If you are faced with an abatement notice, there are five key steps you should take:
1. Do not panic. Gather all evidence and any notes you have in relation to the issue. In particular what happened in the lead up to the service of the notice and what happened on the date of service.
2. Get legal advice, time is of the essence. You only have 21 days to appeal the notice. Our regulatory team has extensive experience and expertise in challenging notices served by the Environment Agency and local authorities. We offer a free half hour. We are happy to discuss and if we can solve your issue in 30 minutes we will not charge you.
3. Take steps to comply. In the meantime while you are getting legal advice and exploring options for a pre-action letter and starting an appeal, if you can, you should try to take steps to comply with the notice, as every breach of the notice is a criminal offence.
4. Pre-action letter. Often regulators can be overzealous and produce invalid and/or unlawful notices. Frequently we are able to secure the withdrawal or cancellation of an abatement notice simply by writing to the regulator and explaining why the notice is wrong in fact or law.
5. Appeal. If the pre-action letter does not work, then a formal Appeal should be issued in the Magistrates’ Court against the notice, by way of a complaint for an order to cancel the notice.