Help with a PCN - Feeling picked on here...

[norbie]

Ok this is my first post here so please bear with me. Hopefully I will not miss anything out.

The vehicle was parked: On a road.
The first thing I received was: A Penalty Charge Notice attached to the vehicle.
Which county/council/borough was the vehicle in? Isle of Wight Council.
What was the alleged offence? 01 Parked in a Restricted Street during Prescribed Hours.
If parked on-road, was the vehicle parked in a Controlled Parking Zone? I'm not entirely sure what this means, sorry.
When? 05/03/2008

This is the scene of the "crime".







As an example, this is where my car was parked - on the single yellow line which is just on the end of the parking area where there are no yellow lines:



Ok here goes. I was parked in said place (opposite my work) whilst loading my vehicle up for a job. Unfortunately I was there longer than expected as the phone rang inside so I had to answer it. During this time (approx 10 minutes) I was unable to go to the car. I admit that I am at fault here if this nullifies my excuse of loading my vehicle.

I have been using this parking spot for loading/unloading of my vehicle for almost a year and have not had any problems. Similarly, large vehicles regularly stop along this road on the single yellow line, and cars are often parked there on the single yellow line all day.

There is actually a sign next to where I park my car as you can see in the pictures. This is very hard to see from the road, it is concealed with bushes and as seen above again, when approaching the spot you cannot see the sign because of obstructions. In almost a year I have honestly never seen this sign or I would not have been parking my car there.

I received a PCN for 01 Parked in a Restricted Street during Prescribed Hours. I found this quite surprising as I did not realise it was a restricted area and had not seen the sign before. I wrote a letter (including the above 3 pictures showing the obstructions to the signage) to the Council's parking department immediately, backed up with a letter from my employer verifying that I had been loading my vehicle. I have copied both of these below.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I acknowledge receipt of Penalty Charge Notice Number IW****** and that I am the owner of the vehicle specified (Registration ******).

I wish to appeal the penalty charge notice for a number of reasons.

First of all the sign along the section of road that I was parked on (Little London) is not easily visible from the road. There are plants obscuring the sign from view, and when approaching the parking area, it is hard to see that there is a sign there at all. I have provided photographs with my letter to show this.

The single yellow line markings that I was temporarily parked on whilst loading my vehicle does not appear to end in a T-bar and there are no signs present stating that loading is not permitted. There are also no markings on the kerb to show that loading is not permitted.

I work in an office in the building opposite where I was parked (New Forest Ice Cream Building). I had parked opposite the building on the single yellow line whilst I was loading my vehicle. I had also parked there briefly, earlier in the morning whilst loading my vehicle again. There are numerous delivery vehicles for various businesses along the road that park here and unload their goods daily.

Upon parking my vehicle for loading and going inside the building to pick up the goods (approx. 13.45pm), I was briefly delayed by the telephone ringing. After carrying the goods down to my car at approx 13.53pm I found that I had received a penalty charge notice and could not see the parking attendant in sight, to show that I was loading my vehicle.

I have provided a letter from my employer, confirming that what I have said is true.

I am away for the next 7 days so I would request that the fine be frozen at the lower amount until a resolution of my appeal. Please confirm if this is possible or not.

Regards

To Whom It May Concern,
I write to acknowledge that my employee ******, owner of the Vehicle Registration ******, received a penalty charge notice IW****** from you earlier today.
He had parked his vehicle briefly opposite our office on a single yellow line whilst loading his vehicle today at approx. 13.45pm. As far as we know this road has no loading restrictions. There are no signs that say it is not permitted. He returned to his vehicle at approx 13.55pm to find that he had received a penalty charge notice. I feel that this is wrong as he was in the process of loading his vehicle at this time with goods for a customer.
Yours Sincerely

I have since had a reply from the Council. (Is it worth mentioning they sent it to my boss instead of me and said it's his car?)

Important Dates:-

Incident - 05/03/2008
I sent my letter - 06/03/2008
I received a reply - 14/04/2008 (41 days later!)

[norbie]

During the time that they took to bother writing me a reply (41 days) I have since seen several parking attendants come along this road and walk straight past other vehicles parked exactly where I was and further down the road! I have photographic evidence of the vehicles being parked there when the attendant had just walked past. Sadly, I did not manage to get the attendant in the pictures, but the timestamps on the images should be able to confirm that there was an attendant there at those times.

I include some examples of this here:



This one is slightly further up the road but still, 2 cars on the same single yellow cars, parked there not loading:



And then the classic - 2 council vehicles photographed violating the same violations!



Admittedly one is unloading here, but was parked there for over 20 minutes, and the one to the left that a Council employee was driving was not loading/unloading his vehicle.

