I received three £30 penalty charge notices (PCNs) over a three-day period for straying into bus lanes while working in Reading. I sent a cheque for £90 to clear all three. Soon afterwards I received notice that I still owed two of the fines because I had only included one PCN reference, although the full £90 had been cashed.
I called the council and asked for the £60 balance to be applied to the other two PCNs but was told this could only be requested in writing. I duly wrote. I then heard that I still owed £30 on one PCN and, on phoning, was told that because of the delay due to posting my instruction, I had exceeded the payment deadline by one day and the fine had increased by 50%. I sent a cheque to cover this. Three months later I was told that because I had not paid the outstanding £30 my debt had doubled to £60. My bank confirmed that the £30 cheque had been cashed so I ignored this latest demand.
Subsequently I received a bill for £147 from bailiffs which I also ignored and now I’m told I owe £377.
How can I stop this never ending farce? KH, Stoke on Trent
The obvious thing to say here is never ignore a council charge notice, even if you think it’s wrong. It will only come back to haunt you in ever larger guise. The justification for such uncompromising bureaucracy, for what are often genuine mistakes, is another issue.
In your case Reading council confirms that it could not use your payment to cover the three fines because you had not written all three PCN numbers on the back of the cheque and it couldn’t assume that you did not wish to appeal the other two, for all that the payment suggested otherwise.
Even so, it says, the £90 would not have covered the debt because you had missed the discount deadline on two of the fines. That’s why you were told you still owed two sets of £30, although – because you were advised of this in two separate notices several weeks apart – you thought the second demand was chasing the supplement you had already paid. The council says the PCN number for each fine is detailed on each letter but, since the wording is identical, it’s easy to be confused.
Unwisely you ignored this second demand and the debt ended up in the hands of bailiffs. And thus an accidental sojourn in a bus lane can end up costing nearly £500 which you will, I’m afraid, have to pay if you want to avoid court summons and a wrecked credit rating.
If you need help email Anna Tims at your.problems@observer.co.uk or write to Your Problems, The Observer, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Include an address and phone number.
