council parking fine for joint tenant

shazier

Hi, can someone please give me advise on what to do with a parking fine letter that isnt mine. I will try and keep this short. I have a joint tenancy with a housing association, the other tenant holder moved out a week before xmas. She hasnt left a forwarding address and doesnt call to pick up any mail, she has also changed her mobile no so i cant get intouch.Her name is still on the council tax bill and still a joint tenant, before she left i asked her to remove her name from the tenancy but she refused, she wanted me to move out but i refused, we are not a married couple and, the council wont remove her name unless she takes her name of the tenancy . I dont have any idea where she is. The first letter that arrived not long after xmas was returned with, person no longer at this address, i knew what the letter was as it had the address on the envelope from, the council parking fines section. I have now recieved a 2nd letter but this time its from court, i havent opened it but can see through the little clear window that, its for the parking fine. She obviously hasnt informed dvla of any change of address. With not being able to contact her or find out where she is, I cant pass it on. Any advise please as to what i must do, im worried that bailifs are going to call and take my belongings for something that isnt my fault.

Coupon-mad

Write the facts all down up front, cover your back. Do NOT rely on phone calls, emails or verbal discussions with the Council, put it in black and white.

Take the written facts to Council Parking section and explain the situation. Leave them with the letter and keep a copy for yourself stamped with their stamp (most Council offices will take a copy for you and issue a receipt for any written info).

You are right, you need to ensure right now that bailiffs do not turn up.

shazier

Coupon-mad wrote: »

Write the facts all down up front, cover your back. Do NOT rely on phone calls, emails or verbal discussions with the Council, put it in black and white.

Take the written facts to Council Parking section and explain the situation. Leave them with the letter and keep a copy for yourself stamped with their stamp (most Council offices will take a copy for you and issue a receipt for any written info).

You are right, you need to ensure right now that bailiffs do not turn up.

thank you for the advise, i will get on to that first thing, should i return this other letter to sender, i didnt mention that the first original letter was from the council in another town

ScottishSapper

I can understand that you have concerns, however, reading the above I cannot see that you should have much, if any problems.

Obviously the correspondence is not addressed to you, nor is the vehicle in your name so any 'fines' would not apply to you.

In addition to what you have already done I would suggest writing a letter to the Court explaining the facts and return their correspondence. Using REGISTERED mail.

worried that bailifs are going to call and take my belongings for something that isnt my fault

Any Court judgement would be in her name, not yours, so apart from a bit of hassle from a possible visit, nothing they can do!

Have you informed the Council Tax ppl that your circumstances have now changed and you are the sole occupier? This should get you some sort of rebate (25% single person if I remember right)

peter_the_piper

Coupon-mad wrote: »

Write the facts all down up front, cover your back. Do NOT rely on phone calls, emails or verbal discussions with the Council, put it in black and white.

Take the written facts to Council Parking section and explain the situation. Leave them with the letter and keep a copy for yourself stamped with their stamp (most Council offices will take a copy for you and issue a receipt for any written info).

You are right, you need to ensure right now that bailiffs do not turn up.

I would add that it may be wise to take a passport.driving license as well in case there is some doubt to your identity.

shazier

shazier wrote: »

Hi, can someone please give me advise on what to do with a parking fine letter that isnt mine. I will try and keep this short. I have a joint tenancy with a housing association, the other tenant holder moved out a week before xmas. She hasnt left a forwarding address and doesnt call to pick up any mail, she has also changed her mobile no so i cant get intouch.Her name is still on the council tax bill and still a joint tenant, before she left i asked her to remove her name from the tenancy but she refused, she wanted me to move out but i refused, we are not a married couple and, the council wont remove her name unless she takes her name of the tenancy . I dont have any idea where she is. The first letter that arrived not long after xmas was returned with, person no longer at this address, i knew what the letter was as it had the address on the envelope from, the council parking fines section. I have now recieved a 2nd letter but this time its from court, i havent opened it but can see through the little clear window that, its for the parking fine. She obviously hasnt informed dvla of any change of address. With not being able to contact her or find out where she is, I cant pass it on. Any advise please as to what i must do, im worried that bailifs are going to call and take my belongings for something that isnt my fault.

