Have You Fallen Victim To An Over-Zealous Parking Attendant?
Have you ever received a fine for a parking offence? If so, here I shall explain when you can appeal against the fine and what circumstances you may be able to cite in your favour. For example, maybe you were only a few minutes late arriving back to your car or the ticket fell off the windscreen or you did not realise there were parking restrictions in the area where you parked.
There are a few grounds upon which you can appeal a penalty charge and below I mention a couple of examples:-
- My vehicle had been taken without my consent
This generally covers vehicles which were stolen or taken without your consent. If you are citing the reason that your vehicle was stolen then normally the council would be expected to be given the crime reference number you were given by the police.
- I wasn’t the legal owner of the vehicle at the time
This would apply when you were not the registered keeper of the vehicle at the time the penalty was issued. If this situation arises you would be legally obliged to supply the council with the name and address of the person who was the owner of the vehicle at the relevant time.
- We are a vehicle hire company
Normally when a hirer hires a vehicle they usually sign an agreement accepting liability for any penalty charges which they may be issued with during the period of hire. If this situation arises then the hire company will be expected to provide the details of the person hiring their vehicle.
- The penalty charge was issued incorrectly
An example of this maybe that perhaps you were issued with a parking ticket before your time was up or you were displaying a valid permit or badge. In these circumstances you would need to show the council your valid permit or badge.
If none of the above examples apply to you then you can also ask the local authority to consider your ‘circumstances in mitigation’ whatever they maybe. Generally if you think you have a grievance then it is always worth considering appealing or for the local authority to consider your circumstances before just accepting the fine. You can appeal informally and it is usually best to appeal in writing. Always make sure that you check the local authority’s procedure on appealing which is usually set out on the ticket you have been issued with. The ticket should inform you how long you have to appeal (usually 14 days). You should not lose any discount on the fine if you appeal in this period.
If your informal appeal fails you will receive a Notice To Owner (NTO), telling you how to pay the fine and how to make a formal appeal and you shall have 28 days to do either. If you do neither, the council can increase the fine by 50%, and if the fine remains unpaid, register the debt with the County Court and employ bailiffs to enforce the debt.
If your formal appeal is rejected you can take the matter further to the Parking and Traffic Appeals Service which is free to you, but do bear in mind that their decision will be final.
Simon Speed
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