Request ID: FOI-4556-2324 Date published: 03 May 2024
You asked
Dear Sirs,
This request is dated 8 March 2024.
This request is made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. I am making this request in my personal capacity. You can contact me by email on and this is the address that you should use in correspondence and when responding to this request. You should respond by email only.
This request concerns procedures around addressing penalty charge notices (PCNs) to individuals and companies. I am requesting this information for research purposes and not in connection with any particular PCN. It is in the context of long delays at the DVLA in processing paper forms for change of registered keeper details.
Please provide full and accurate details of:
1. The proportion of PCNs over the last 12 months that are issued and then returned in the post as ‘not at this address’.
2. Your policies and procedures concerning PCNs where it appears (because post has been returned, or otherwise) that the information held by DVLA concerning the registered keeper is not accurate.
3. Whether you re-check the information at the DVLA at any stage during the PCN enforcement process, save at the time of the initial PCN, and whether any further checking is triggered if a PCN or other correspondence is returned to you in the post.
4. Whether you use any other contact details (for example addresses, email addresses or telephone numbers held in your road charging database) in order to contact the person responsible for a vehicle in respect of which a PCN has been issued, to inform them of the PCN.
5. What your policy is when enforcement agents attend the address on a PCN and discover that the address is not the address of the registered keeper.
Please contact me by email or by telephone on should you require clarification of my request.
Yours faithfully,
We answered
TfL Ref: FOI-4556-2324
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on8 March 2024 asking for information about Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs).
Your request has been considered under the requirements of the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) and our information access policy.I can confirm that we do hold some of the information you require. Specifically you asked:
Please provide full and accurate details of:
The proportion of PCNs over the last 12 months that are issued and then returned in the post as ‘not at this address’.
We do not hold this information. When mail is returned it is recorded as general correspondence so we are unable to report on how many items are returned as not at this address.
Your policies and procedures concerning PCNs where it appears (because post has been returned, or otherwise) that the information held by DVLA concerning the registered keeper is not accurate.
PCNs are served to the registered keeper of a vehicle at the address held by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). Where mail is returned to us, stating the information held by the DVLA is incorrect we advise the individual to contact the DVLA and ask them to update their records. We also advise the recipient that if they receive any further notices then they should be returned to TfL unopened. As we would be unable to verify at that point that the address details are incorrect, we would not automatically stop taking action.
Whether you re-check the information at the DVLA at any stage during the PCN enforcement process, save at the time of the initial PCN, and whether any further checking is triggered if a PCN or other correspondence is returned to you in the post.
No, all statutory correspondence is issued to the address held by the DVLA at the point the initial PCN was issued. However, when a warrant is issued to our contracted Enforcement Agents, they will conduct a further DVLA check prior to commencing enforcement action.
Whether you use any other contact details (for example addresses, email addresses or telephone numbers held in your road charging database) in order to contact the person responsible for a vehicle in respect of which a PCN has been issued, to inform them of the PCN.
No, all statutory correspondence is issued by post to the registered keeper of the vehicle as held with the DVLA in line with the legislation of the schemes. However, when a warrant has been issued our contracted Enforcement Agents may use additional tracing services to identify the location of the person named on the warrant.
What your policy is when enforcement agents attend the address on a PCN and discover that the address is not the address of the registered keeper.
When a warrant is issued to our contracted Enforcement Agents, they issue 2 letters to the address prior to any visits taking place. This gives the individual at the address the opportunity to resolve the issue prior to an agent visiting.
In instances where an enforcement agent attends an address and the resident states the recipient of the PCN does not reside at the property, our agents would request evidence from the resident to confirm this. Such evidence includes, but is not limited to, proof of ID and a council tax bill, rental agreements or utility bills. When the agent establishes that the debtor does not reside at the property their records are updated, and no further correspondence is issued to the address. Further checks are then carried out to try and locate the individual named on the warrant.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
Yours sincerely,
Mary Abidakun FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
