@i12b3 I've knocked up a draft which I will share via google drive, but for everyone's benefit here is the text:
Dear London Borough of Brent,
I challenge liability on the ground that the alleged contravention did not occur.
I have been parking in Brent in front of my residence for the last 15 years and have had the on road parking permit, I refer you to the attached PDF file named 1 – permit renewals.pdf.
In December 2023 my vehicle with a valid residence parking permit was stolen, I refer you to the emails from the Metropolitan Police at pages 3 to 7 of the attached file named “2 - supporting documents.pdf”
I acquired a new vehicle which I attempted to register my new car on your parking system. The process was not straightforward at all and the issues faced by residence is well documented all over social media and local community posts, I refer you to the social media posts at pages 23 to 25 of the supporting documents file.
On 29 January 2024 I wrote to Ringo/ Brent parking seeking help and confirmation weather I have done a correct change of vehicle clearly stating in the email what I wanted to do, this email is on page 1 of the supporting documents file.
On 30 January 2024 Brent Parking replied with a stock reply which led me to believe that I have applied the changes correctly. Crucially, I contend that I was entitled to rely on this reply.
Brent proceeded to issue me penalty charges on a number of consecutive days, in their rejection letters you have again sent a stock reply that I was notified that the change of vehicle will expire after 28 days. While that is true, when I applied to change the vehicle the process to remove an old vehicle and add a new one to get rid of this 28 day expiry was not clear on the site and I was only able to do complete the process after I called Brent council. I work in IT and even I have struggled to find the right information / steps to carry out this process online.
My reason for emailing you on 29 January was to get my new vehicle added and not revert back to a vehicle I no longer have, I contend you have a duty of care to provide the right information when an enquiry is made and on this occasion you failed to do so and are attempting to extract a monetary penalty that is a direct consequence of your own failings.
In addition to the residence permit I also have a valid residence visitor parking permit and a blue badge for my disabled son (see pages 8 to 10 of the supporting documents), had I known that the change of vehicle was not permanent I could have displayed either of these to avoid being in contravention. The only reason I did not display either of those was that I understood from the email of 30 January 2024 that I had successfully completed the change of vehicle and no further action was required.
Three penalty charges were issued in total as a result of the misinformation given to me by Brent council.
The first PCN was issued on 1st March, I drove the vehicle on that day and made representations, upon refusal I paid the penalty of £65 for 1st March. I did not move the vehicle between 4th and 5th March and called up Brent on the 5th March to sort the matter out by phone when I noticed the 2 more PCNs on my car window.
On the day of the issue of the penalty charges in issue now I still had a valid permit but Brent council, unbeknown to me, reverted that permit back to my old vehicle which I no longer had.
In the particular and unusual circumstances of this case, I contend that the permit was assigned to the wrong vehicle due to failings on the part of Brent council, rather than anything I did or failed to do.
It follows that the alleged contravention did not occur and the PCN must be cancelled.
Yours faithfully,
Assuming they reject, you'll need to give a much more detailed account of:
1) What steps you took to carry out the temporary change of permit
2) What steps you took to permanently change the permit once you called the council for help.
For now make representations online and upload the three documents I've shared with you, in the text box for the representation just write this:
See the attached document named "3 - Representation.pdf"
Keep a screenshot of the confirmation page.