Warwick District Council uses a debt recovery agency, Bristow & Sutor, to recover payment of unpaid Penalty Charge Notices.

Prior to a warrant of execution being requested for an outstanding Penalty Charge Notices, Warwick District Council send three reminder letters after the notice is issued upon the vehicle,

These are:

• 1st Reminder:  Notice to Owner – (PCN is at full amount) 28 days after issue of Penalty Charge Notice,
• 2nd Reminder:  Charge Certificate – (PCN amount increases by 50%) 28 days after issue of Notice to Owner,
• 3rd Reminder:  Pre Debt Registration letter – (final reminder from Warwick District Council before case is sent to Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC) 14 days after the issue of Charge Certificate.

If the outstanding amount is still not paid then the debt is registered at Northampton County Court and an Order of Recovery is sent (TE3 & TE9). This is the final notification before bailiff action is requested. Once the Order of Recover has been sent, the vehicle keeper then has the opportunity to either pay or file a Witness Statement under one of the following four grounds:

• I did not receive the Notice to Owner/ penalty charge notice (Parking contravention),
• I made representations about the penalty charge to the enforcing authority concerned within 28 days of the service of the Notice to Owner, but did not receive a rejection notice,
• I appealed against the local authority’s decision to reject my representation, within 28 days of service of the rejection notice, but have had no response to my appeal,
• The penalty charge has been paid in full.

You should only submit a Witness Statement to Northampton County Court if one of the above mentioned grounds applies to you. At any point a Witness Statement is submitted falsely, and then proceedings for contempt may be brought against you by the County Court. If you fall under the above grounds prior to the Order of Recovery being issued, you will need to wait for registration at County court to take place as the County Court will not accept a Witness Statement prior to the registration.

Request of Warrant

Once the Witness Statement and Order of Recover has been sent, if no payment is received or grounds filed, then Warwick District Council will apply to Northampton County Court for a Warrant of Execution. The warrant will then be sent to Bristow & Sutor to recover the debt.

The debt recovery agency will then contact the vehicle keeper informing them of the outstanding amount due; if payment is not made in full then a bailiff will be allocated to recover the debt. Extra charges will be incurred from the bailiff on recovery of the debt; these charges are in line with applicable legislation whereby the bailiff is empowered to remove goods to the value of the outstanding debt.

It is in the recipient’s best interest to contact the debt recovery agency immediately once contacted and arrange payment to settle the debt to ensure that further charges are not incurred.