Notice of Rejection (bus lane)

Notice of Rejection for a Bus Lane PCN

 

If you receive a Notice of Rejection you will have 28 days, beginning with the date of service of that notice, to either:

 

pay the penalty charge at the full rate;

or

appeal to the Adjudicator. A Notice of Appeal form should be sent by the local authority with the Notice of Rejection. If this form is not enclosed, the local authority should be contacted to obtain one. You should appeal within 28 days.

 

If you wish to appeal to the Adjudicator later than the 28 days, you should still send your appeal, but you MUST say on the Notice of Appeal form why it is late. The Adjudicator will then decide whether to allow you to appeal late. Our advice would always be to appeal within the 28 days.

 

Details of how and where to appeal will be enclosed with the notice of rejection. If they are not you will need to contact the local authority.

If the penalty charge is not paid or an appeal is not made within the 28 days allowed, the local authority may issue a charge certificate which will increase the full amount due by a further 50%.

 

A notice of rejection must state that “a charge certificate may be served unless before the period of 28 days beginning with the date of the notice of rejection (1) the penalty charge is paid, or (2) the person on whom the notice is served appeals to the traffic adjudicator against the penalty charge.”

The notice of rejection in a case with Transport for London contained the words “unless you appeal within 28 days of the date of this rejection you must pay the penalty charge of £100 to transport for London. “ It also stated “Please note that failure to may result in the issue of a charge certificate which will increase the charge to £150.”

The adjudicator said that the statement that the PCN must be paid within 28 days of the notice of rejection itself, rather than the service of the notice “is incorrect and wrong in law”.

 

Sample Notice of Rejection

Sample Notice of Rejection

London Borough of London
[Correspondence name & address]
Mr A B Smith
99 Any Street
Anywhere
NE1 4BO

[Letter date]

Dear Mr Smith,
Penalty Charge Notice: [PCN number]
Thank you for your letter of [Reps letter date] in which you made representations about the above Penalty Charge Notice.

We have considered everything you said in your letter but do not feel that you have made grounds for canceling the Penalty Charge Notice or the Notice to Owner. This letter is issued as a formal
Notice of Rejection of your representations.

We have rejected your representations because [Reasons for rejection].
Therefore, before the end of the period of 28 days beginning with the date that this letter was served (the date it was delivered), you must either pay the penalty charge of £[amount payable]or appeal to the independent Adjudicator.

If you want to pay, please see the How to Pay section at the end of this letter.
If you want to appeal, please read the guidance notes attached to the appeal form enclosed with this letter, then complete the form and send it to the Parking and Traffic Appeals Service, P.O. Box 1010, Sutton SM1 4SW – please do not send the appeal form to us. The Adjudicator will consider your appeal and make a final decision. Please note that an adjudicator cannot normally award costs against you but may do so if he considers that you have acted frivolously, vexatiously or wholly unreasonably. Equally the adjudicator may award costs against an authority that he considers has acted frivolously, vexatiously or wholly unreasonably.

If you do not pay or appeal before the end of the 28 day period, the penalty charge may increase by 50% to £ [full amount + 50%] and we may serve a Charge Certificate seeking payment of this increased amount. At that stage, you may have missed the opportunity to appeal. If the increased charge is not then paid within a further 14 days, we may apply to the county court to recover the charge as if it were a debt payable under a county court order.

If you want any help or more information, please telephone our helpline on [Helpline phone number].

Yours sincerely,
Fred Quimby
Parking Services Officer
London
HOW TO PAY

Please make cheques and postal orders payable to “[Payee details]” and write the penalty charge notice number on the back. Please do not send post-dated cheques as they will not be accepted.
If you want to pay by post, please fill in the payment slip below and send it with your payment or card payment authorisation to: [Payment address]. If you want a receipt, please enclose a stamped addressed envelope. Please do not send cash through the post.

If you want to pay in person, please go to [Payment centre address] between [Times] on [Days]. If you pay by cash it is very important to get a receipt, in case there is any later query about your payment.
Or you can pay by calling our telephone payment line on [Payment phone number] between [Times] on [Days] using one of the following debit or credit cards – [List of accepted cards].

Payment slip – please return with all payments sent by post
Penalty Charge Notice Number: [PCN number] VRM: [VRM]
issued in: [Contravention location] at: [End time] on: [Contravention date]
Mr/Mrs/Ms/Miss: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Address: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Postcode: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Only complete the details below if you are making payment by MASTERCARD, VISA, SWITCH or DELTA card. Please debit my MasterCard / Visa / Switch / Delta card (delete as appropriate)
Amount £ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _
Card Number: _ _ _ _ / _ _ _ _ / _ _ _ _ / _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (Switch 19 numbers) Switch Issue Number: _ _ _ _
Card Issue Date _ _ / _ _ Card Expiry Date _ _ / _ _ Name of Cardholder: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _
Signature of Cardholder: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Date: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Next: Appealing to the bus lane adjudicator