Parking ticket - Westbourne Grove, London

justinking_2

Hello!

I dont know how to start a new thread, so i apologise if this thread gets mixes up with others.

In London at Westbourne Grove on the 22.11.2008, i had to drive into london from sussex where i live, to collect a friend and rushed him to hospital (medical problems/suicide attempt). i later took him back home and while i was inside with him for about an hour or maybe more, i got a parking ticket on my car in the road where he lives for £60.00. It was a residents parking bay, and about 9.30pm on a sat night. I did later notice that the sign in the road said that after 10pm it was fine to park there, but i kind of had more important things on my mind as my friend would have died.

Anyway, after spending only over 2 or 3 hours in london i drove all the way home again, and reluctantly decided to pay the £60 :-( (im used to doing this as i have had tickets in brighton and am simply used to just paying them. However, because i did not reply within 14 days (i was 3 days late) i got a letter back from the city of westminster telling me that i have to make the additional £60.00- totalling up to £120.00

I am sorry but this amount is totally unreasonable. I am not working, struggling to survive as it is and right now I am having to fill in an appeal form within 28 days from the date i got it (which was a couple of days ago) I intend to appeal. but I dont have £120.00 to give to the council and i explained my situation (to no current avail), but as it stands i am being penalised because i did not make the second £60.00 within 14 days and now i dont know what to do.

I have since found out (by reading this site) that if you pay a parking ticket - or even the first amount - then you are admitting liability, but i did not know that until a friend told me about this site today, which is why I have joined up here.

I am strugging with bills, may lose my house as it is, and i even told Westminster that if this persists, i may just sell my car anyway. I have so many other things to do without making this such an issue...... :-(

Please help! I will fill in the appeal form today, but i cannot pay these people anymore money, and had i known about this site before hand I would not have paid the first half of the ticket. I am also resentful that in the light of my own personal circumstances (i dont even live in london) that Westminster council did not even listen to me and are firm that I have to pay the remaining amount. Its is too excessive.

I will write back to tell them i am appealing, but what are my chances of getting these people to leave me alone. Or have i blown if because I paid the first half of the ticket?

Justin :-(((

Crabman

Hi Justin, welcome to MSE. I've moved your post into a new thread (you may find the Beginners Guide useful).

Could you scan and post the PCN (front and back) together with any other paperwork from them? Please remove personal details (see welcome thread for details). If someone could take pics of the parking bay and signs that would also be helpful.

justinking_2

HI

I am in sussex so i cannot take pics of the bay in question. My friend cant do it either as he is still in a bad way. (He has since moved from that road anyway.

I guess i can take a digital picture of the notice but i dont know how to load it on here.

j

Crabman

Hi Justin, if you look at the welcome thread step 3 has links to tinypic/flickr and also to sra's Guide to Posting Pictures.

I have a feeling (from Neil B probably!) that Westminster NtOs are flawed/fettered, though he will no doubt confirm whether that's right or not.

pogofish

justinking wrote: »

I guess i can take a digital picture of the notice but i dont know how to load it on here.

That would be fine. You can either photograph (at a legible resolution) or scan the ticket, then get a free account & upload it to an image hosting site like Photobucket or Flickr and post the links here.

Rember to obscure, or remove with software (eg Irfanview), any identifying details on the ticket - eg, your name & reg number, ticket reference number etc, just in case any parking company stooges are looking-in on here.

Neil_B

Your payment doesn't matter. If money is still outstanding then you still have the right of appeal.
You haven't yet formally informed WM (or there agent - cough) that there were particular mitigating circumstances - so they can't decide on exercising any discretion. They may not be interested though. Any other elements you can find will help.
If you can't get pics, this forum has a large audience apparently. Maybe someone local will help out? We do that on other forums.
-

justinking_2

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Im not sure if im getting this right. If these two pics come through, one is of the letter they sent me in reply to the one i sent them and the other is an appeal form i now have to fill in.

Just to say that I do not have the original ticket as i sent it back (in anger) along with my first payment. Thisis all i have :-(

Im really unhappy about all this. Do i fill in the appeal form now, do you think? I dont want to incur any more payments, you see!

justinking_2

I hope they can Neil, but i dont know too much about all this. I just hope something can come of what i have posted on here so far.

Neil_B

justinking wrote: »

Hello!

i got a letter back from the city of westminster telling me that i have to make the additional £60.00- totalling up to £120.00

The letter you've shown doesn't say that!!! ??? It says they have let you off the remainder.
Read it again, confirm understanding and this time keep documents safe - like that one.

You never mentioned you had already appealed?

The forms you have now are for use if you want to try and get the first £60 back by appealing to the Adjudicator - but you have no case.
WM have only sent them because they legally have to.
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justinking_2

Are you sure? This has totally thrown me. It seems ambiguous they say that they accepted the first amount but that they wanted the second amount too.

I get confused by these people. Why dont they just say 'accepted' without having to make an entire letter out of it?

So does this mean the matter is completely over and i can forget about it?

Sorry, but this is so not on my list of priorities right now. I had already appealed in the form of a letter that i wrote and i thought that this letter was to reject my first letter and that they were after the further £60 from me. I thought the appeal form was so that i could appeal against it !!!!

Is it truly over now????

I hope so :-)

Neil_B

justinking wrote: »

Are you sure? This has totally thrown me. It seems ambiguous they say that they accepted the first amount but that they wanted the second amount too.

I get confused by these people. Why dont they just say 'accepted' without having to make an entire letter out of it?

So does this mean the matter is completely over and i can forget about it?

Sorry, but this is so not on my list of priorities right now. I had already appealed in the form of a letter that i wrote and i thought that this letter was to reject my first letter and that they were after the further £60 from me. I thought the appeal form was so that i could appeal against it !!!!

Is it truly over now????

I hope so :-)

I'm just reading what they said - particularly para 4.

Maybe someone else will look?