PCN - Medway counci and soon to be Maidstone council

[Paidmyticketpete]

I Feel that there has been a miscarriage of justice against me by Medway and Maidstone council.

 

 

Last January i came down to your lovely part of kent for a job interview and parked in a car park in Maidstone.

 

 

I went to pay

the machine would not take my cash

i had to risk leaving it.

 

 

I got a parking ticket which i contested

was rejected

 

 

i paid, using the online method as we are all urged to do now on my bank card.

 

 

in October i got a letter from a debt collectors trying to get money from me for the ticket

 

 

i rang them straight away to resolve the matter

was told to email proof of payment.

 

 

I sent a copy of my bank statement showing payment

thought the matter was dealt with again.

 

 

on Thursday a bailiff turned up to take my car away,

i told him what has happened so far and

he went and made some calls.

 

 

Apparently i had paid Medway council and not Maidstone council,

 

 

I then questioned how they could have taken my money as i had entered parking ticket numbers and car registration etc when paying online.

 

 

I have since spoken to both councils to resolve the matter but have had a "Tough luck" response from both. I

 

 

paid in good faith even though i thought it unjust in the first place

and am amazed that Medway council can just take money from people willy-nilly,

 

 

i wonder how much they have got of other peoples as they have never tried to give my money back

that was taken incorrectly and is now going to cost me my car and possibly my job.

 

 

I donated another £1 today to Medway council via their online payment sysem, daylight robbery.

 

 

I appreciate that this seems quite trivial but i feel i did everything i am expected to do

and i am just having two fingers stuck up at me from two major councils.

 

:evil:

[i hate bailiffs]

You need to stayoff the phone

TThe bailiffs will be after one thing money so trying to convince them you owe nothing won't work!

 

Start with a formal complaint to the council involved

Your local MP should help you on this

 

Bailiff has no right of entry so keep door locked

 

Car is vulnerable do you have a garage

Tuck car away from bailiffs

[sillygirl1]

Sounds like they have a 'shared' back office system

- very bad news for the constituents b

ut very good news for the councils!

 

 

These seem to exist primarly to generate 'additional revenue sources' for the council coffers

than benefit the constituents trying to sort out a problem.

 

Parking isn't my area but I've had personal experience of the mis-management of shared information

systems and trying to sort out the resulting mess caused by them.

[Paidmyticketpete]

I have put my car in a garage but know unless i can resolve the debt will keep increasing.

 

 

I have contacted my local MP and hope that she can give me a voice of some kind as the councils are just doing "the computer says no" bit.

[sillygirl1]

You HAVE resolved it - you paid the ticket and have the proof of that. The bailiff has very little grounds to chase you. Just because somebody else pushed the wrong button their end isn't your fault or problem. Stick to that - any court in the land will agree the same.

[Paidmyticketpete]

But i somehow paid the wrong council. So they are saying it is my error, where as i see it as they should never have taken the money if it wasnt due to them. I entered all of the details requested and they still took the money leaving me thinking i have paid it!

[Jamberson]

Did you receive any correspondence on this matter between the time you paid, and the time the bailiff first contacted you?

 

If not, do you know why? Was the address at DVLA correct, etc?

[Paidmyticketpete]

My address has not changed in 4 years and the car has been for 2 years since i bought it. After i paid the ticket i never received any correspondence from anyone until October when i got a letter from the bailiff, which i phoned and sent my bank bill showing the payment and then never heard anything until the bailiff turned up and clamped my car!

[Paidmyticketpete]

The council said they sent out a letter but i never received anything otherwise i would have nipped it in the bud then.

[Jamberson]

Have you checked the address they sent it to?

 

You might be able to contest all this, but if they've been writing to the correct address,

then your chances of succeeding are not great.

If they have the wrong address, then your chances are much higher.

 

When you get a PCN, you should also be sent:

Notice to Owner;

Charge Certificate;

Order for Recovery

- all before bailiffs are involved.

 

 

So if they are saying they sent all this to your correct address,

you'll have a hard time convincing them that none of them arrived.

 

If I were you I'd check the exact address they were writing to and post back here.

 

Incidentally, this isn't instead of other suggestions above - it's as well as them.

[Paidmyticketpete]

Thank you Jamberson i will do that first thing Monday. The only letter was from marsden group in October and i have never received one from Maidstone council and Medway still have my £50! You couldn't make it up!

[Jamberson]

If they truly haven't been writing to the correct address, that's going to be good news for you. Let us know what they say.

[Paidmyticketpete]

I Genuinely have not received any letters from Maidstone council, that's a really good point as things go. I Will definitely be on the blower Monday and will post the outcome.

[Jamberson]

OK, so check what address they have on record. If it's correct, ask when they obtained that address.

 

As I said, you are entitled to three things:

 

Notice to Owner; Charge Certificate; Order for Recovery

 

Also ask for the dates of those documents.

