Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hi All,

A friend writes...

I got a PCN on my own road.
Unfortunately I had a courtesy car whilst my car was in the garage.
I added this courtesy car via the waltham forest portal to my resident permin.
Unfortunately, when i got my actual car back from the garage, I forgot to add it back online and so got the ticket attached.

Do I have any grounds of appeal?

PCN is here: https://ibb.co/tqYd78K
Location of PCN is here: https://www.google.com/maps/@51.5675674,-0.0209951,3a,75y,150.66h,78.23t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sIJHdXG8NxJi7041LFDMs6Q!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu

Thanks

Obviously it is your error that gave rise to the PCN, but any half-decent council should cancel it on receipt of your representations. However, London councils are rather too venal so you may struggle.

Obviously it is your error that gave rise to the PCN, but any half-decent council should cancel it on receipt of your representations. However, London councils are rather too venal so you may struggle.

Thanks, I had to google what Venal meant

"showing or motivated by susceptibility to bribery; corrupt"

Incandescent - and what would a half-decent representation look like? any help here would be great.
PS I have prepared a draft for review...

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to appeal the Parking Penalty Charge Notice (PCN FR60585078) I received for an alleged parking violation on my own road.

I would like to bring to your attention the circumstances surrounding this PCN and kindly request a review of the penalty:

On the date in question, I was indeed parked on my own road; however, I was using a courtesy car provided to me while my personal vehicle was undergoing repairs in a garage. I followed the correct procedure and added this courtesy car to my resident permit via the Waltham Forest portal, ensuring I remained compliant with parking regulations in the area.

Unfortunately, the oversight occurred when I received my personal car back from the garage. Due to the relief of having my own vehicle back and the subsequent rush to return to my daily routine, I regrettably forgot to update my resident permit to remove the courtesy car from it. It was an honest mistake, and I deeply regret any inconvenience it may have caused.

I understand the importance of enforcing parking regulations and appreciate the need for fair and just application. In this instance, I genuinely believed I was in compliance with the rules by adding the courtesy car to my permit during its use. However, my failure to promptly remove it once I regained access to my personal vehicle resulted in this PCN.


I have now rectified the situation by updating my resident permit and removing the courtesy car, ensuring such a mistake will not happen again in the future. I am grateful for your understanding and ask for your compassion in this matter.


Thank you for your attention to this matter, and I hope for a favorable resolution to this appeal. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

That reads okay to me.

Please correct me if I am wrong but reading this yesterday I had the impression that the PCN was the courtesy car not yours???
Probably my memory failing but correct car will be critical.

That reads okay to me.

Please correct me if I am wrong but reading this yesterday I had the impression that the PCN was the courtesy car not yours???
Probably my memory failing but correct car will be critical.

It was my friend's own car that got the ticket (after he forgetfully swapped his permit to the courtesy car but did not re-register his normal car once it came back from the garage.

Thanks for reading it over.

Looks OK. If you've lived there a long time you could put something in about this. Remember this is only an informal challenge, so you may well get the usual Fob-Off letter. We need to see this so that we can assess it for "consideration". Failure to consider is a procedural impropriety.

Thanks, I will insert something about the length of time my friend has lived there.
From memory, you have to select a option on the grounds of the informal appeal (I could be wrong here) i.e. the contravention did not occur? - Which option should be selected please?

An additional argument that could be deployed at a later stage is that the sign is not for a residents' or shared use bay:



Arguably the PCN should have been given for code 16 - Parked in a permit space or zone without a valid virtual permit or clearly
displaying a valid physical permit where required.

You're not at the tribunal stage yet, first you have to wait for the notice to owner and make representations against that. Only if those representations are rejected there is an option to appeal to the tribunal.

For now, are you the registered keeper and do you have the V5C? If yes, please check that the address is up to date.

Shall I wait for the notice to owner? Do I have a good chance at tribunal stage?

Yes, you might as well wait. If the notice to owner is challenged within 14 days, they normally reoffer the discount anyway, and if you get a formal notice of rejection we can weight up at that point if it's worth carrying on.