Now the letter they have just sent me has said that I cannot make any more representations until it has reached a further 30 days and I am sent an NTO and would have to pay the full fine. I find this unbelieveable and to be honest, the whole system unfair.

What can I do? I feel that I am being personally victimised here and bullied - the attendants are walking past other people's cars and the Council themselves are parking there and getting away with it. I have no confidence in the system being just and fair so cannot see myself winning an appeal, so I wonder if it is worth fighting it any further. I am in two minds - one to just go for it (and risk paying £75 fine) or pay up £30 now and write them a stinking letter including photos and copy it to the local press.

I look forward to getting some good advice, and well done if you read this far!

I will scan in the PCN and post it up later, but it looks like everything is in order to me.

[norbie]

Here is the scanned in PCN:





Thanks.

[nero12]

on your notice of rejection it says

'' failiure to pay within 14 days from the date of this letter.......'''


it should say '' failiure to pay within 14 days beginning with the date of service of this letter''


you can get this ticket cancelled


lukah v aylesbury vale adjudication

[nero12]

send this letter




(Your address)

......................... .....................

.......................................... ..

......................... ....................

(Postcode)............... ...............


(Name and address of localauthority)

......................... .........................

......................... .........................

......................... .........................


PCN NO......................... ....

Vehicle reg No......................

Date of issue of ….……..........
notice of rejection

Dear sir/madam


I am in receipt of a notice of rejection from (name of authority)

Can I bring to your attention the enclosed copy of the noice of rejection(enclose a copy of the Notice of Rejection and highlight You now have 28 days to pay the penalty charge or appeal to the independent parking adjudicator.)


Section 4 of schedule 6 of the1991 Road Traffic act states that a notice must

(a) state that a charge certificate may be served under paragraph 6 below unless before the end of the period of 28 days beginning with the date of service of the notice of rejection—
(i) the penalty charge is paid; or
(ii) the person on whom the notice is served appeals to a parking adjudicator against the penalty charge;

Since this Notice Of Rejection does not comply with paragraph 4 it does not constitute a rejection at all with no obligation to pay.

May I refer you to Lukha v Aylesbury Vale adjudication on this subject.

Please confirm this charge will be cancelled.

Yours sincerely.


………………………… your name.

[norbie]

Thanks nero12!

I also posted on Pepipoo, please read the replies I had that stated there were a few flaws in the PCN.

Help with a PCN - Feeling picked on here... - FightBack Forums

Would you agree with the flaws and should I include it in my letter?

[nero12]

Originally Posted by norbie

Thanks nero12!

I also posted on Pepipoo, please read the replies I had that stated there were a few flaws in the PCN.

Help with a PCN - Feeling picked on here... - FightBack Forums

Would you agree with the flaws and should I include it in my letter?

yep,

this ticket is coblers


ps nice photies!!

regards nero!!

[patdavies]

Originally Posted by nero12

on your notice of rejection it says

'' failiure to pay within 14 days from the date of this letter.......'''


it should say '' failiure to pay within 14 days beginning with the date of service of this letter''


you can get this ticket cancelled


lukah v aylesbury vale adjudication

Sorry, no.

This letter of rejection is to an informal challenge to the PCN: it is not a notice of rejection (as per the RTA) to a formal challenge to an NtO. The council can offer whatever terms they like to extend the discount period, or not.

However, the PCN is invalid on at least two counts.

1) "You are required to pay..." has been ruled completely wrong. It is the registered keeper/owner who has liability.

2) The RTA 1991 requires that the PCN has an address to which payment may be made. Your PCN does not have this (the only address is for enquiries).

Originally Posted by RTA1991 S.66(3)

(3) A penalty charge notice must state—
(a) the grounds on which the parking attendant believes that a penalty charge is payable with respect to the vehicle;
(b) the amount of the penalty charge which is payable;
(c) that the penalty charge must be paid before the end of the period of 28 days beginning with the date of the notice;
(d) that if the penalty charge is paid before the end of the period of 14 days beginning with the date of the notice, the amount of the penalty charge will be reduced by the specified proportion;
(e) that, if the penalty charge is not paid before the end of the 28 day period, a notice to owner may be served by the London authority on the person appearing to them to be the owner of the vehicle;
(f) the address to which payment of the penalty charge must be sent.

I do not believe that they can limit payment method to credit card only (which is what both telephone and on-line payment requires) = how does someone without a credit card pay?

