Free Traffic Legal Advice

I've not looked at this in detail but seems to me they are being silly although the CEO has taken a pic of test parking ticket presumably to show the machine was working.

If the payment demanded now is £50 and within the 14 days for the discount they offered then that's a procedural impropriety - take a screenshot and wait for the NTO - are you the keeper and is the logbook address correct?

The letter says they'll accept £25 if received in 14 days of date of their letter, which is 25 Feb. 14 days is not up so if they are demanding £50 - and something has gone wrong with your screenshot - then I think they have shot themselves in the foot and the letter also says you can pay £50 within 28 days of date of PCN so they are in a muddle.

Others will confirm.

In any case there is no point in paying £50 now but you need to ensure you get the NTO through post redirection.

The OP needs to clarify what payment portal they are looking at.

I would go on with this anyway for the sake of £25.

Quote from: stamfordman on March 07, 2025, 06:21:12 pm

The letter says they'll accept £25 if received in 14 days of date of their letter, which is 25 Feb. 14 days is not up so if they are demanding £50 - and something has gone wrong with your screenshot - then I think they have shot themselves in the foot and the letter also says you can pay £50 within 28 days of date of PCN so they are in a muddle.

Others will confirm.

In any case there is no point in paying £50 now but you need to ensure you get the NTO through post redirection.

The website shows the correct penalty charge of £25, maybe the app is different?

Thank you for your time and input.

Have received the NTO today via redirection, and the site indeed does show £25 charge now.

Just not sure if what to do next and last day to pay £25 is tomorrow, and again, just doesn’t feel right.

The tribunal can't use mitigation if the council turns down formal reps and insist on £50.

I think they should be put to the test of government guidance for fairness as you did retest the machine and I presume you had a good reason for you and your children to park there, and for the council to insist you have to go away is poor.

Their main get out is probably why you didn't use the pay by phone app - is there reason you didn't?

Ok, thank you for your reply, Stamfordman.

Yes. I can’t focus well on screens. I always ask my husband to pay for me when I get to the car park and park, by calling him using the phone if one of the children fall asleep in the car for instance, when it is connected to the car. I have proof my card had been working and honestly believed it was just a printing error. I put the ticket receipt in the window to show a printing error. When I saw the ticket I honestly had been so surprised. Then I thought if I let them know the machine had a fault and got back to them with an appeal quickly asking to pay for the parking by explaining what happened and that I had been feeling unwell they would allow me to repay for the parking fee if it had not reached them and it would be ok. I had no idea it would be like this.

The only thing they have not seen is the video of the machine I have managed to capture giving a void message and machine cancelling transaction when using coins.

Upon speaking to a parking enforcement employee who had been in the car park once he said I could have used the machine in the neighbouring car park, but I would never leave the kids and walk so far away from them and the other car park had been full. I had thought each machine had to be used for that car park area, too.