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    • the Town and Country [advertisments ] Regulations 2007 are not easy to understand. Most Council planing officials don't so it's good that you found one who knows. Although he may not have been right if the rogues have not been "controlling" in the car park for that long. The time only starts when the ANPR signs go up, not how long the area has been used as a car park.   Sadly I have checked Highview out and they have been there since at least 2014 . I have looked at the BPA Code of Practice version 8 which covers 2023 and that states Re Consideration and Grace Periods 13.3 Where a parking location is one where a limited period of parking is permitted, or where drivers contract to park for a defined period and pay for that service in advance (Pay & Display), this would be considered as a parking event and a Grace Period of at least 10 minutes must be added to the end of a parking event before you issue a PCN. It then goes on to explain a bit more further down 13.5 You must tell us the specific consideration/grace period at a site if our compliance team or our agents ask what it is. 13.6 Neither a consideration period or a grace period are periods of free parking and there is no requirement for you to offer an additional allowance on top of a consideration or grace period. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________So you have  now only overstayed 5 minutes maximum since BPA quote a minimum of 10 minutes. And it may be that the Riverside does have a longer period perhaps because of the size of the car park? So it becomes even more incumbent on you to remember where the extra 5 minutes could be.  Were you travelling as a family with children or a disabled person where getting them in and out of the car would take longer. Was there difficulty finding a space, or having to queue to get out of the car park . Or anything else that could account for another 5 minutes  without having to claim the difference between the ANPR times and the actual times.
    • Regarding a driver, that HAS paid for parking but input an incorrect Vehicle Registration Number.   This is an easy mistake to make, especially if a driver has access to more than one vehicle. First of all, upon receiving an NTK/PCN it is important to check that the Notice fully complies with PoFA 2012 Schedule 4 before deciding how to respond of course. The general advice is NOT to appeal to the Private Parking Company as, for example, you may identify yourself as driver and in certain circumstances that could harm your defence at a later stage. However, after following a recent thread on this subject, I have come to the conclusion that, in the case of inputting an incorrect Vehicle Registration Number, which is covered by “de minimis” it may actually HARM your defence at a later stage if you have not appealed to the PPC at the first appeal stage and explained that you DID pay for parking and CAN provide proof of parking, it was just that an incorrect VRN was input in error. Now, we all know that the BPA Code of Practice are guidelines from one bunch of charlatans for another bunch of charlatans to follow, but my thoughts are that there could be problems in court if a judge decides that a motorist has not followed these guidelines and has not made an appeal at the first appeal stage, therefore attempting to resolve the situation before it reaches court. From BPA Code of Practice: Section 17:  Keying Errors B) Major Keying Errors Examples of a major keying error could include: • Motorist entered their spouse’s car registration • Motorist entered something completely unrelated to their registration • Motorist made multiple keying errors (beyond one character being entered incorrectly) • Motorist has only entered a small part of their VRM, for example the first three digits In these instances we would expect that such errors are dealt with appropriately at the first appeal stage, especially if it can be proven that the motorist has paid for the parking event or that the motorist attempted to enter their VRM or were a legitimate user of the car park (eg a hospital patient or a patron of a restaurant). It is appreciated that in issuing a PCN in these instances, the operator will have incurred charges including but not limited to the DVLA fee and other processing costs therefore we believe that it is reasonable to seek to recover some of these costs by making a modest charge to the motorist of no more than £20 for a 14-day period from when the keying error was identified before reverting to the charge amount at the point of appeal. Now, we know that the "modest charge" is unenforceable in law, however, it would be up to the individual if they wanted to pay and make the problem go away or in fact if they wanted to contest the issue in court. If the motorist DOES appeal to the PPC explaining the error and the PPC rejects the appeal and the appeal fails, the motorist can use that in his favour at court.   Defence: "I entered the wrong VRN by mistake Judge, I explained this and I also submitted proof of payment for the relevant parking period in my appeal but the PPC wouldn't accept that"   If the motorist DOES NOT appeal to the PPC in the first instance the judge may well use that as a reason to dismiss the case in the claimant's favour because they may decide that they had the opportunity to resolve the matter at a much earlier stage in the proceedings. It is my humble opinion that a motorist, having paid and having proof of payment but entering the wrong VRN, should make an appeal at the first appeal stage in order to prevent problems at a later stage. In this instance, I think there is nothing to be gained by concealing the identity of the driver, especially if at a later stage, perhaps in court, it is said: “I (the driver) entered the wrong VRN.” Whether you agree or not, it is up to the individual to decide …. but worth thinking about. Any feedback, especially if you can prove to the contrary, gratefully received.
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    • deed?  you mean consent order you and her signed? concluding the case as long as you nor she break it's conditions signed upto? dx  
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Committal to prison - council tax


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Hi is urgently need some help of advise.

This is a on going problem with havering council. We feel behind with our council tax a few years ago, my partner was the only one working and we were living on £220 a week and having to pay full rent /council tax ect... anyway, we found we was unable to do this and fell behind. We ended up getting in debt with a few companys in the mean time also. We started getting final notices and court summons from the council, we emailed, wrote and informed them we cant afford to pay the amount in full and can we set up a payment arrangement... We did this about 15 times in the last 3 years. When i started back at work we paid £40 a week and emailed and proposed this as a on going thing, it was again declined. So very dishearted and stupid, we stopped paying and used it to clear other debt that were happy to accept the amount. Anyway to was we recieved a committal to prison, straight away i have sent a letter explain the situation and offering to clear the debt in 24 months, we made a good will gesture payment of £40 also, and said we will put the money away each week untill either they accept or the time of the court hearing.. I am so worried.. I dont want to go to prison i have children! And i have NEVER refused to pay it, we have just never come to a arrgree ment.