 

They must have had the correct address on record prior to the Notice to Owner, or they will not have issued the documents to you.

 

If their address is wrong, you can file an Out of Time Statutory Declaration - but one step at a time for the moment...

[sillygirl1]

Stay off the phone, email both councils with the FULL details of the transaction, explain what happened and tell them to call their dogs off otherwise you are going public with this. It is THEIR backroom systems at fault.

[Jamberson]

Stay off the phone, email both councils with the FULL details of the transaction, explain what happened and tell them to call their dogs off otherwise you are going public with this. It is THEIR backroom systems at fault.

 

Firstly, telephoning is instant.

 

Secondly, the person on the phone isn't going to ignore you when you ask the question.

 

Thirdly they aren't going to desist just because they're told to.

 

And fourthly, we don't know who is at fault at the moment.

 

Apart from that, I agree.

[dx100uk]

also don't forget chargeback if you paid the wrong council wit your debit card if all else fails to get your moneyback

 

 

dx

[Conniff]

Where did you get the URL from for the payment website ?

[Paidmyticketpete]

Where did you get the URL from for the payment website ?

 

I can't actually remember, I thought from the ticket but I could be mistaken. I am not useless on a computer either I pay nearly all of my bills and purchase insurance etc so wonder how I made the mistake?

 

I just went on to maidstone councils website to see if I can pay by error on there but it would not take payment without a correct PCN!

 

If only it was the other way round. Spoke to the bailiff yesterday and he will be back on Thursday, 1 week after first attending, probably at my cost!

[Paidmyticketpete]

also don't forget chargeback if you paid the wrong council wit your debit card if all else fails to get your moneyback

 

 

dx

 

Any money's owed can be redeemed if you send in a written letter to claim!

[Conniff]

So the error is yours not the councils.

 

 

I would say that the council you paid, (not necessarily at fault as they just claimed on the details given to them).

But a payment not intended for them should be claimed back. Pay the proper council and then send the other a letter of demand for a refund, give them a date by which to pay, say 14 days. I would send it recorded so you can be certain they received it.

You can also claim 8% statutory interest, so do it.

 

 

If they respond in the negative or don't respond at all, then send them a Letter Before Action which in general is the same as the demand you sent before but headed in bold, letter before action.

The letter should give them another 14 days and end with words to the effect that failure to refund will result in further action being taken without further notice.

 

 

This isn't like someone denying they have received payment in error, they (as you say) have admitted it so can't keep it.

 

 

I should add that you must be prepared to go to court, if you aren't, then there is no point in threatening it.

[Jamberson]

It really shouldn't require such a heavy-handed approach. Just start by explaining the error and asking for a refund. I can't forsee any objections on their part. Only if you get nowhere would you need to start threats and deadlines etc. Chances are they have their own targets for refunds, which might well be more than 14 days - so be it. Just ask how long it will take, and let them do their stuff.

[Conniff]

It really shouldn't require such a heavy-handed approach. Just start by explaining the error and asking for a refund. I can't forsee any objections on their part. Only if you get nowhere would you need to start threats and deadlines etc. Chances are they have their own targets for refunds, which might well be more than 14 days - so be it. Just ask how long it will take, and let them do their stuff.

 

 

I have since spoken to both councils to resolve the matter but have had a "Tough luck" response from both.

 

 

So we move up to the next stage.

[Jamberson]

Yeah, "the matter" in this context being the bailiffs threatening to take the car and so on, to settle a much larger debt.

 

Not a simple request for a refund, which is a routine process.

[Paidmyticketpete]

Hi everybody,

 

 

the afternoon before the bailiffs were due back i received an email from my MP stating they would be liaising with the council.

 

 

i phoned the bailiff to see if he can put me off until i had heard back from my MP and he agreed to make me the last stop on his round.

 

 

The next afternoon i was contacted by the MP saying that they had suspended the bailiffs for seven days whilst i was to seek legal advice.

 

 

I Was a little happier but then realised that this would mean i have to prove that Maidstone did not send me notices etc,

which is impossible and i was going to get stuffed again!

 

 

then i received a call from the local councils ombudsman,

he started with they dont really deal with parking tickets but mine relates to the computer system

he has spoken to the councils and put off the bailiffs indefinitely until he gets to the bottom of it.

 

 

Whilst i was on the phone to him i received a call from a chap in complaints department of maidstone council

saying he had heard from my local MP and the ombudsman and was very apologetic and was going to see what he can do.

I told him my gripe is not really with maidstone but medway, apart from not receiving any correspondence from them

which would of enabled to deal with this earlier.

 

 

He then sent me an email for point of contact and would be conversing with medway to see if they can resolve the matter.

 

And that is where i am at today, hopefully a bit of common sense will prevail and i can put an end to this sorry mess!

 

Thanks to all who gave advice and we may of just got one back for the little man!