Free Traffic Legal Advice
Live cases legal advice => Civil penalty charge notices (Councils, TFL and so on) => Topic started by: Nik on April 22, 2025, 06:09:21 pm
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How would you propose to prove a negative?
They claim that 'the notification [presumably of the hearing date and type] was sent by email on 14 October 2025 to the same address to which the decision was sent'.
The decision was dated 20 Feb. 2026.
So did you receive the Oct 2025 notice of hearing and if not what positive action did you take to chase up your appeal which presumably was made before 14 October in the intervening 5 months?
Or perhaps their response is wrong on this point?
IMO, the council may serve a CC after 28 days beginning on 20 Feb.
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All you can do is to tell them you didn't get the email and see if they'll reconsider. But the the decision will stand in my view - you are best paying.
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Hi @stamfordman Any recommendations from your experience and expertise? Thank you!!!
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Ok thanks for the advice anyway! Anyone else know if a complaint to the London councils, MP or anyone else would be work, or even threaten exposing this to media?
As far as I recall I always responded and appealed within 14 days, so shouldn’t I still get the chance to pay 50% of the fee. If this went to court wouldn’t the court throw this out? £160 for a free one hour parking period surely would be deemed unreasonable?
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Frankly, there isn't much you can do other than pay up now before the council serve a Charge Certificate which increases the amount due by 50%. However, I do think London Tribunals has treated you rather shamefully. Somebody on here may be able to suggest how to raise a complaint with them.
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Hi all! UPDATE:
I received an email from London Tribunals a couple of weeks ago saying my appeal had been refused. However, I had requested a personal hearing and never received any notification of the hearing date.
I then requested a review and a new personal hearing on the grounds of procedural unfairness, as I was never given the chance to attend or present my case.
The review was refused, claiming that a hearing notification was sent by email. I have checked thoroughly and never received this email. Had I received it, I would of course have attended the hearing I requested. Also, the councils evidence pack was written as sent on 11/2/26 but only received it over a week later just before the hearing so not even enough time to review this.
They are now trying to enforce a £160 penalty for what should have been a free one-hour parking period, which is completely unreasonable.
Has anyone dealt with something similar or can advise on next steps? Any help from your expertise would be greatly appreciated, thanks!!!
Adjudicator decision page 1:
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0detlp_HYmq4KCmSR24KmiHeA
Page 2:
https://share.icloud.com/photos/096eyjY4nhKm4FnPEaeHCIuuQ
Page 3:
https://share.icloud.com/photos/01fntZGOFYBrTImewCgES96Vg
My email sent on 23/2/26
https://share.icloud.com/photos/06d_nV2xfe8uZjNYpXZiS07Rw
Their response:
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0f89o_8PCvN8xuj1Cf5XZayDg
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Hi - I chased Redbridge Council on Friday as I hadn’t heard back. They then emailed me on Saturday with a copy of the rejection of my appeal they claim they sent me but I never received:
https://1drv.ms/b/c/fa9c75b80bd57d0a/ESIZgDJuR09IhEnT-wQ4KhgBeDZ3vpd_7PT5PzSw-hvLdw
They said they couldn’t reissue the letter that normally gives 14 days to pay the reduced amount or 28 days to appeal further. Instead, they’ve told me I have only 5 days to reply by email. How is that fair and reasonable?
In my original appeal, I included a letter from the shop I visited confirming I was inside for only a short time and well under the one-hour free period:
https://1drv.ms/i/c/fa9c75b80bd57d0a/ERwRtk-6ZrpBmt7wvN8nzKUB8htWtJgrgwcqm9RYKkVfNg
Redbridge council previously accepted their website wasn’t working properly when I tried to submit my appeal, so it seems unreasonable not to accept my appeal. Is it worth just paying the lower amount if still possible or do I have a good case to appeal?
Thanks!!!
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Hi @stamfordman ! Thanks…
My appeal was this:
https://share.icloud.com/photos/036DYcmVhZliTAGbixq0rUaWw
This is the parking session:
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0ecl06Zk0eZwe2X3G_Pjoe9SQ
An example of the app not working:
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0f7R0eI7JurtFd_1zPNnqBWFQ
Just keeps saying loading sessions!
I went to some shops, but no time proof.
Let me know what you think. If you saw Redbridge have been caught out before and high chance of success of getting out of this on grounds of parking during free session for less than one hour I’ll appeal, but from what their reflection says that’s not good enough so maybe best to pay. If I lose independent appeal won’t I have to pay higher amount?
Thanks again!
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We don't know what your challenge was.
If you had screen shots of the app not working that would have helped and of course anything to show a stay of less than an hour - not even a Maps timeline?
What was the purpose of you parking there?
If you go on they are likely to reoffer the discount again.
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Hi @stamfordman @Hippocrates @Incandescent No I don’t have any proof I was there for an hour. The ticket was issued for 5.20-5.21pm and I started the session at 5.38pm. I have proof of the session I ended up starting, and due to the time it ended up starting, even if I selected one hour, as their controlled hours finish at 6.30pm it was free till the next morning. I have been away and just seen a letter received while away rejecting my appeal and that I need to pay the reduced fee by today unless I want to appeal further (but if refused the fine goes up from £80-160), so please could you let me know this afternoon if there is any good chance or not to get out of this. It seems very unreasonable to purposely remove pay and displace machines for which you previously just pressed one button to get a free ticket, but now have to use the app or call ( I didn’t call because it asks you for some PIN number for them which I didn’t know and it’s not user friendly at all). Thanks in advance!!!
Their reply:
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0b2Ylik8KV62aIDqFizSBjb8w
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Why did you park there and do you have any evidence of being there for less than an hour.
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Hi, I’m going to appeal against this within that 14 days as there used to be machines available and since the app wasn’t working as soon as it was I can prove I processed the parking request and it was for a free period anyway. Any further tips? @stamfordman @Hippocrates @Incandescent Thanks in advance!
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Thanks! @stamfordman I started a session on the app at 17:38 so not that much longer. I ended up leaving before 6 so can I argue that all I wanted was the free session and send them proof of my app session? Under what grounds should I appeal, and can I argue this based on other similar successful appeals?
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the charge would only have been maximum £3, so how can they justify charging £160 or £80 if paid early?!
Those are penalties, and in London they are double the rest of the UK, (don't ask why, ask your MP !). They are fixed and set in accordance with regulations peculiar to London. In the rest of the country, the government have powers to set them. In London the government can object to the level of the penalties, but never do so.
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The PCN time is 17:21 - what time is your RingGo session. Sounds like the gap is too big though to get this cancelled.
Also, isn't only the first hour free there? There was over an hour to go before 18:30.
Interestingly the PCN contravention has added 'without payment of the parking charge' which is OK for a code 12 but Redbridge has run into trouble with this when enforcing against people who only wanted a free hour.
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Hi, I parked my car and attempted to use the ringo app to pay which I always do but it wasn’t working. As soon as it loaded I added my full parking session (free 3 hour session due to the time). However, by the time I reached my car about half an hour after I managed to start the session I had already been given a ticket. I don’t know how I can prove the app wasn’t working but it just kept saying ‘loading’. They’d probably argue I could have called but I always use the app, and it wasn’t possible for me to call at the time. When they issued the ticket (and only waited 1 minute) the charge would only have been maximum £3, so how can they justify charging £160 or £80 if paid early?! Please can you help and advise, thanks!
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