[bmwman]

Hi

PCN must also contain section e:
e) that, if the penalty charge is not paid before the end of the 28 day period, a notice to owner may be served by the London authority on the person appearing to them to be the owner of the vehicle;

this is missing from your PCN

(You are therefore) is an inaccurate statement of the legal position as per:-
London Borough of Wandsworth v Al’s Bar and Restaurant
Case Number: 2020106430 Review Decision dated 28 October 2002

Under section 66(1) the parking attendant affects service of the Penalty Charge Notice by either fixing it to the vehicle or giving it to 'the person appearing to him to be in charge of the vehicle'. Under section 66(2) the person legally liable for payment of a penalty charge is the owner. It may or may not be that the person in charge of the vehicle is the owner. Therefore, the person who receives the Penalty Charge Notice may or may not be the person legally liable to pay the penalty charge. It is no doubt for this reason that the draftsman chose the impersonal 'that the penalty charge must be paid'. For the notice to say 'You are required to pay' will be an inaccurate statement of the legal position in a great many cases.

In those circumstances, it cannot to my mind be said that the formulation in the PCN constitutes substantial compliance.

Payment address missing

PCN is fraudulent see fraud act 2006
The CPS : The Fraud Act 2006

[norbie]

Thank you for all your replies.

I have drafted a letter. Please give me your feedback:

Dear Sir/Madam

I am in receipt of a notice of rejection from the Isle of Wight Council which you sent to my employer. I presume this was a mistake on your part and it was meant to be sent to me (the registered owner of the vehicle) who informally appealed to you after receiving a PCN on my vehicle.

Can I bring to your attention the enclosed copy of the Penalty Charge Notice that was placed on my vehicle.

Section 66 (3) of the Road Traffic Act 1991 states:

(3) A penalty charge notice must state:

(a) the grounds on which the parking attendant believes that a penalty charge is payable with respect to the vehicle;

(b) the amount of the penalty charge which is payable;

© that the penalty charge must be paid before the end of the period of 28 days beginning with the date of the notice;

(d) that if the penalty charge is paid before the end of the period of 14 days beginning with the date of the notice, the amount of the penalty charge will be reduced by the specified proportion;

(e) that, if the penalty charge is not paid before the end of the 28 day period, a notice to owner may be served by the London authority on the person appearing to them to be the owner of the vehicle;

(f) the address to which payment of the penalty charge must be sent.

With reference to paragraph (e), there is no mention of this at all on the PCN.

With reference to paragraph (f), it is clear that only telephone and internet payments are permitted for this PCN. It is a requirement that the PCN has a postal address to which payment be made.

Section 66 (2) of the Road Traffic Act 1991 states:

(2) For the purposes of this Part of this Act, a penalty charge is payable with respect to a vehicle, by the owner of the vehicle

The PCN that I received uses the "you are required" language which does not specify who it is aimed at (the registered keeper, driver etc). The driver isn't required to pay anything - only the registered owner is liable. This false declaration of liability invalidates the ticket and the draftsman chose the impersonal 'A payment is required' for this very reason. This was ruled invalid in Mcarthur vs Bury.

“But there is another point on this element. Under section 66(1) the parking attendant effects service of the Penalty Charge Notice by either fixing it to the vehicle or giving it to 'the person appearing to him to be in charge of the vehicle'. Under section 66(2) the person legally liable for payment of a penalty charge is the owner. It may or may not be that the person in charge of the vehicle is the owner. Therefore, the person who receives the Penalty Charge Notice may or may not be the person legally liable to pay the penalty charge. It is no doubt for this reason that the draftsman chose the impersonal 'that the penalty charge must be paid'. For the notice to say 'You are required to pay' will be an inaccurate statement of the legal position in a great many cases.”

May I refer you to Mcarthur vs Bury, Al’s Bar vs Wandsworth and Aspire Loft Conversions vs Camden on this subject.

Since this Penalty Charge Notice does not comply with multiple paragraphs of Section 66 of the Road Traffic Act 1991, it does not constitute a Penalty Charge Notice at all with no obligation to pay.

Please confirm this charge will be cancelled.

Yours Sincerely,

[nero12]

It appears in my haste, I have wrongly identified a mistake on the rejection notice. Can I sincerely apologise to norbie and state that this was an honest mistake to which has been pointed out on more than one forum.

Sorry norbie mate I was only trying to help.

regards nero.

Ps the ticket is still a load of coblers and I hope you get it cancelled.

[norbie]

No problem, I appreciate your help mate

[nero12]

Originally Posted by norbie

No problem, I appreciate your help mate

good luck mate, we are all rooting for you

[norbie]

Do you think I should go ahead and send off the letter above now?

[nero12]

Originally Posted by norbie

Do you think I should go ahead and send off the letter above now?

I should say so, that little bugger should work.

you got everthing bar the kitchen sink in there!!

[bmwman]

HI norbie

Looks good to me but tried this approach with Hastings and they rejected it. See my thread Has Anyone Reclaimed Paid PCN.

I am now waiting for decision from TEC hoping to be able to file N244.

Did you look at the link I provided in my last post.