Summary: Mrs X complained that bailiffs repeatedly contacted her about penalty charge notices she believes were revoked, and contacted her during a period of ‘breathing space’. Mrs X also complained about the Traffic Enforcement Centre’s appeal process. Mrs X said this had an impact on her mental health and wellbeing. We do not find the Council at fault. Also, we cannot investigate the Traffic Enforcement Centre as it is outside our jurisdiction.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained that bailiffs acting on behalf of the Council repeatedly contacted her about penalty charge notices she believes were revoked. She said the bailiffs contacted her during a period of ‘breathing space’. Mrs X also complained the process to appeal penalty charge notices at the Traffic Enforcement Centre were confusing and convoluted.
2. Mrs X said this had an impact on her mental health and wellbeing. She said she has been unable to sleep and unable to work. She said she worries every time she hears a knock at the door.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)
5. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
6. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. We cannot investigate the actions of bodies such as the Traffic Enforcement Centre. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 25 and 34(1), as amended)
7. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. Where an individual, organisation or private company is providing services on behalf of a council, we can investigate complaints about the actions of these providers. (Local Government Act 1974, section 25(7), as amended)

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What I have and have not investigated

8. I have investigated the parts of Mrs X’s complaint about the penalty charge notices she believes were revoked and that bailiffs contacted her during a period of ‘breathing space’.
9. As I have said above, we cannot investigate the actions of bodies such as the Traffic Enforcement Centre. This is because they are not within our jurisdiction. For this reason, I have not investigated the part of Mrs X’s complaint about the appeal process at the Traffic Enforcement Centre.

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How I considered this complaint

10. I considered the information and documents provided by Mrs X and the Council. I spoke to Mrs X about her complaint. Mrs X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on an earlier draft of this statement. I considered all comments and further information received before I reached a final decision.
11. I considered the relevant legislation and statutory guidance, set out below.

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What I found

What should have happened

Penalty charge notices

12. Councils are responsible for enforcing moving traffic offences. They do this by issuing penalty charge notices (PCNs). A PCN can be sent by post. It is sent to the registered keeper (as per DVLA records). If a complainant has failed to notify the DVLA of a change of address and does not receive the notice, this is the complainant’s fault.
13. Government guidance allows a council to issue a notice to the owner if it does not receive a first payment for the PCN. A council can then issue a charge certificate if no payment is received. A council can then apply to the Traffic Enforcement Centre at Northampton County Court to recover the increased charge if no payment is received.
14. The Traffic Enforcement Centre is the court which deals with enforcing all traffic penalties issued by enforcing authorities in England. Motorists can file a statutory declaration/witness statement if they consider something has gone wrong in the enforcement procedure. If the court accepts a statutory declaration from a motorist it cancels the penalty back to the point where it went wrong. The motorist then has a fresh opportunity either to pay the penalty or challenge it.

‘Breathing space’

15. The Debt Respite Scheme, also known as ‘breathing space’, gives someone with a problem debt the right to legal protections from their creditors for up to 60 days. People can apply to debt advice providers to arrange breathing space. These protections include pausing most enforcement action and contact from creditors, and freezing most interest and charges on their debts.
16. An electronic service informs creditors that a breathing space has been granted. Creditors must apply the protections from the date they get the notification. The creditors, or anyone acting on their behalf, cannot take action about the debt or contact the debtor to ask for payment until the breathing space has ended.

What happened

17. In 2021 and 2022, the Council issued Mrs X with a number of penalty charge notices (PCNs). When Mrs X did not pay, the Council issued charge certificates, then orders for recovery, and ultimately referred these debts to bailiffs to collect on the Council’s behalf.
18. Mrs X appealed some of these PCNs at the Traffic Enforcement Centre because the PCNs had been sent to an old address. The Traffic Enforcement Centre revoked the PCNs. The Council then reissued the PCNs to Mrs X’s current address.
19. Mrs X did not pay some of these PCNs, so the Council again issued charge certificates, then orders for recovery, and then passed the debts to bailiffs.
20. Mrs X was granted ‘breathing space’ for two months.
21. Mrs X complained to the Council.
22. The Council explained it had sent the PCNs to Mrs X’s old address because she had not changed her address with the DVLA. It said the revoking orders explained the PCNs were not cancelled, and that the Council should contact Mrs X if it wanted to pursue the PCNs. It said it then issued PCNs to her current address. It said Mrs X had not responded to the reissued PCNs, so the Council referred the debt to bailiffs again.
23. Mrs X then brought her complaint to the Ombudsman.

Analysis

Revoked penalty charge notices

24. Mrs X complained that bailiffs acting on behalf of the Council repeatedly contacted her about penalty charge notices (PCNs) she believes were revoked.
25. Mrs X said she did not understand that revoking the recovery orders meant the process essentially started again and the Council could reissue PCNs to her new address. Mrs X’s misunderstanding is not evidence of fault by the Council.
26. I have considered the way the Council, and bailiffs acting on the Council’s behalf, contacted Mrs X about these debts. The Council was entitled to reissue the PCNs to Mrs X’s new address. It was also entitled to refer the debt back to bailiffs when she failed to reply or make a payment. The bailiffs then had the right to contact Mrs X about these debts to seek payment. I find no fault in how the Council sought to recover these debts from Mrs X.
27. The Council sent the original PCNs to Mrs X’s old address because she had not updated the DVLA with her new address. I have seen the Council’s checks with the DVLA during 2021 and 2022. Mrs X did not change her address with the DVLA, despite having moved out of the old address in 2019.

‘Breathing space’

28. Mrs X complained the bailiffs contacted her repeatedly during a period of ‘breathing space’. She said the bailiffs wrote to her, called her, and visited her.
29. The Council said the bailiffs had two sets of debts regarding Mrs X: one from the Council; and the other from another council (which I will refer to as Council B). The Council said breathing space had been granted for Mrs X for her debts with the Council. But it said there was no breathing space ordered for the other debts with Council B.
30. The bailiffs confirmed that they did contact Mrs X during the breathing space, but only to seek recovery for the debts relating to Council B. The evidence I have seen supports this.
31. I do not find the Council at fault for this. The Council is not responsible for recovery action relating to a debt owed to a different council. It may be that Mrs X was confused because the Council and Council B both used the same firm of bailiffs. But this is not evidence of fault.
32. The Council acknowledges that it sent Mrs X a letter about one of her debts. It said this letter was automatically generated when Mrs X changed her address with the Traffic Enforcement Centre. The Council said the letter was sent on the same day the breathing space was granted. It said it generated, and therefore sent, the letter before it received notification of the breathing space. For this reason, it could not stop the letter from being posted.
33. Guidance says creditors have to apply the breathing space protections from the date they get the notification. The Council, as the creditor in this case, applied the breathing space when it received the notification. This is in line with the guidance. For this reason, I do not find the Council at fault for sending Mrs X the letter on the same day the breathing space was granted.
34. I recognise it would have been distressing for Mrs X to receive this letter, having been granted the breathing space. However, this is not evidence of fault.

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Final decision

35. I have completed my investigation. I do not uphold Mrs X’s complaint. This is because there is no fault.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman