Four months ago, my son used my car and received two penalty charge notices (PCNs) from Transport for London (TfL). He paid for both immediately. A month later I received a letter from TfL stating that no payment had been received and that, as the registered keeper, I was liable.
My son’s bank confirmed in writing that the £160 payment had been made and that it was, 41 days later, still showing as pending. We sent the payment authorisation code and the letter to TfL. They replied giving me 14 days to provide the card details by post.
The letter arrived three days before the deadline expired giving me insufficient time to reply. I called and was advised to submit the details by completing a representation online.
This turned out to be wrong advice as the deadline for a representation had passed and it would be rejected.
I posted the required details then received a letter from a county court regarding the recovery of the debt. I submitted proof that the debt had been paid in full and was advised that TfL had been instructed to drop the case.
It did not end there. TfL forwarded it to the adjudicator. I don’t know what to do. The whole thing is making me anxious and depressed.
AS, Croydon
It’s making me hopping mad. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve exposed TfL’s habit of failing to collect electronic payments and then pursuing blameless drivers for its own incompetence.
The most enraging aspect in all of these cases is its refusal to back down, despite proof of payment, until I get involved. This is despite repeated promises that it has reformed its systems. Predictably, the same proof of payment satisfied TfL when it was submitted by a national newspaper.
A TfL spokesperson said: “We’re very sorry for any distress caused by our handling of these penalty charge notices. We want to make sure all drivers are treated fairly and, following a review of this case, it’s clear that we should have accepted the evidence that he had attempted to make payment.
“We have cancelled these penalty charge notices and will be working with our suppliers to look at our existing processes for this type of issue and address this matter.”
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