Newlyn Plc wants £700 for a £130 PCN, TEC says they should stop harrassing me - help!

[oopsiedoopsie]

Hi!

 

I sincerely hope you will be able to advise me in a very stressful situation.

 

I had an outstanding penalty charge notice of £130 for clipping into a bus lane, issued by the Harrow council.

I've made my complaint to the council arguing that the bus lane was not correctly and adequately indicated.

 

I have not received any further communication after that, and most certainly have not received the Rejection Notice of any kind.

 

Soon after, I've suffered a heart attack followed by two surgical procedures in April last year and

since have been unemployed and on jobseekers allowance as my sole income.

 

As soon as I was physically able I approached Stepchange and CAB with the advice on what to do about the matter

since I wanted to do the right thing, and

 

they advised me to contact Harrow Council and explain my medical and financial situation, and ask for a manageable payment arrangement, which I did.

 

I have since written to Harrow Council several times sending all the relevant hospital and other medical documents, as well as my financial details.

 

Despite my repeated requests for such, my correspondence has neither been replied to, nor acknowledged.

 

On March the 5th I was in a shock to find a handwritten letter Take Formal Notice pushed through my letter from Newlyn Plc,

requesting almost £500 to be paid immediately.

 

I've contacted TEC in Northampton straightaway and was instructed to fill in the PE2 and PE3 forms and email them,

after which TEC would inform Harrow council, and they should halt the baillif action pending further court decision.

 

I have done as instructed and received the confirmation from TEC that they have formally informed Harrow council on the 10th of May,

and that the procedure will take its due course, of which I would be duly informed by the court of and when a final decision has been made.

 

I haven't heard anything from either the court or the council since.

 

Today another hand-delivered letter by Newlyn Plc appeared at my doorstep

- this time even more stressful and upsetting Control of Goods,

demanding the immediate payment of £696.44.

 

I've contacted the TEC again and was told by the officer (who was very surprised at this course of action)

that Newlyn's action should have not gone through,

I should have NOT been given this letter since TEC has informed the council,

and my case has still not come to court,

so no decision to escalate action has not been made.

 

I have written and emailed Harrow council,

sending all the forms and copies of emails,

I have faxed and written to Newlyn with all the forms and I have not heard a thing.

 

I am a 62 year old heart patient, not working, deeply distressed and frightened by all of this.

 

The matter of the deepest concern and worry is that all my previous payment offer,

detailed correspondence to either Newlyn or Harrow council has seemingly been ignored, and ignored on purpose,

because I find it hard to believe that none of my letters, not even the official communication from TEC has not made through.

 

I am at my wits end, in deep distress and not a little scared.

 

What should I do?

 

Many thanks for any advice.

[Leakie]

Hi Oops

Welcome to CAG

One of the experts will be along to advise soon,

 

 

Leakie

[brassnecked]

Send a Formal Complaint to Harrow, Head of Revenues, and the CEO, copied to elected leader and your MP. sadly LB Harrow and Newlyn are both obstinate and greedy, are you sure it hasn't been decided?

[oopsiedoopsie]

Thank you, Leakie and brassnecked, I'll type the letter tonight and send it first thing in the morning. I found the template letters link, which one should I go for?

I apologize for the trouble, I cannot think straight, I've been feeling sick since this morning Newlyn's hand-delivered gem. I don't know, however, how much hope it should give me, since Harrow council has not even bothered to acknowledge let alone respond in any shape of form months and months of my previous correspondence, my payment offer, my hospital letters and the copies of my detailed financial situation (jobseekers allowance). I am scared to leave my house now, even to turn on the lights, so worried I am someone will come banging on my door - over the ticket I even asked myself - no - PLEADED to be allowed to pay but in a manageable installments before all of this...

 

My apologies, brassnecked, your last question just finally filtered through my foggy head - no, it has not been decided. I've spoken with the TEC chap twice today, and he confirmed that he can see all the details in front of him, and that it will be at least another week before my case gets seen to - due to Easter backlogs, apparently.

Edited April 25, 2014 by oopsiedoopsie

[tomtubby]

Once an Out of Time witness statement is submitted (and confirmation of safe receipt received) then BY LAW all enforcement must cease until the decision on whether or not to accept the application is made. Newlyn should NOT be writing to you at all. Sadly, there are more complaints concerning Harrow Council and their parking enforcement than any other local authority. I would not 'hold your breath' either that your application will be accepted given that it is HARROW COUNCIL and NOT the Traffic Enforcement Centre that decide whether or not to accept your application.

 

I assume that you have a car ...if so, is there any finance on the car?

 

Your post is worrying given that it would indicate that yet again, getting local authorities to accept 'vulnerability' is almost impossible.

 

On the notice received from Newlyn did it provide a breakdown of the fees?

