tower hamlets (council) parking fine: can I pay and then challenge?

londonTiger

I've got a borderline case, which I'm not too confident whether I'll win or not.

Basically there's a pay and display parking next to my council office, and I did not see any pay and display signs next to the parking bays, so I assumed it must be residents parking which I have permission to park on.

I got a ticket because I didn't have a pay and display ticket. I want to pay early and get the 50% discount (in case I don't win the challenge and face escalating costs), on the flipside I am worried that if I pay that will make the appeals board relctant to take my case seriously and just reject it.

vax2002

if you pay you admit.

rev_henry

Deleted - incorrect

Trebor16

No Rev, if you pay then you are accepting the contravention and there is no appeal against that.

The best place for the OP to find out more is in the council parking section at www.pepipoo.co.uk.

give_them_FA

Sorry but that is totally correct. Payment constitutes acceptance of the facts supporting the issue of the PCN. You cannot then appeal. This is one of the injustices of the system, that you do gamble by appealing in that you will lose your right to pay the discounted rate if you take it to adjudication (the Council VERY rarely allows the informal challenge!)

If the signs were there and were correct but you just didn't see or read them, then you are not in a good position. However, with most London councils there is always a chance they will have cocked up the paperwork, so you could float it on pepidoo and see if there are any fatal errors in what they have issued as any technical mistake invalidates the PCN.

HO87

+1

There are a significant number of councils whose procedures and/or paperwork do not comply with the law and although you may feel that you have done something wrong the council must work within the directions set down in the legislation. It is my view, that for an official body like a council to flout the law (which is not infrequent - some even know their paperwork is non-compliant and continue to use it regardless) is a greater wrong than marginally overstaying the time limit in a bay, for example, but that's just my view. It is therefore always worth appealing against a council-issued ticket.

The majority of local authorities issue Penalty Charge Notices (PCN's) but there remain a significant number of councils who issue Excess Charge Notices (ECN's). There is a distinct difference between the two. PCN's may be appealed through a specific route but ECN's have one level of appeal and then its straight off to Magistrates Court.

If you are intending to post on pepipoo you will need to have scanned in both sides of the PCN/ECN you have received - the devil is in the detail - so that you can post it up for the gurus there to examine. Before doing so you will need to remove from the images anything that will identify the ticket as yours like the registration numbers, ticket number etc - but there is a specific guide to how to do so before you post which I'd suggest you check through first.

rev_henry

Trebor16 wrote: »

No Rev, if you pay then you are accepting the contravention and there is no appeal against that.

The best place for the OP to find out more is in the council parking section at www.pepipoo.co.uk.

Well there's something I never knew!

give_them_FA

To be fair you do have the right to appeal a "forced" payment after you've made it, such as a clamp or towaway.

londonTiger

I went back to the location to take pictures, but the pay and display sign has been re attached. It wasn't at the time of the ticket.

I should have taken a photo of the sign at the time of getting the ticket. So now I have no hard evidence for my case.

Lesson learnt I suppose, in future take pics there and then when receiving the parking ticket. I decide to just pay the discounted rate of £40 and just take it as an "expensive dinner"

give_them_FA

It has probably been put up using new bolts. If you have a good camera with a macro function, you may be able to show that. If the Council deny they have just re-attached the sign, they are being dishonest. You might be able to recoup the cash they conned out of you.

But yes, and for reference for others, always take photos at the time!