PCN - Council unable to accept immediate payment, should I still pay?

[darylnaylor]

Advice please. On Friday 28th December I received a PCN for parking outside my house at 9am. Suitably annoyed, I wanted to get the payment out of the way straight away so I phoned up but they couldn't find the reference number. The reason was that it had only just been issued and I was told to try again tomorrow as payments within 24 hours of issue could not be taken.

 

My point is that I have followed the instructions as given on the PCN in order to pay the reduced amount of £30 only to be told that my payment cannot be accepted. There is nothing on the PCN to say that payments within 24 hours of issue cannot be accepted. What are my rights? Has this point been raised before? As far as I'm concerned I have done what is required of me and it is the fault of the council not mine that they have not taken the payment that I offered.

 

I've got 12 days left to pay the reduced fee, so any guidance in that time would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

[green_and_mean]

I guess you could argue if you phoned up at 3am in the morning and got no reply or turned up at the cash office on a Sunday that you had tried to pay but I doubt it would stand up at adjudication if you then decided not to bother paying since the Council gives alternative methods of payment such as cheque by post.

[darylnaylor]

Yes, but the times and days of these options are clearly stated on the PCN, so if I called at 3am or turned up on a sunday, then they would be quite within their rights to say I should follow the instructions explicitly given. It does not however state that I can't pay within 24 hours, so my point as far as I can see still stands.

[green_and_mean]

I guess the only way to find out would be by refusing to pay and going to adjudication.

[darylnaylor]

How riaky is that? What are the potential extra costs that I would face?

[darylnaylor]

Obviously I meant risky, not riaky!

[Bernie_the_Bolt]

How riaky is that? What are the potential extra costs that I would face?

 

What you are risking is the loss of the discount, time, effort and travel costs.

I wouldn't rely on this as your sole defence. Can you scan and post the PCN so we can see if there are other grounds for appeal which may be stronger?

[darylnaylor]

I've scanned the ticket, not sure how to put it on here though. Any ideas?