[oopsiedoopsie]

First of all, many thanks to all of you, guys, for taking the time and trouble to help, it means a lot. Tomtubby, that's exactly what the chap from TEC said, he was polite and helpful - he said that it will be at least another week or so before the case even gets to TEC, he said he could see all the details in front of him. He explained to me the whole process (19 working days for Harrow council to get back to TEC, and then TEC informs me in writing about the decision, after which, depending what that decision might be - rejected or not - I have the recourse to the next step with another form and then the hearing. I hope I understood it correctly.) Either way, this whole situation is highly irregular, he agreed but he said that TEC cannot force Harrow council to do what it should have done, but clearly point blank refused to do. TEC can only inform the council and assume that the council is going to abide by the rules. In this instance this is clearly not the case, but TEC has no authority over it. The car had no finance. SORN since October last year , I just couldn't afford to run it on what income comes in. (I no longer have it - 15-year old Micra was sold for a pittance to pay the bills this winter). Newlyn provided no breakdown of fees, nothing except the date, reference number, the total demanded, and that they will come next time to take goods. That's all. Not even a signature,stamp or a name. What I find the most frightening is that I have repeatedly tried to contact both the council and the Newlyn, I've written to Harrow council several times with all of my medical documents and such last summer - months before all of this - and there has been not a single reply - nothing. I've written and emailed to Newlyn and Harrow twice since last month, again with all the documents and pointing out that the regulations set out specifically disallow bailiff action until the process is fully exhausted and all parties informed about it by TEC in writing. Nothing. Not a word - nothing. It scares me witless, because if a person is blatantly denied even the basic courtesy - by the local authority that should, at least be seen to operate by the lawful rules, where can one get protection? Who to turn to? I called my local CAB, but the earliest they can fit me in is - next month... I've asked a friend to stay with me while this gets sorted, I am too frightened to be on my own. If I could afford a solicitor, I'd have probably more chance in getting Harrow council to abide by the law, but since that's not the case - what on earth can I do? I wrote and wrote, I have receipts of postage and sent emails coming out of my ears, and not even a plain 'sod off' back from either of them. I apologize for rambling, it is very, very stressful and frightening...

Edited April 27, 2014 by oopsiedoopsie

[tomtubby]

Reading your response I really do think that this query needs to be brought to the urgent attention of the Ministry of Justice. This is because it highlights concerns with local authorities and their failure to respond to correspondence and the failure of the Traffic Enforcement Centre to even email Harrow Council regarding the continued enforcement by THEIR agents of a PCN that by law should not to subject to ANY method of enforcement given that an OTT has been filed.

 

I will give some further thought to this later today.

 

Please try NOT to worry.

[brassnecked]

Ring your local councillor and email your MP with your post, a link to this thread, and copy it to LB Harrow CEO and elected leader. You can find your MP and councillor on wwwwritetothem.com, and send a letter direct from there.

[oopsiedoopsie]

Thank you, tomtubby and brassnecked. I shall go through my postal receipts and my sent emails folder, make copies, and start from there. I am not the man I used to be - my dicky ticker and three stents took care of that - so the thought of extended stress and the fight with the council bureaucrats is not something I'm coping all that well with. In the meantime if Newlyn sends someone to my home, what should I do? And once again, many thanks for all of you who take time and trouble to help, I've been reading some posts here and I some cases leave me lost for words. How can that go on without some rules in place to protect people is beyond me.

[brassnecked]

Don't open the door, ignore them for now Newlyn have no business with you at this time, and cannot add fees whilst the OOT is being considered. In fact that may be enough to refer LB harrow and Newlyn to the Local Government Ombudsman right now, others may know more.

[ploddertom]

I am not the man I used to be - my dicky ticker and three stents took care of that - so the thought of extended stress and the fight with the council bureaucrats is not something I'm coping all that well with.

 

How long ago did this happen? Are you still having ongoing treatment? There is a possibility you may be classed as vulnerable - have a read of this http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?421867-Taking-Control-of-Goods-National-Standards-2014 follow the link at the end.

[oopsiedoopsie]

Thank you all so much, I cannot thank you all enough.

 

 

I had a good read at the link (thank you, ploddertom, that is proving to be an eye-opening read).

 

And as an answer to your question - I had my two heart attacks in May last year, two surgeries and three stents put in one on the night of the second attack, and the rest a month later. Attended rehab until the end of August, on regular checkups, tests and medication ever since, the last check up and echo-scan scheduled in a few weeks time, hopefully for the last time. Unemployed and on jobseekers since the heart attack, but looking forward to get my life back, and get off the damn thing.)

[oopsiedoopsie]

UPDATE: I wrote an email and sent a letter on Saturday to the LA using the suggestions from the forum, and just received a response via email back from parking enforcement department within Harrow council (Finally! The first communication!), and I am pasting their reply. It is suitably ambiguous, but at least it acknowledges that TEC HAD informed them.

 

Here's their full reply, pasted:

"Thank you for your email. I can confirm that your TEC submissions was notified to the Authority and a suspension of bailiff action was instigated on the 10th March 2014. We still await a TEC decision on your submission."

 

 

If I am reading this correctly, it seems Newlyn is trying a colloquial 'fast one'? Thank you, again for all your advice, you've been helping immensely.

[ploddertom]

As far as I am concerned you should be classed as vulnerable due to your health issues and I would be asking for a Doctors note or similar to back it up. If you get this send copies to both Bailiffs & Council claiming vulnerability as the last you need is stress.

[tomtubby]

Thank you for updating the thread with the very disappointing email which effectively merely confirms that Harrow Council has indeed received notification from TEC. What they failed to explain was WHY their agents were continuing with enforcement.

[wonkeydonkey]

Thank you for updating the thread with the very disappointing email which effectively merely confirms that Harrow Council has indeed received notification from TEC. What they failed to explain was WHY their agents were continuing with enforcement.

 

and that is exactly what the OP should be asking them....the reply could make interesting reading.

[ericsbrother]

Harrow are a bunch of crooks, read the thread from a chap in Scotland who had a similar car reg to a foreign plate and they are still hounding him eve though they know they are wrong.