UTCCR's applied to PCN's?

orange_plastic

A while ago, to bypass the applicability of the Bill Of Rights to parking fines which would have rendered them unlawful, it was ruled that they were not fines, they were actually Penalty Charges. I suspect this ruling means that they would be regulated by the Unfair Terms In Consumer Contracts Regulations (UTCCR's) in the same way that banks' penalty charges are.

So I intend to reclaim my parking penalty charges from the relevant authorities.

Now as the UTCCR's state that such penalty charges may not exceed the cost to the party levying the charge and as the cost to the other party is negligible, I suspect application of the UTCCR's to PCN's may make all PCN's unenforceable, which may force the ridiculous ruling on PCN's not being fines to be reversed. I do not want to promote a lack of parking enforcement; some people park without consideration and need a boot in the rear (I'm not talking about the layout of their car here!). However PCN's have become extortionate in recent years and I would like a) to have mine refunded and b) to see them correctly reclassified as fines and hence brought under the governance of the Bill Of Rights and the British constitution where they can be administered more fairly.

First of all, any advice?

Secondly, what do you think of my chances? Neil Herron said he thought it was certainly worth looking into, but that was a couple of years ago and I've been out of touch with the whole PCN issue since I gave up trying to drive in this society 2-3 years ago.

Thirdly, have I forgotten anything here?

sarahg1969

orange_plastic wrote: »

First of all, any advice?

Don't bother asking on here, would be my advice.

LinasPilibaitisisbatman

orange_plastic wrote: »

A while ago, to bypass the applicability of the Bill Of Rights to parking fines which would have rendered them unlawful, it was ruled that they were not fines, they were actually Penalty Charges. I suspect this ruling means that they would be regulated by the Unfair Terms In Consumer Contracts Regulations (UTCCR's) in the same way that banks' penalty charges are.

So I intend to reclaim my parking penalty charges from the relevant authorities.

Now as the UTCCR's state that such penalty charges may not exceed the cost to the party levying the charge and as the cost to the other party is negligible, I suspect application of the UTCCR's to PCN's may make all PCN's unenforceable, which may force the ridiculous ruling on PCN's not being fines to be reversed. I do not want to promote a lack of parking enforcement; some people park without consideration and need a boot in the rear (I'm not talking about the layout of their car here!). However PCN's have become extortionate in recent years and I would like a) to have mine refunded and b) to see them correctly reclassified as fines and hence brought under the governance of the Bill Of Rights and the British constitution where they can be administered more fairly.

First of all, any advice?

Secondly, what do you think of my chances? Neil Herron said he thought it was certainly worth looking into, but that was a couple of years ago and I've been out of touch with the whole PCN issue since I gave up trying to drive in this society 2-3 years ago.

Thirdly, have I forgotten anything here?

Yes you have forgotten that by not parking were you shouldnt you wont incur any charges

Now that is moneysaving:money:

sarahg1969

LinasPilibaitisisbatman wrote: »

Yes you have forgotten that by not parking were you shouldnt you wont incur any charges

Now that is moneysaving:money:

See? :rolleyes:

orange_plastic

LinasPilibaitisisbatman wrote: »

Yes you have forgotten that by not parking were you shouldnt you wont incur any charges

Now that is moneysaving:money:

The problem arose when Parking Attendants were placed on performance-related pay. This encouraged them to write tickets first and ask questions later. The business I was running required me to make use of 20 minutes parking for loading and I incurred parking fines incorrectly. I also incurred parking fines for offences such as my rear bumper being found to be less than an inch over the end of a double yellow line, which I suppose is enforceable and it could be argued that I was correctly charged £60, but was it deserved? Prior to performance related pay for Parking Attendants, PA's used their judgement and gave fines when people parked inconsiderately, rather than trying to meet targets.

But anyway, thanks for your input. Let me know if you can think of something useful. :-)

orange_plastic

sarahg1969 wrote: »

See? :rolleyes:

You're quite right. I suspect there will be too many people milling about with too much time on their hands all too willing to waste my time. I think some of them would save money by turning their PC off if they haven't got something constructive to do on it...

You give good advice :-)

oldone_2

You would do well to start your discussion on proper forums dedicated to helping people.One such being Peppipoo.

MSE seems to attract more than its fair share of the weirdos and holier than thou brigade who should get out into the real world more.

Coblcris

Establishing the contractual basis would be difficult.

orange_plastic

That did occur to me as I was posting the thread. Perhaps the current legal process would require there to be a contractual basis for the PCN's to be considered a penalty charge rather than a fine administered as a punishment, which would place the onus on the authorities to try to establish the contractual basis.

Any ideas anyone?

orange_plastic

I'm thinking a contracts lawyer might be able to answer that one; it could be an interesting direction...

Neil_B

orange_plastic wrote: »

The business I was running required me to make use of 20 minutes parking for loading and I incurred parking fines incorrectly. I also incurred parking fines for offences such as my rear bumper being found to be less than an inch over the end of a double yellow line, which I suppose is enforceable and it could be argued that I was correctly charged £60, but was it deserved?

How, in either case, given the available avenues of appeal, did you manage to lose?