can i be refunded and compensated for parking fine

bazzaffc

hi everyone. you may remember i posted a thread on here about a year ago. i will recap and be as breif as possible.
in november 2007 i was issued a ticket for parking in a suspended parking bay, i had paid and displayed. my arguement was that the sign saying the bay was suspended was fixed to a lamp-post 20 yards away although there was one less than 2 feet from the suspended bay. i appealed and lost. i appealed a second time saying i was prepared to take this to court if they didnt wave the fine. i heard nothing. Then 12 months later baillifs visited my house demading £555-00. i got onto the TEC who advised me to pay the PCN fine, which was 180-00, which i did, then apply to have the case heard by a magistrate which i also did. i lost. i then decided to pay £75-00 for a personal hearing and i won. this ruling didnt scrub the ticket it only allowed me to start again with the appeals procedure. last month i re-appealed and won. i then wrote to RBKC parking adjudicator demanding all my money back (2 court fees, recorded delivery's, original fine and costs for my time off work attending the court etc etc) total £517-00. i also demanded they compensate me and my family for the stress they caused by sending baillifs to my house. i have just got a reply from RBKC adjudicator saying basically this "the council cannot be held responsible for the costs incurred by the owner of a vehicle when contesting a PCN" and they go on to say "the only bodies legally authorised to award costs against the council are the Lord chancellors court service and traffic appeals service".
do i now need to claim from either or both of these bodies? should i get a solicitor? can someone advise please

Coblcris

Who is the referenced RBKC adjudicator ?. Councils do not have adjudicators.

Well done on the perseverance and the victory.
I would try PATAS - the adjudication service - first to get their view.

By all means see a solicitor but possibly a civil claim that you can run yourself would suffice, made against the Council's fiduciary.
A well formed Notice Before Action may prompt the council to pay.
Make sure you preserve that response from the council in good order. Any court should be most interested to hear that RBKC believes that the courts cannot award costs against them.
Have you accounted for all expenses ?

bazzaffc

thanks coblcris.
yes i have most of the reciepts and i shall keep them all filed away and safe although some of my claim is for time spent at court hence wage loss. i shall let you know how i get on. thanks again.

regards
barry

mcjordi

small claims court is an option here

Coblcris

The council's response was technically correct re the PCN, small claims for that I think. however the bailiff fees the council can do something about in certain circumstances. Their complete abrogation is in your favour when you get to court I believe.

Neil_B

£75 shoyld have been claimed back -i.e. ask the District Judge -- at the time of the N244 hearing.

Costs for various things should have been claimed via PATAS.

For anything remaining - a Small Claims action will be blocked by the Council as 'County Court has no jurisdiction' (I understand).

If you did manage to get it heard then legal expenses may not be claimed.

Coblcris

Issue the claim against a council official who has an oath of office.
I suggest the fiduciary - possibly the Mayor.
Or seek an administrative remedy.

Neil_B

Herbie21 wrote: »

I am somewhat confused
You contacted TEC and they advised that you pay the PCN .
https://www.bailiffadviceonline.co.uk

Hi 'S'. I find the bit above very strange? I'm confused too.

On a Small Claim -- well yeah Council is responsible but it is unclear exactly what he is claiming for. Certainly a lot more stuff than the parts the Council is actually directly responsible for - as you correctly say.
-

Coblcris

Herbie21 wrote: »

I am somewhat confused by your question and hopefully you can provide the answers to me.

As I understand it you received a PCN and you made an "informal" representation which was rejected and you then further appealed ( I am assuming) by using the form attached to the Notice to Owner.

You did not hear anything further and therefore assumed that your appeal had been accepted. A bailiff then contacted you and requested £555.
You contacted TEC and they advised that you pay the PCN and you filed an Out of Time late Stat Dec. This would appear to have been rejected by RBKC and rejected also by the "court officer" but ( as normal) accepted by a District Judge.

The case was then referred back to the adjudicator and they found in your favour and I am assuming that this cancelled the PCN.

QUESTIONS:

As suggested by TEC, did you pay the PCN at £180 and if so who did you pay?

Did you receive a copy of the Statement of Truth from RBKC rejecting your Out of Time?

Did RBKC attend the N244 Hearing?

In all cases, when we complete N244's we ALWAYS request that the District Judge orders that the local authority repay the £75 court fee and expenses. Did you ask the court for this?

You should have received a copy of the court order REVOKING the warrant of execution. Have you confirmed with RBKC that they received this?

Have you received confirmation from RBKC that they have received your payment of £180?

You have stated that you have paid two lots of court fees..can you explain further because unless I have misunderstood, I can only see that you have paid one lot of £75.

PS: NEIL B.....You can most certainly issue a writ to the local authority. In addition, it is the local authority who are responsible for repaying the fees in cases such as this.
.
www.bailiffadviceonline.co.uk

A most excellent and informative post. Thank you.

Quentin

Adding your link to your website in every post you make breaks the site rules on no advertising.

bazzaffc

Herbie21... thanks for your post
sorry for the delay in replying.
i'll answer your points as they appear.
i paid the £180 pcn to RBKC online. i was advised to do this by the TEC to at least get the bailiffs off the case.
i did not recieve a statenment of truth from RBKC
RBKC did not appear at hearing just sent defence in writing, i assume its their statement of truth
i was not aware i could ask the court for the £75 to be refunded so i didnt.
i dont know about a warrant of execution???
i have confirmation by email from RNKC that i paid the £180
i only paid £75 court fees. i was mistaken saying i had paid two.

thanks to all that have responded to this thread and once again i apologise for not getting back sooner.
regards
baz