Parking fine help

LockStock · Sep 13, 2016

Hoping one of you can offer me some advise about a parking ticket.

My wife recently parked in a pay and display in Lewes and used the app to pay for 2 hours parking, however she had forgotten to change the registration number to that of our new car. she then got a ticket as the amount she paid would have been logged against our old car (we had only just got the new car).

This was clearly a simply mistake by her with no intention of dodging the pay and display, we appealed the ticket and explained the simple mistake. We got the most patronizing response from them explaining they couldn't cancel the ticket for that reason and if we wanted to appeal we would need to wait for the the discounted payment time to expire and then appeal to the independent parking adjudicator.

I get tickets on my van every now and then and I just pay and try to be more careful but this has really bugged me and become more about principle, I except she made a mistake but it was something so easily done. We even sent in proof of payment. The reply we got from them looked as though it was being explained to a toddler and secondly having to wait till the fine increases to appeal the decision made by Lewes council. It feels a bit like a monopoly game where they make the rules.

fat old seagull · Sep 13, 2016

Seems bloody unfair, and those within Lewes Council should hang their heads. Specifically because depriving ones rights to having cases heard by the adjudicator, before the discount time expires, really is little less than blackmail. Seeking genuine legal redress really shouldn't be penalised. The Council have elevated themselves to a win win situation in this regard. Bearing in mind how many people with a right and legal grievens stump up unnecessarily, rather than face this double whammy! :rant:

Stumpy Tim · Sep 13, 2016

I did something very similar a few months back - I have two cars on the app and paid for the wrong car. I politely explained what had happened and they were good enough to cancel the ticket, though I was told I wouldn't be so lucky the next time.

surrey jim · Sep 13, 2016

not an expert in these matters so cant help personally, but would recommend having a read through www.pepipoo.com and http://forums.pepipoo.com/

drew · Sep 13, 2016

When I see these threads I generally get annoyed because a lot of the time they seem to be people who have inconsiderately parked who are then looking to get out of it due to a technicality such as the white lines of the bay were 2mm too small etc etc. However, this seems to be a genuine mistake easily done and due entirely to the council using modern technology.

Just had a quick look at the Lewes website and can't see anywhere that it says you are obliged to wait until the charge is outside the discounted rate period. That said, it is only two weeks so I'm not sure how quickly you can get a case heard by an independent adjudicator so even if you did apply within 14 days it might not get heard till after that. There seems to be some circumstances when the council reset the clock on the discounted period.

Good luck with any appeal. Seems that the Council had a common sense bypass when considering this. At the very least, if you don't win the appeal, they should refund the cost of the parking which they accepted for parking a car where you wife did albeit with the wrong reg!! Hopefully it shouldn't be hard to prove that you weren't the owners of that car at the time of the parking!!!!

https://www.trafficpenaltytribunal.gov.uk/the-appeal-process/

Lord Bracknell · Sep 13, 2016

fat old seagull said:
Seems bloody unfair, and those within Lewes Council should hang their heads. Specifically because depriving ones rights to having cases heard by the adjudicator, before the discount time expires, really is little less than blackmail. Seeking genuine legal redress really shouldn't be penalised. The Council have elevated themselves to a win win situation in this regard. Bearing in mind how many people with a right and legal grievens stump up unnecessarily, rather than face this double whammy!

Why blame Lewes Council? The parking scheme in Lewes is administered by East Sussex County Council.

There is a proper appeals system in place. I suggest Mrs LockStock uses it.

The pay by phone system does specifically ask for confirmation of the registration number of the car that is being parked, so there are mechanisms in place to prevent this mistake being made.

KingstonSeagull · Sep 13, 2016

Have you sent proof that you used to own that vehicle etc?

Diablo · Sep 13, 2016

IMO huge difference if you can prove you have paid albeit for wrong vehicle..An honest mistake!! They will back down but you may have to go all the way.

SAC · Sep 13, 2016

Stumpy Tim said:
I did something very similar a few months back - I have two cars on the app and paid for the wrong car. I politely explained what had happened and they were good enough to cancel the ticket, though I was told I wouldn't be so lucky the next time.

I parked my Vespa in Westminster using the parking app but put it on the wrong bike. They could see that I had paid and rescinded the ticket.

Westdene Seagull · Sep 13, 2016

Lord Bracknell said:
There is a proper appeals system in place.

