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Meteor / Southeastern Parking
Comments
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However, when you are issued with a penalty fare ON the train, they will often send you a couple of reminders (and administration costs) as well, prior to heading to the court system......Signaller, author, father, carer.0
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TwistedPsycho wrote: »However, when you are issued with a penalty fare ON the train, they will often send you a couple of reminders (and administration costs) as well, prior to heading to the court system......
Penalty fares are slightly different as these are a civil remedy for an otherwise criminal matter and not in itself a bylaw offence.
The only time it become a bylaw Offence is when you ignore the Penalty fare, then the Train Company cancels the Penalty fare and prosecutes under Bylaw 18.
Problem is Train companies get more money from a Penalty fare than Bylaw 18 so it's in their interest to pursue it through threatening letters.Whoa! This image violates our terms of use and has been removed from view0 -
If you take a punt to explore this great Myth that even the Pepippo pundits fear of.
Ill pledge £10 if it goes tits up
Anyone else ?
It is about time we tested these.Hi, we’ve had to remove your signature. If you’re not sure why please read the forum rules or email the forum team if you’re still unsure - MSE ForumTeam0 -
Couldn't have said it better myselfLivingthedream wrote: »Penalty fares are slightly different as these are a civil remedy for an otherwise criminal matter and not in itself a bylaw offence.
The only time it become a bylaw Offence is when you ignore the Penalty fare, then the Train Company cancels the Penalty fare and prosecutes under Bylaw 18.
Problem is Train companies get more money from a Penalty fare than Bylaw 18 so it's in their interest to pursue it through threatening letters.
As you say, it's the original offence that's charged, and not the PFN. That being the case, if the TOC get paid a late payment of say, £60 for a PFN, they're laughing (bear in mind though, that they certainly wouldn't receive all £20 of the PF had it been paid, anyway...More realistically it would be about £3). If it goes to court, yes the defendant will more than likely be penalised far greater than that of the PF anyway, but even with tyhe TOCs costs taken in to account of say £110, this will all be accounted for taking in to account the extra admin work in puting the case together.
With Parking notices, they could try the same thing I guess, just with a different Byelaw. So you'll receive a few letters asking for money, then they'll cancel the notice, proceed to Mags Court and apply for their costs (£100 or so) and compensation (cost of the parking ticket that was avoided if applicable).
The reason the Byelaws make the owner liable, is, I'd imagine, because when issuing a parking ticket, the chances are that you'll not have personal dealings with the 'customer' as you would when issuing a PFN, or reporting other Byelaws direct for prosecution.0 -
Having had a PCN from Meteor at a Southern Railway station back in January I would be inclined to follow the advice of ignoring. In my case the machine malfunctioned and there was not another machine/manned ticket office on site. My appeal was rejected and I decided that any Judge would be able to see that I acted reasonably in the steps I took to try and pay/contact Meteor etc, so I was kindof looking forward to my day in court where CCTV footage would have shown my attempts to pay(altho apparently this is not accessible to Meteor). I received the usual sucession of letters escalating the cost and threats and I have ignored them all. The last was in April and was a threat of Intended Legal Action, still nothing.0
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Panders,
Do you mind letting us know how much the threatened 'fine' has escalated too? At the moment I have 3 x £165 being demanded and I just need to be aware of how much thus could escalate to if I continue to resist their advances.
Thanks0 -
I have written back denying legitimacy of tickets from a Byelaw perspective and we will see where we go from there.0
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The problem with this approach is that they think they have a hooked fish, despite all you say, and they will just try harder to get the loot. They give up quicker when ignored, hence the advice. However its up to you, if you like receiving lots of threatening letters (more than if ignored)then I am sure you won't be disappointed.I'd rather be an Optimist and be proved wrong than a Pessimist and be proved right.0
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Peter the Piper,
You may be right, but with three of these tickets on the go at once and the threat of magistrates' courts being made, I think it is important to put a line in the sand to deny legitimacy of the tickets and give good reasons why.
Regards,0 -
Sorry for the delayed reply but the last notice I got of "intended legal action" from Graham White Solicitors gives the amount due to Meteor as £144 and the legal costs as £207.25. I'm still waiting for my day in court!0
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