legalUK · England & WalesDifficulty: moderate
UK Clean Air Zones — Pre-Contravention Compliance Letter Misrepresentation
Where a council/TfL pre-contravention letter, email, or call to the keeper said the vehicle was compliant or exempt and the keeper relied on it, the keeper has a legitimate-expectation defence to a subsequent PCN.
Legal basis
R v North & East Devon HA ex p Coughlan [2001] QB 213; misrepresentation principles
How to identify this in your case
Recipient has dated correspondence from the council/TfL stating their vehicle is exempt/compliant.
Sample appeal wording
To: [Authority] [CAZ/LEZ/ULEZ] Team Re: PCN [PCN_NUMBER] On [DATE_LETTER] I received correspondence from your authority [letter/email/call] confirming my vehicle was exempt/compliant. Copy enclosed. I relied on this representation. Under R v North & East Devon HA ex p Coughlan [2001] QB 213, you cannot now penalise me contrary to your prior assurance. Please cancel. Yours faithfully, [Keeper Name]
Replace [PARKING DATE], [NtK DATE] etc. with your own dates before sending.
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- R v North & East Devon HA ex p Coughlan [2001] QB 213