How can i prove to a bailiff that she is no longer here unless they sit outside 24/7 with not having a forwarding address they could think i was just trying to fob them of. as i stated above, she is still a joint tenancy holder and i cant remove her from the council tax bill unless, she removes herself from the tenancy, that she refuses to do.

ScottishSapper

How can i prove to a bailiff that she is no longer here unless they sit outside 24/7

Hopefully when explained to the Court it will not come to that. But if it did::: TOUGH on them, in my opinion you answer the door to them ONCE (not letting them in) explain she does not live there and then it's up to them if they want to 'stake out' the place out.

I know the Council Tax is a seperate issue but I would still go ahead and inform them of a change of circumstances and make a claim for single occupancy, if nothing else, you have some sort of 'paperwork' to show to Courts etc

shazier

ScottishSapper wrote: »

Hopefully when explained to the Court it will not come to that. But if it did::: TOUGH on them, in my opinion you answer the door to them ONCE (not letting them in) explain she does not live there and then it's up to them if they want to 'stake out' the place out.

I know the Council Tax is a seperate issue but I would still go ahead and inform them of a change of circumstances and make a claim for single occupancy, if nothing else, you have some sort of 'paperwork' to show to Courts etc

i hadnt thought of the discount but, 1 of my daughter stays here allot with me at the moment at least 3 days and nites to help with the care i need, i think this might rule out my discount becasue she is over 18, at the moment she is living between here and my other daughter that cares for me for the rest of the wk..I dont think i would get a 25% discount? i will enquire be upfront with them and see what they have to say, but will be surprised if i get it. i will put it in writting that she no longer lives here and get them to stamp the letter. As for the bailiffs, if they do turn up, they wont be setting foot through the door. they can sit out side until there hearts content. I know if the bailiff isnt from a court they have no powers, but with it being a fine from the council, if a bailiff does turn up will he be sent from the court and do they have the powers to get in? this is so unfair to have all this put on my shoulders when, its not my parking fine, she is so selfish she must know this is going to fall onto me.. if i had a parking fine for parking and it was my fault i would pay for my mistake.
thank you again

CIS

i hadnt thought of the discount but, 1 of my daughter stays here allot with me at the moment at least 3 days and nites to help with the care i need, i think this might rule out my discount becasue she is over 18, at the moment she is living between here and my other daughter that cares for me for the rest of the wk..I dont think i would get a 25% discount

It depends on where she has her 'sole or main residence'. If their is only one occupier who has the property as their 'sole or main residence' then a 25 % discount is applicable.

Coupon-mad

shazier wrote: »

I know if the bailiff isnt from a court they have no powers, but with it being a fine from the council, if a bailiff does turn up will he be sent from the court and do they have the powers to get in? this is so unfair to have all this put on my shoulders when, its not my parking fine, she is so selfish she must know this is going to fall onto me.. if i had a parking fine for parking and it was my fault i would pay for my mistake.
thank you again

Yes, with this sort of ticket, if it remains unpaid in the coming weeks/months then you could find a proper Court Bailiff turning up out of the blue. That's why you need to get the Council to stamp a copy of your letter stating that she no longer lives there. If bailiffs do turn up later on, showing them your stamped copy of the letter would help you to prove you have already told the Council she doesn't live there.

Don't return the PCN letter 'return to sender', you will need the Council to put 2 and 2 together and match your info with the right PCN number. So hand it in with your letter and ask that it gets sent to the Council Parking tickets section, stapled together with 're PCN no. xxxxxxx' written across the top of your letter as well.

You may as well try to get the 25% single occupoer discount sorted while you are there, but do make sure the PCN and your original letter are sent to the Parking Fines Dept.

Braith

Hi, this is my first post! I used to work in Parking Services at my local council, so I couldn't resist replying.

Basically, you do need to worry in my experience. If the vehicle is registered to her and not you, you do not have anything to do with it. Even if she has not changed the address with the DVLA, as long as you can prove to the baliffs that you are not her (with I.D), then they will leave you alone and if they can't find a new address for her, they will probably write off the debt.

You may want to phone the council and tell them this as well. The only person liable for the debt is the registered owner, not the driver at the time or anyone else. It doesn't matter that you are joint tenants.

I hope this helps! You really don't need to worry.