PCN Removal

First of all, thanks for your donation to access this page, please remember that this page is private and not to be shared with anyone, but feel free to share the previous page, address here: https://Law-5.webnode.com/PCNs

And make sure to book mark this page for easy, for-your-eyes-only, access.

So to recap, as I said, those of us who drive, although we should stop using that word, because it is a commercial term meaning to conduct business, but those of us who travel in a private conveyance, aka car, are probably all familiar with the sinking feeling we get when we come back to our car, only to find we have received a ticket, when we spot a bright yellow pocket of fun under our windscreen wiper. PCNs, or Penalty Charge Notices, as annoying as they can be, are fairly easy to deal with, although there is a certain amount of effort involved on our part, but at least we have a remedy. If we go back to the [English] Bill of Rights of 1689 once again, we can recall it saying that 'all grants and promises of fines and forfeitures before conviction are illegal and void'. This is important, not only because the Bill of Rights is a constitutional , but also because a PCN is obviously a fine and since we haven't been invited to court to challenge it, not only is it illegal as the Bill of Rights states, but it is also void. The question is, how do we get a dishonourable legal system to recognise that? 

Well once we have been sent a notice in the post, claiming that we owe money to the council, according to the Bill of Rights quote above, they have broken the law, so we can now use their own legal system to get remedy. (If it is a private company, a simple conditional acceptance will be enough to get rid of them, see my 'Notice Writing' page in the index for dealing with these) So we have two options to choose from for our next step. Each of these depends on whether we have already responded to the offer of paying a penalty charge or not. Hopefully not, because by responding, we are admitting that their notice is addressed to us in the first place and not the "strawman" aka PERSON, or corporation in our name. (See my home page for more on this if you haven't already or for a recap). Also, I say offer, because in commercial [contract] law, or the law merchant, everything is an offer. If a policeman asks your name, that's an offer that you have to give it to him, although refusing is not the way to go about responding (see my conditional acceptances page for more on this). Don't despair if you have already responded to their first notice though, as I have also included a solution for that instance further down. It will just mean you'll need to add additional steps to getting rid of a PCN. But assuming you haven't yet replied to their penalty charge notice, then all you have to do, once you have scanned the paperwork they sent to you, as you should always send by signed for delivery, so that you have a signature from whoever received it (you can download a PDF for your records, from the RoyalMail website) and make sure to keep copies of all correspondence you send or receive, is to send the first notice below, once you have edited it to include the correct wording, names and addresses etc. 

Notice 1 - The First Step:

Once you have sent the above notice, wait the allocated time (detailed in the notice itself) and then send the second notice below. It is best to put a reminder on your phone to keep track of dates. Bear in mind that you may receive a response from the council or whoever sent you the notice, trying to scare you into submission. These people seem to be drunk on their own sense of [false] power and don't seem to listen to reason either, so will usually ignore everything we say. The machine grinds on regardless, as they say...
Don't despair, just alter the writing in red accordingly on the second notice, and this part is important, you must send back their response with your second notice (or third notice if you have sent the 2nd already) after you have again scanned everything for your records, always keep copies of everything, (you can attach documents to an email and send it to yourself for ease of access should you need it later). I also like to write in big bold red felt tip pen, taking up as much space as possible across their document before I scan it: "INSUFFICIENT RESPONSE" then return it to them along with whichever is my next notice of the three. Anyway, here is notice two, remember to wait the allocated time each time before sending the next notice.

Notice 2 - Step 2 - Notice of Fault:

The third and final step, Notice 3 - Notice of Default:

That's it, once you send that off, the process is complete. Although I'd say you should take a look at my 'protecting your car' page, here: https://Law-5.webnode.page/protect-your-car which, after you put your car in trust, hopefully will stop you from getting PCNs in the first place. By the way, the reason I give 28 days on the first notice, is that if it should go to court, which it probably, 99% won't, we can show the court that we have given them enough time to respond, but if we are pressed for time, we can lower the time we're giving them to respond, to 7 days. Although ideally the time we give will add up to at least 28 days.

Dealing With a PCN After Having Already Responded to Their Paperwork

If you have already responded to their paperwork, then the way to deal with a PCN will be different for you. The first thing we have to do in this instance, is that we'll have to get some form of evidence, on to the public record down at the courthouse, the same courthouse that we were supposed to be invited to before receiving a fine, for it to be both legal and lawful, meaning any courthouse whatsoever. Now if we remember, our word is our bond, and an unrebutted affidavit stands as truth in commerce, because if we swear or affirm something, we are in effect giving a witness statement or testimony. This is the highest form of evidence we or anyone else could ask for. So unless another man or woman comes forward to give an opposing statement or testimony, then there is not only no evidence, except our own, but there is also no controversy and if there is no controversy there is no case. In other words we win! With a trump card! So, if you haven't already, you'll want to file the affidavit which I've provided for you on my 'conditional acceptances' page: 

Or if you have already filed it with the Prime Minister, as described on the above page, then great, but if not, don't worry, because another alternative we can use in place of the affidavit, which is just as good, is a statutory declaration. In fact this has the same affect, because it is us again swearing or affirming to a certain fact. So as long as we get this fact into evidence, we win, as there is no man or woman who can come forward to say we owe them money, since no one from the council can say we owe them money, because quite simply we don't, but they are trying to say that we owe the council itself, which is a company, money. Well until the council grows legs and a mouth, walks down to the courthouse to put in an opposing statement, then there is no evidence we owe them money and maybe something like that is feasible in the movies, but in real life it just won't happen, the council isn't even a physical thing, it's just a concept written on paper, so it has no power or authority over man, since man created it and created the paper it is written on, this is an important concept that I hope you understand. But back to the remedy, there is a simple statutory declaration or stat dec for you below to have witnessed. In fact it's probably best to just use this rather than the affidavit as it is shorter, so less hassle:

I will say that if you have already sent the affidavit to the Prime Minister, it is possible to send a certified copy of that, never the original as I say, to the council, and whoever else is involved in the PCN, as described below for the stat dec, as I have a friend who had a warrant out for his arrest, which the police left a copy of pinned to his door, but after he sent a certified copy of his affidavit to them, that got rid of the warrant and stopped the police pestering him, I just haven't tried it for a PCN, but it should work in the same way. I'd just suggest sending it right away if you choose to do that, which will only cost you the price of recorded delivery, as you'll want proof of postage obviously, rather than having to go through the hassle of going to find a commissioner of oaths. But you may have to do that step afterwards if you still find the council are hassling you, or may have to file your affidavit into evidence which means filing a court claim (see my 'filing claims' page.

The above should be printed and taken to the local commissioner for oaths to depose the declaration - this service has a fixed fee of £5. See:

Always keep the original copy for yourself, but get the commissioner to make around 3 certified copies for you which cost £2 each, because we'll want to post a copy to each one of the parties involved.  These fees are fixed by law: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1993/2297/made

Some solicitors may charge you more though, so it's best to check their prices beforehand, or avoid solicitors and just find a commissioner of oaths specifically, rather than a solicitor who does the service of a commissioner of oaths on top of his or her normal job.

You can even charge the council etc for your time btw, although that's a whole different teaching, which can be added on top of this process. If you want to learn that too, which doesn't just apply to PCNs, take a look at this page here:

You can also post a copy to your local Magistrates Court for them to refer to just in case it's needed later.

Here is an alternate 3 Notice process, specifically for speeding tickets. Use these 3 Notices instead:

1. Notice of Conditional Acceptance:

2. Notice of Fault

3. Notice of Default