Hmmm ..... not really. A proper appeals system would allow people to appeal without the risk if the increased charge - as it stands councils play on the fact that the charge doubles if people follow the appeals process and so many don't bother even if they have a decent case. Blackmail I believe the word is.

WhingForPresident · Sep 13, 2016

I had a pretty similar issue after using Spacehopper to book my regular parking at work, but the website defaulted to pay for the next day rather than the day I parked, so I got a ticket.

Emailed Spacehopper to explain the situation and they had it overturned for me the next day.. not sure if the app your wife used is through a private company, but if so it may be worth asking them to deal with it.

drew · Sep 13, 2016

Westdene Seagull said:
Hmmm ..... not really. A proper appeals system would allow people to appeal without the risk if the increased charge - as it stands councils play on the fact that the charge doubles if people follow the appeals process and so many don't bother even if they have a decent case. Blackmail I believe the word is.

Playing devil's advocate, I suspect the counter argument is that they are not doubling the charge, merely that you get a substantial discount for prompt payment.

Westdene Seagull · Sep 13, 2016

drew said:
Playing devil's advocate, I suspect the counter argument is that they are not doubling the charge, merely that you get a substantial discount for prompt payment.

Fine - then if you appeal within the first 14 days then hold the charge at the discount level. Having experienced what the council do in these situations I can assure you it is bullying. They send constantly threatening letters despite knowing you have appealed and when you do turn up to the appeal meeting they send TWO council employees. Thankfully I won.

The Clamp · Sep 13, 2016

It's a legality/policy line here. If you have a legit reason you are challenging the fine (in legal terms a "ruling") any organisation be it council or private are arguably law bound to suspend and further movement on a ruling, ie , they cannot increase the charges until your case has been investigated.

mwrpoole · Sep 13, 2016

I did the exact same thing a couple of months ago in Twickenham. The app let me go in and add another reg number, I then was able to get a receipt for the correct reg no, sent off to the council and ticket cancelled. Good Luck.

fat old seagull · Sep 13, 2016

Lord Bracknell said:
Why blame Lewes Council? The parking scheme in Lewes is administered by East Sussex County Council.

There is a proper appeals system in place. I suggest Mrs LockStock uses it.

The pay by phone system does specifically ask for confirmation of the registration number of the car that is being parked, so there are mechanisms in place to prevent this mistake being made.

Splitting hairs...which Council is irrelevant to me. It IMO is unfair to charge peeps twice the going rate because they've had the audacity and need to appeal, on a matter that just the tinsey piece of logic and humanity could have been resolved without any admin at all. Whatever mechanisms might be in place, they don't solve or prevent humans making mistakes. Surely even those that need to raise money don't need to not understand, or be unkind. :shrug:

LockStock · Sep 13, 2016

The Clamp said:
It's a legality/policy line here. If you have a legit reason you are challenging the fine (in legal terms a "ruling") any organisation be it council or private are arguably law bound to suspend and further movement on a ruling, ie , they cannot increase the charges until your case has been investigated.

The problem we have is we did appeal to the council as soon as she got the ticket, explained the mistake and showed proof we had paid- all be it the wrong vehicle! The reply she got was at best patronizing. Although they agreed they could see a mistake had been made they still rejected the appeal. So we have been left with the option pay at the 'discounted' rate of £25 or allow the fine to increase to £50 and then appeal via the independent system.

As others have said, this almost amounts to blackmail and the decision lies with the person who reads the email- on a different day you may receive a different response!

So do we just pay the lower amount and be done with the aggravation or do we stand our ground and take it further but risk paying double.

hitony · Sep 14, 2016

Personally, I would escalate this until there is nowhere else to go, a simple human mistake for gods sake!
I think eventually they will back down, seeing others experiences on here of paying for the wrong car, theirs have been revoked, so should your wife's.
Good luck ( not that you should need it) a simple mistake should not get punished, and the fact is, that parking space was paid for, for the two hours in question.
I have no idea how these parking Apps work, the joy of not living or working in an area where parking is impossible / a premium I guess.

Fignon's Ponytail · Sep 14, 2016

Get in touch with LadySeagull on here as she might be able to help? She successfully challenged my wifes ticket at the County Ground a few months ago.

BensGrandad · Sep 14, 2016

In a similar situation I would have appealed the ticket but in the letter reserved my right to pay the lower fee should it not be accepted and then having established that right gone the full distance to a tribunal. Whag people do not see to appreciate is that there is no charge to go the tribunal even if you lose. If you do lose they usually set it at the lower rate as best I can see, although I may not have this bit correct.

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