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proceduralUK · England (London)Difficulty: moderate

Silvertown/Blackwall Tunnel — PCN not served properly or too late

A penalty charge notice (PCN) must be served correctly and on time. It must also include certain required details: what you are accused of, the amount due, the time limits for paying and for making representations, and your right to appeal to London Tribunals (Environment and Traffic Adjudicators). If the PCN is served late, served incorrectly, or is missing any of those details, that is a procedural failing and you may have grounds to challenge it.

Legal basis

Road User Charging Schemes (Penalty Charges, Adjudication and Enforcement) (England) Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/1783) — service of the penalty charge notice/charge certificate, the representation and adjudication timetable, and the right of appeal to London Tribunals; ground of procedural impropriety.

How to identify this in your case

Is this you? Check the date the PCN was issued or served and compare it with the date of the alleged offence — if too much time has passed, service may be out of time. Also check whether the PCN clearly states: what you are accused of, the penalty amount, the deadlines for paying and for making representations, and your right to appeal to London Tribunals (Environment and Traffic Adjudicators). If any of those details are missing or wrong, this ground may apply to you.

Sample appeal wording

Before you send this

Deadline. A late submission can be turned down without your argument being read. Check your notice for the deadline and how it is counted.
Paying may end it. Paying can count as accepting the notice and can close a challenge already under way. Part-paying or acknowledging an old debt can also revive a time limit that had expired.
The amount can change. Check what happens to the sum if you challenge — it may be held, re-offered lower, or keep rising, and fees or enforcement can continue meanwhile.
Use the official route. Use the method, recipient and form your notice specifies, with any reference, evidence and signature it asks for. Sent elsewhere, it may not count.
Only say what is true. Do not copy any statement of fact unless it is true for you, and check the legal point still applies. Delete what does not fit. It may be treated as your statement.
Careful what you volunteer. Avoid unnecessary admissions — naming the driver or accepting responsibility can remove arguments. But answer anything you are legally required to answer, and do include the evidence your ground needs.
Keep the record. Keep what you sent, the attachments, any receipt, and the reply. Note the next deadline.

Sample wording to adapt and send yourself — it may not fit your notice or the stage you are at. Replace the bracketed prompts with your own details; leave any case citation as it is.

The PCN was not served in accordance with the Regulations [not served on the registered keeper / served outside the permitted period / failed to state the contravention, amount, payment and representation periods or the right of appeal to London Tribunals]. This procedural impropriety renders the penalty unenforceable. [Details].

Beat It writes this argument automatically

Scan your PCN — our AI checks if this ground applies to your specific ticket, drafts a properly-cited appeal letter, and sends it for you where the council takes email — guiding you through their own online form where they use one, so you press submit. The win fee is only charged if you win.

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Silvertown/Blackwall Tunnel — PCN not served properly or too late

Legal basis

How to identify this in your case

Sample appeal wording

Beat It writes this argument automatically

Sources

Related appeal grounds

Next steps