statutory Declaration but to do so you will need to request and complete an Out of Time Statutory Declaration Form from the TEC.

 

The TEC will then ask the Council if they are willing to accept a late Statutory Declaration. They have 14 days to reply. If the late Statutory Declaration is accepted then the Order for Recovery and Warrant of Execution will be revoked and they will revert back to the stage of the procedure where you have stated that you did not receive notification.

 

If they decide to reject the late Statutory Declaration then the case will go before a Court Officer at Northampton County Court who will decide whether our reasons for rejecting the late Statutory Declaration are sufficient.

 

If the court decides in our favour then the Warrant can be pursued. If the court decides to allow the late Statutory Declaration then it is treated in the same way as a Statutory Declaration that is made within time.

 

I do not agree with the court's decision - can I appeal against it?

 

You may apply to have the order set aside by completing what is called an N244 application and sending it to the TEC. Once the application is processed by the TEC, the case is transferred to the respondent's local county court for a hearing before a Judge.

[Rain_is_insane]

So to stop the bailiff entering my house in the meantime, I just inform him of my intentions to contact the TEC? Or is it guilty till proven innocent in these cases?

[green_and_mean]

So to stop the bailiff entering my house in the meantime, I just inform him of my intentions to contact the TEC? Or is it guilty till proven innocent in these cases?

 

Once the TEC has received the stat dec I beleive any actions to collect must cease until its been decided upon.

[Rain_is_insane]

Thank you very much for your help