Many thanks for this.
Yes, I submitted both the TE7 and TE9 by email on the 26th and received an email receipt from TEC on the same day.
I appreciate my grounds for appeal may not be seen as concrete... if I have to pay then so be it.
What I am seeking to avoid is an acceleration of the recovery process to the extent I get some high viz heavies at my door over Christmas. If the axe falls unfavourably, I'll settle. I'm just concerned that, having not heard anything, there may be a process in train that I should be aware of but am not which results in additional costs being lumped in and / or bailiffs turning up.
Additionally, if the next stage is to receive something in the post, I don't want to fall foul of deemed service timescales when we are in the midst of the Christmas post!
Is there any way to check the progress of my appeal? Or any action I can take to force an early response?
In answer to your question on the content of the TE7, my grounds were: (i) I was out of the country between 27/09/18 - 15/10/18 and did not see PCN dated 10/10/18 for some time; and (ii) on brief inspection of the PCN, I genuinely believed it was a further receipt given I had already paid the original charge in question in August 2018 and had received a bona fide receipt for it at the time (receipt provided).
Many thanks in advance for your advice!