Does anyone have any advise for me? or maybe someone whob has been through it before that can explain it to me what happens? I understand i have been silly in not addressing this sooner, but we have been trying to get ourself straight with companys that willingly took our money. And now i am soo scared. It has ruined our christmas and i know i am going to make myself ill worrying about it now...

Please help

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Did you try and claim council tax benefit? If you didn't you might be able to back date a claim if you were entitled to it.

 

How much do you actually owe them?

 

I am sure they will not want to send you to prison if there is a way of paying it back. If you are working they can do earnings attachments and what I would do is start sending them payments even if they have refused the proposal you have made.

 

I am no expert in this, but hopefully if I post a reply someone who has more experience can advise you.

 

Please don't worry too much - there are a lot of people in arrears with council tax and I have not heard of anyone yet going to prison. I do payrolls for companies whose staff are paying off arrears from 2 or 3 years ago at £15 a week from their wages.

BANK CHARGES

Nat West Bus Acct £1750 reclaim - WON

 

LTSB Bus Acct £1650 charges w/o against o/s balance - WON

 

Halifax Pers Acct £1650 charges taken from benefits - WON

 

Others

 

GE Money sec loan - £1900 in charges - settlement agreed

GE Money sec loan - ERC of £2.5K valid for 15 years - on standby

FirstPlus - missold PPI of £20K for friends - WON

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hi there thank you so much for your reply. I couldnt sleep last night worrying about it.. I have contacted my local MP and asked of there is anything he can reccomend, but i dont hold out much hope. I owe £3600 for 4 years c/t Is it about £1000 less due to odd payments we have made, but obviosly this is not enough. We tried to claim bennifit and was told even though my partner only brought home £220 we wasnt entitled to anything. I made the £40 payment yesterday and will make £40 a week payment untill the court date, there is nothing more i can do - I mean £40 is still pushing it slightly, but i need a amount i can stick to and when the new council tax year starts, i can afford to pay that also. I know we have got ourself into a mess, but i was only 21 when it all started and was first time living alone and was nieve and stupid, but im paying for that now lol

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hi, Firstly the courts will only imprison somebody who refuses to pay, not someone who is in financial trouble.

You could do with prioritising your debts. Rent, council tax, utiliity bills.tv licence are all priority debt. If you have credit cards,loans and overdrafts, they are low priority and while they'll still need to be paid you can offer lower amounts.

You say you get £220 a week. What about Child tax credits Child benefit and Working tax credits? if you are not getting CTC/WTC then you should be claiming them.

When you claim housing benefit, they would asume you are getting these other benefits based on your income so yes they would reject your claim.

My daughter and son in law have 3 children, bring in about £300 a week and still get HB/CTB(albeit not a lot)

 

Go here Start Calculation

 

This site will work out what you're entitled to

 

good luck

 

fox

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I do not want to raise your hopes but it is important to know that last year approx: 3 MILLION Liability Orders were issued for non payment of council tax and many of these are for people like you who have not paid for a few years.

 

A hearing for an application for committal can only take place at a Magistrates Court and there are ONLY two things that the Magistrates can look at. These are "willful refusal" and "culpable neglect".

 

Our office does have 2 people who have been sent to prison for "wiliful refusal" and in BOTH cases they are part of an action group who refuse to accept that they should pay council tax.

 

In deciding "culpable neglect" a magistrate would look at whether you have for instance taken an expensive holiday or purchased a new car with money that you could have instead used t pay your council tax.

 

It is therefore VITALLY important to ensure that you have a "paper trail" to demonstrate that you have made proposals to pay and that these have been refused.

 

Finally, the court will also want to ENSURE that the council have "looked at all other options" including attachment of earnings, a charge on your property etc" before deciding on committal.

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I do not want to raise your hopes but it is important to know that last year approx: 3 MILLION Liability Orders were issued for non payment of council tax and many of these are for people like you who have not paid for a few years.

 

A hearing for an application for committal can only take place at a Magistrates Court and there are ONLY two things that the Magistrates can look at. These are "willful refusal" and "culpable neglect".

 

Our office does have 2 people who have been sent to prison for "wiliful refusal" and in BOTH cases they are part of an action group who refuse to accept that they should pay council tax.

 

In deciding "culpable neglect" a magistrate would look at whether you have for instance taken an expensive holiday or purchased a new car with money that you could have instead used t pay your council tax.

 

It is therefore VITALLY important to ensure that you have a "paper trail" to demonstrate that you have made proposals to pay and that these have been refused.

 

Finally, the court will also want to ENSURE that the council have "looked at all other options" including attachment of earnings, a charge on your property etc" before deciding on committal.

 

 

Certain councils are now issuing statutory demands for bankruptcy rather than following the above process

You may receive different advice to your query as people have different experiences and opinions. Please use your own judgement in deciding whose advice to take.

 

If in doubt seek advice from a qualified insured professional. Any advice I have offered you is done so on an informal basis, without prejudice or liability.

 

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court bundles for dummies

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  • 2 years later...

I have just finished a 19 day sentance, in prison, for non payment of council tax! It was not a question of refusing to pay, but due to severe financial burdens, I got into arrears. The magistrate decided I should serve this sentance which may have cost me my job. So now I face being unemployed, with a criminal record and still not being in the position to settle the debt!

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