Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hi all,

I have been reading through the posts here and it is clear how much time and knowledge goes into challenging PCNs. The advice shared is great, but most drivers never get this far. They just pay up, even when they may have grounds to appeal, because it feels like too much hassle.

I am part of a small team of software developers and we have been exploring whether there could be a simple way to guide people through an appeal, prepare everything properly, and submit it on their behalf. The service would be designed to make it super easy to appeal and would run on a no-win, no-fee basis. We have also mapped out how AI could help structure the challenges, but the focus would be keeping it straightforward for drivers.

I want to be clear, I am not here to sell anything. We have not built anything yet. Right now I am just trying to understand whether this is a service that drivers would actually value, or whether you feel most people are better off doing it themselves with the right advice.

I am not here to sell anything, just curious:
   •   Do you think ordinary motorists would use this?
   •   What are the biggest barriers that stop people from appealing now?
   •   Any pitfalls we should be aware of?

Thanks for any honest feedback.

Callum

As a preliminary matter, it isn't clear whether your proposed service is to support with council Penalty Charge Notices, private Parking Charge Notices, or both.

The first thought that came to my mind, is that I'm not entirely sure to what extent your service would solve what you suggest is the problem. Your premise is that too many motorists simply pay up without a fight (which I'd agree with), because it is "too much hassle" (which is presumably true for some, but who knows how many).

In many cases, both private and council, an appellant who wishes to challenge his 'ticket' must be prepared to fight it all the way, either to the tribunal in the case of council tickets, or to the County Court in the case of private parking charges. Will your service offer in person representation for users at court and/or tribunals? If not, then I'm struggling to see what "hassle" you would be saving people, that this forum is not already saving them for free.

Personally I have no faith or trust in anything produced by AI. Much the same as I have little faith in some of the numpties employed by local authorities who dish out PCNs like confetti.

Is there an appetite for such a service?

This might not be the best forum to ask this question - if someone has made it to this forum, they are more likely to be suitably determined to put in the work required to challenge the ticket with our help, rather than needing someone to do it for them. Although thinking logically, given there are a high proportion of people who are prepared to part with £45-70 right off the bat to make a PCN go away, one would imagine at least some of those would be prepared to pay a sum less than that to make it go away, if there was a good prospect of success.

Although that takes me back to my initial point, that a fair number of successful cases are only successful after reaching the tribunal. I am assuming that your service will not be representing people at tribunal hearings, as you have not indicated otherwise. If that is the case I feel like there's the potential for quite a lot of unhappy customers, who use your service to challenge their PCNs without the hassle, and then find themselves facing the choice of paying the full PCN amount, with the discount being off the table, or enduring significantly increased hassle in the form of a tribunal.

Thank you for the input once again. You are right, this is definitely not the place to be pitching this potential idea. The tone feels very defensive all around.

Andy, all the best with the trolling.

I completely get it.

Thank you for your input and thoughts.

Unfortunately, AI does not yet have the capability to attend a tribunal... Yet 

Much the same as I have little faith in some of the numpties employed by local authorities who dish out PCNs like confetti.

I agree. One exception being bogsy from Pepipoo. He helped me out when I first sought help. He was a bit reluctant to talk about himself but told me he worked his way up to be quite high up in local authority traffic control. He said he was an appeals officer for a while and it was the misfeasance and double standard of councils that made him rebel. I've not seen him on here. Last I heard was a year ago and he was terminally ill.