Should I be morally concerned about lying to the council?

[Danny54]

Since posting my other thread:

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/parking-traffic-offences/202752-can-i-challenge-badly.html

 

about being ticketed on a double yellow and getting great replies from members here, I've been bombarded with new replies from holier than thou members of another forum (not a consumer forum, and I posted there before I posted my thread here) saying I have dubious moral boundaries, and that it's a terrible thing to try and defraud the council by saying my car broke down, and conspiring with my mechanic to write me a note saying he replaced my starter motor. They say I'm taking a huge risk and could even go to prison. My mechanic has now written me a note and he was happy to do so. My take is that they're being over dramatic and that I don't care about it from a moral stance. What do you think? Am I really taking a huge risk? And should I feel so terrible about trying to get them to drop the £50 PCN through not entirely honest means when MP's are defrauding the public left right and centre? Who's to prove my car HADN'T broken down, especially with my mechanic putting it in writing?

[RichardM]

It's not a moralistic issue.

 

This board has rules which do not condone in any way members lying in order to gain a financial advantage of any sort.

[StrawDog]

I do not intend to make any moral judgements either way - the issue is entirely one for your own conscience although I do question the wisdom and motives in sharing your strategy with this forum.

A word of caution - the 'other side' so to speak, read these forums and you may have disclosed sufficient detail to identify yourself and the incident in question.

Edited June 5, 2009 by StrawDog

[green_and_mean]

Its a criminal offence to lie (£5000 max fine) on a parking appeal if you wish to do so feel free but no one in their right mind on here would condone doing so. Why stop at a parking fine you could make a false claim for housing benefit whilst down the town hall or maybe in your world you can convince yourself your 'crime' is justified?

[TheBogsDollocks]

Its a criminal offence to lie (£5000 max fine) on a parking appeal if you wish to do so feel free but no one in their right mind on here would condone doing so. Why stop at a parking fine you could make a false claim for housing benefit whilst down the town hall or maybe in your world you can convince yourself your 'crime' is justified?

 

If that's the rate then it would be cheaper to go shoplifting to raise the money for any parking fine rather than lie as shoplifters only seem to get a caution.

 

Please note I am not advocating shoplifting as that would be criminal and naughty, I'm just making a comparison.

[Danny54]

Ah well, I'll just go ahead and pay the £50 fine.

 

Why stop at a parking fine you could make a false claim for housing benefit whilst down the town hall or maybe in your world you can convince yourself your 'crime' is justified?

 

Maybe in your world you can convince yourself you're a comedian.

[Al27]

I don't what you expect mate. You come on here, confess lying and cheating yet are surprised when people don't condone it!

[the_freedom_trail]

Danny54,

 

If you think that parking tickets issued by the LA's are unfair (as I do) then simply don't afford them the satisfaction of being able to give you a ticket in the first place. This tactic will save you money and will mean that you wont have to resort to fraud either.

 

TFT

[Danny54]

I don't what you expect mate. You come on here, confess lying and cheating yet are surprised when people don't condone it!

 

I was just meeting sarcasm with sarcasm. And this thread was simply me asking further advice about my proposed action, hence why I'm going to just pay the fine.

 

Anyway, with all due respect, you gave me advice after you KNEW I was going to try it on with them. I clearly stated that I had parked there and then I went on to say that I was going to make the excuse of a breakdown, showing you my drafted letters which have now been deleted by the bot only because my link led to dubious sites. So the question is, why did you do that instead of just saying you don't condone it in the first place? Or didn't you read my posts properly?

 

I'm currently waiting for the council to phone me back as I put it to them that I did not receive any advance notice through my door or see any public notice of these yellow lines to be painted. Other people in my street are also not happy and we're putting a petition together to get rid of them.

Edited June 8, 2009 by Danny54

[Al27]

Anyway, with all due respect, you gave me advice after you KNEW I was going to try it on with them. I clearly stated that I had parked there and then I went on to say that I was going to make the excuse of a breakdown, showing you my drafted letters which have now been deleted by the bot only because my link led to dubious sites. So the question is, why did you do that instead of just saying you don't condone it in the first place? Or didn't you read my posts properly?

 

I didn't read your post properly and missed out the vital word 'excuse'. I just assumed you were telling the truth.

 

I do remember getting a dubious site from your link though!

[green_and_mean]

Regardless of the morallity its pretty stupid posting the fact that you are going to lie on an appeal on the internet along with a scan of the PCN. I work for a London LA and its only 33/1 odds that its not Barnet and I am sure I'm not the only person in London that works for a LA and uses the internet.