Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hello all. I received a parking ticket two days ago. I thought I had renewed my permit, but the payment did not go through. I spoke to the council parking department yesterday to see what was going on and to re-renew the permit. They admitted that there were faults with the payment processing service in September when I was trying to renew, and that I should be able to just submit an appeal showing I did have a permit, I had tried to renew it and that this was a known issue.

I submitted this to them as an appeal, but have just received a rejection.

Copy of ticket, informal appeal and rejection letter attached here.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/na2woyab2dvnatp/AACFyo-hoEaN6xlEGMqnGk6ja?dl=0

I would be interested to know if this ticket is contestable. I think it could well be - I looked at the code used for the offence - which is 12r

'Code description: Parked in a residents’ or shared use parking place or zone without either clearly displaying a valid permit or voucher or pay and display ticket issued for that place, or without payment of the parking charge.'

However, I notice in the Civil Enforcement Officers Handbook V2a, it suggests 'If a previously valid permit has expired then code 19 should be issued.'

Code 19 wording.

'Parked in a residents’ or shared use parking place or zone either displaying an invalid permit or voucher or pay and display ticket - or after the expiry of paid for time.'

Please advise, do you think these would be suitable grounds for appeal?

You're not at 'appeal', the Notice to Owner stage awaits first.

Could we have a simple timeline pl:

Previous permit expired on:
Reminder email from council to renew permit sent on:
Your attempt to renew permit on:
Your new permit is effective from:
PCN issued on:
Re-offered discount expires: 8 Dec.


Then we can overlay this with what the council's website says about the renewal process e.g. how is a successful transaction indicated if at all, is this an open or closed-loop process, what obligations fall to the motorist and which to the council etc.

Then another layer of whether you continued to park in local and applicable resident's bays without issue for the period from expiry of previous permit to date of PCN, pl confirm.

Good afternoon HC Anderson. Thank you for your message.

Previous permit expired on: 18/10/2023
Reminder email from council to renew permit sent on: 21/09/2023
Your attempt to renew permit on: 13/09/2023
Your new permit is effective from:23/11/2023
PCN issued on: 22/11/2023
Re-offered discount expires: 8 Dec.

I had a calendar reminder that the permit expired, so tried to renew in the renewal window, but before the automated email was sent out. It looked like the transaction went through - I assumed it had. I continued to park in the residents bay outside my house, like I have done for the last 12 months. The first (and only) ticket for having no valid permit was issued on 22/11. I noticed this that evening, called the Council Parking Department on 23/11 first thing, and I was advised that there was an issue with their payment system not taking payments in the month of September, which could have caused the issue with payment/renewal.

It would be ab abuse of process for the council to persue this PCN, as it as their own IT system that appeared to take your money and didn't.

I do agree Incandescent - and so did the telephone operator who renewed the permit with me - so I was surprised that they rejected this and so quickly as well!

My thought process is to wait for a NTO - and submit a formal challenge. Hopefully this will result in the penalty being cancelled. If not then the discount should be re-offered correct?

If rejected, I could take this to the London Tribunal, who would be able to provide an impartial hearing.

My grounds for appeal would be:
-I was led to believe that I had renewed the permit. The operator in the parking department said that there was an error with the payment processing system which did result in some payments not being taken.
-The code is incorrectly listed - the CEO has listed a code 12r - Code description: Parked in a residents’ or shared use parking place or zone without either clearly displaying a valid permit or voucher or pay and display ticket issued for that place, or without payment of the parking charge. The Civil Enforcement Officers Handbook V2a, suggests 'If a previously valid permit has expired then code 19 should be issued.'

'Parked in a residents’ or shared use parking place or zone either displaying an invalid permit or voucher or pay and display ticket - or after the expiry of paid for time.'

Do you think that there is anything else that I am missing? What would those who have experience in this area suggest the odds of having the ticket overturned would be?

Thank you.

Quote from: twigtwig on November 25, 2023, 12:34:09 pm

I noticed this that evening, called the Council Parking Department on 23/11 first thing, and I was advised that there was an issue with their payment system not taking payments in the month of September, which could have caused the issue with payment/renewal.

Did you get that in writing?

If not, call back and ask them to put in in writing to you.

Quote from: twigtwig on November 25, 2023, 02:23:48 pm

What would those who have experience in this area suggest the odds of having the ticket overturned would be?

If you can prove what happened, I'd say almost 100%.

But what evidence do you have about your permit renewal, did you get a confirmation email? Or do you have any screenshots?

Hello CP! I did not get that in writing - it was discussed on the telephone. The person I spoke to did say that they'd make a note of it, so I will telephone back on Monday and ask them to reply to that so that I have it in writing.

With regard to the renewal of the permit, I have the transaction on my Monzo bank account. It says 'Declined', next to it - which I didn't notice to be honest - I went ahead and completed the renewal forms, and approved the transaction on my phone and it looked as if it all went ahead. I'll check if I had a confirmation email. However there was clearly a problem somewhere - as the payment wasn't taken and the permit wasn't renewed. It was not due to lack of funds - as other transactions were processed that day, and my balance is in credit.

However, in their rejection, the council have said that it is on the motorist to check that they have a valid permit. However - I can prove that I did at least try to renew it prior to it's expiry.

With regards to my second point, about the incorrect charge code (12 vs 19) - do you think this too would be grounds for cancellation of the ticket?

Thank you all.

 

Hello CP,

That is the crux of the issue. I did not have anything from the council saying the payment was processed I don't think. I renewed on the website, approved teh transaction on my phone and was taken to a confirmation page, which said that my permit had been renewed.

I saw there was a transaction on my bank account.

However, when investigating the transaction says 'declined'. When I spoke to the person at the council, they said that there was a bug in their payment system, which meant that some transaction etc did not complete, so no money was taken from my account.

Please see screenshot of the transaction from my Monzo account.

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

CP - Just FYI - I have requested this in writing from the council.
I'll wait until the NTO arrives so that I can appeal this ticket. Thank you.

Clearly that email needs to be your main evidence.

Have you checked the PCN status since that was received ?

Hello all and happy new year.

The Notice To Owner has arrived (please see link below). Please advise on best next steps.
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/l7bs2rgorwaf5we15evqg/Notice-to-Owner-Redacted.pdf?rlkey=u9y5i1b3voe4btvbj21ybuarc&dl=0

Thanks and best, Mark