Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hello and thank you in advance for all the help you are proving via this forum.

I am not the registered keeper of the vehicle and therefore I use hourly parking permits for now during the 2 hour parking restriction outside my house. Of course I am a named driver on the insurance just not the owner.

Summarising here key points to explain the situation as briefly as possible:

- I stopped outside my house at approx 15:45 to offload a box I had collected from Tottenham Hale so I can continue my journey without the risk of having the car broken into. (I have payment history on my phone to act as proof of that if needed at all)

- Some minutes later, I go outside to take the car and leave and my neighbour is telling me that a Civil Enforcement Officer had just scanned my number plate and she explained to him that I was just in and out and leaving (she had seen me going in with the box and I had said to her exactly that)

- I see the officer slowly walking towards me while I'm talking to the neighbour right next to the car as I am ready to depart

- The moment he arrives I say hello to him and explain that as my neighbour had said, I just dropped a box and I'm leaving

- He immediately cut me off telling me in a threatening/unprofessional tone "your ticket is already issued" and in that moment he starts taking pictures of the car to issue the ticket, and takes pictures of the number plate while I'm standing there in front of the car!

- That was literally 10 minutes before the parking restrictions ended and he rushed to issue the ticket before I leave

As you can see in the attached pictures he took, both myself and the neighbour are standing in front of the car in shock trying to explain the obvious.
He was not listening to anything, he was extremely rude. As you can also see in the pictures attached to the PCN, I took the car and left within 3 minutes of the moment he issued the ticket and therefore he never honoured the 5 minute observation before issuing the PCN for a resident bay.

By the way, he is not the assigned CEO on the street - the CEO who always attends the area had already been and this other officer seems to be going around during the last few minutes even though this part is covered by someone else and it's only a 2 hour window.

Things I want to ask:

1. First and foremost - is it legal to issue a PCN when the driver is present and ready to leave and all this in a timeframe less than 5 minutes? That feels more like bullying rather than anything else. I tried to find the CEO code of practice but the link is broken.

2. Can a PCN be issued within the last 10 minutes of the parking restriction?

3. The PCN doesn't clearly state that the ticket will be on hold while a representation is being considered and then the discounted price of £65 will still be applicable should they reject the representation - is that legal? Lack of this clarity might force someone to rush in paying the ticket that should be challenged.

4. Can it be that some councils might decide to not extend the discounted price of £65 after the representation is made? In other words, is it legal for them to do so? I saw that you have compiled a list of such councils but it was not clear to me if they are allowed to do that or not.


I have bought over 80 hourly visitor permits on my Haringey account and I have proof of purchase too, which proves I do use them otherwise I would not have wasted all that money to buy the permits. I have also raised a written complaint with the council for this specific officer and his unprofessional behaviour.

What would be your advice here?

 @cp8759 also thought of tagging you because I understand you have previous experience with Haringey Council.

All documents attached here:  https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Suuhrk1fWfvRIhk6tw3wQL1dRqPEIr5F?usp=drive_link

..but please feel free to let me know if not able to see them.

Thank you again.

Afroditi

Link to the location is here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/UaunY1KT3Wbwr9K6A

Thank you!

The box is as big as all the other marked resident parking areas you see in the link you provided - unfortunately maps don't take me outside the exact location.

But why would I try to claim for unloading in case all (or some of) the above issues I have raised are valid?

I'm  not sure if what you are saying is that what happened is absolutely fine and my only reason to claim can be due to unloading..

Thank you.

The box is as big as all the other marked resident parking areas you see in the link you provided - unfortunately maps don't take me outside the exact location.

But why would I try to claim for unloading in case all (or some of) the above issues I have raised are valid?

I'm  not sure if what you are saying is that what happened is absolutely fine and my only reason to claim can be due to unloading..

Thank you.

Not the box you parked in, but the box you unloaded and carried in...

to offload a box I had collected

My take from what you say is the CEO was prevented from serving the windscreen PCN and the postal PCN is therefore properly served.

Observation time is not a grace period, just time councils guide CEOs on to assess if exempt activity is ongoing and is not mandatory.

Your best bet IMO is to apologise for preventing service but claim the exempt activity of (un)loading xxxx, which took only a few minutes.

The PCN date is 8 April and London-wide PCN amounts went up on 7 April (in this case to £160) but Haringey deferred the increase to today. So if you end up paying the discount you'll at least be saved a £15 increase.

Well you said:

The reason why he was not able to put the notice on the car is because I was leaving and he was rushing to create a ticket before I go.

In these situations should you take it to the tribunal it's your word against the CEO's (who will have made notes). If you can make the case that you would have accepted the PCN then you can do so.

Haringey will almost certainly reoffer the discounted penalty should they reject representations.

As it's a postal PCN it acts the same as a notice to owner and only the owner (presumed to be the keeper) can make reps.

The keeper can authorise you to make reps on their behalf, or you can just reword it to refer to the driver. 

Post their letter please.

And surely the penalty level is wrong.

Higher level penalties increased to £160 on 7 April. The date of contravention here was 8th.