PCN name change

[epabak.jotona]

Hi all,
I'm looking for your help with a very serious issue, which looks very minor in the first place. 

I recently stopped in a bus stop for a few seconds to drop off a passenger. A few days later, a PCN came to our address. But because my wife is the registered keeper of the car, the PCN is issued to her name despite me being the driver at the time. For clarification, this is the only car we own and we share it together. 

The problem here is that, for a very specific reason, this PCN could have very serious consequences for my wife.

I need to change the name on the PCN to myself because I was the driver of the car at the time and I have 3 witnesses (who were in the car at that time) to testify that.

 

the issuing council says that according to the London Authorities Act 1996 (amended in 2000) the owner will be liable for any PCNs issued to this vehicle.

But I know that the council has the right to change it, should they wish to do so.

 

I just need to find a way to convince them and they should appreciate that, in this particular case, the consequences for my wife will be far greater than just the financial liabilities. 

Does anyone know what ground I should base my argument on and how possibly I can change the name on the PCN? 

 

Any advice is highly appreciated. 

Kind regards,
Epabak

[BankFodder]

Please pardon my naïveté but if you simply just pay it off – does it then go any further? Surely it only becomes an issue if you decide to defend it – and even if you do defend it, if your wife goes to court and pleads not guilty and you go along to court as a witness – maybe with your other witnesses and say that it was you, then I can't see that she would be found at all guilty.

Other people who know more about this may come along

[dx100uk]

correct..just pay it..…….

i will also guess the OP wrongly thinks this causes a visa issue?

[Michael Browne]

All  London bus stops are 'No Stopping At Any Time', which means you have no grounds for appeal irrespective of who is the registered owner.

 

Pay the discounted amount and the matter is closed. It's a civil not criminal offence. There  will be no repercussions for your wife in any shape or form.

[spaceman61]

57 minutes ago, BankFodder said:

Please pardon my naïveté but if you simply just pay it off – does it then go any further? Surely it only becomes an issue if you decide to defend it – and even if you do defend it, if your wife goes to court and pleads not guilty and you go along to court as a witness – maybe with your other witnesses and say that it was you, then I can't see that she would be found at all guilty.

Other people who know more about this may come along

 

There is no 'court' as such and there are no pleadings. This is decriminalised enforcement and appeals are heard at an independent tribunal.

 

The authority cannot change the name on the pcn because of strict owner liability. Only circumstances where this can happen is where a compliant hire agreement is in force.

 

[epabak.jotona]

3 hours ago, dx100uk said:

correct..just pay it..…….

i will also guess the OP wrongly thinks this causes a visa issue?

Thanks for the answer, I am not sure what you are referring to as OP,  but But basically, she needs to go through a background check process for a particular matter and the organisation that is conducting the check is very particular about how the individuals in question are respecting the law. So even a very minor motoring offence like this matters.

[dx100uk]

no a pcn is not any type of conviction

its was decriminalised a long time ago.

if its paid no-one will know it ever existed .

a parking ticket does NOT ever need to be 'declared'!!

 

dx

 

[BankFodder]

It is not considered as an offence – and it won't show up on any record. Just pay the penalty and then don't worry.

[Michael Browne]

 

Quote

So even a very minor motoring offence like this matters.

You are over-thinking this. No background check will produce any result for a parking contravention.

 

There is no procedure to get the name changed to yours. Just pay it, otherwise it will eventually escalate to bailiffs resulting ina demand for sveral hundredpounds!!

[Bromptonaut]

Epabak Jotona first of all, for clarity, OP is shorthand for Original (or Opening) Post(er); the person starting the thread. In this case yourself.

 

As I've already posted elsewhere a parking ticket issued by a Council in England and Wales (or by Transport for London) is a Civil Penalty. It's not a crime and, excepting that unpaid penalties end up at the Traffic Enforcement Centre (Northampton County Court), they go nowhere near the court system. The only people who know about this are the issuing Council, your wife and yourself. Provided you pay it that tremains the case. 

 

The risk you take, as Michael Browne points out, is that while you're on a wild goose chase to get the PCN amended the Council, as they do, plough on and take it to enforcement. At that point it becomes enforceable as a County Court Judgement and you have bailiffs after you, or rather your wife and it can end up on the Register of County Court Judgements at which point it WILL show up on a search. 

[spaceman61]

 

Just to correct you, a penalty charge notice issued under decriminalised legislation can NEVER end up as a CCJ.

 

The county court is not an avenue open to authorities to enforce the payment of a penalty charge. Private parking tickets yes, decriminalised penalty charges no.

[epabak.jotona]

@Bromptonaut Thank you for the advice.

[Bromptonaut]

1 hour ago, spaceman61 said:

 

Just to correct you, a penalty charge notice issued under decriminalised legislation can NEVER end up as a CCJ.

 

The county court is not an avenue open to authorities to enforce the payment of a penalty charge. Private parking tickets yes, decriminalised penalty charges no.

 

The Charge Certificate is enforceable  as if it were payable under a county court order

 

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/1234/regulation/4/made

 

The county court at Northampton, wearing its other hat as Traffic Enforcement Centre makes an order for recovery but it seems you are right in that (oddly in my view) that order seems not to qualify for registration as a debt. 

[spaceman61]

22 hours ago, Bromptonaut said:

 

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/1234/regulation/4/made

 

 

This link relates to an SI in respect of the London Local Authorities Act 2007.

 

I stand to be corrected, but I'd be surprised if this pcn was issued under that legislation.

[Bromptonaut]

4 hours ago, spaceman61 said:

 

This link relates to an SI in respect of the London Local Authorities Act 2007.

 

I stand to be corrected, but I'd be surprised if this pcn was issued under that legislation.

 

I'll admit I didn't study the antecedents of the regulations in great detail but, subject to being corrected by someone more knowledgeable, the mechanism of enforcement as if the charge were payable under a County Court Order goes back to London's decriminalisation of parking in the nineties.