Clamped! ticket had blown upside down

saffsmum

Hi, my husband was clamped by kensington and chelsea. He had paid for his ticket and it was displayed but had obviously blown over either when he shut the car door or from a gust through the vents. He paid to get it removed and now we need to try and challenge it. We have the ticket which shows he had paid.
I would really like some advice about how to word this letter as we have had instances with this LA, and westminster where we have appealed and they have declined even though we had a case. In one instance he had parked, then been called away and some 5 hours later returned and he was ticketed for overstaying! When we appealed they said the warden had taken photos of the wheel valves and they were in the same place! Now I am a bit wiser I would have asked to see this evidence but hey ho. So, any advice would be much appreciated.

ManxRed

I would strongly suggest you register on Pepipoo.com and post this in the Council Tickets section (even though it is clamping).

There is a fluttering ticket defence on there, but never seen anyone clamped for it before. They will advise on your best course of action.

Coupon-mad

Yep, go to pepipoo as you only have less than 28 days now and it's an absolute no-brainer. You MUST appeal any Council towing as there's never anything to lose, it's like trying to win your money back but with nothing at stake, no risk at all as you've already paid!

To get even wiser, learn from pepipoo posters - you could possibly have won those other cases as well. Most people do win - in the end - but what you may not realise is that most Councils routinely decline first appeals then hope people will pay up with the carrot of the discount still dangled as a bribe not to go to adjudication. If that's what happened to you on previous occasions I would say you should have carried on as you only ever risk having to pay the full fine if you lose at adjudication (no costs). And the odds are very much in your favour.

But I digress because this case is one you MUST appeal all the way as it costs you nothing, whereas you have everything to gain here.

The P&D ticket may have been upside down but it may have been visible - they should check all windows for a P&D ticket in case it has slipped down. In any case, a PCN should be sufficient and any towing surely disproportionate and unnecessary - it doesn't even fall within most Councils' priorities for removal. Check out the Council website and any PDFs you can find from Googling, which mention that Council's priorities for vehicle removal as part of PCN enforcement.

Also look at the London Councils' website as there's a Code of Practice on there that K&C adhere to (apparently!). And then there's a CEOs' Handbook for PCN issue, also on the London Councils' website I think.

Look for any statements which show that to tow in this instance is unnecessary, not a stated priority, etc. Copy & paste them into a draft appeal.

And a 'fluttering ticket' (as this is well known) is a phenomenon that has been commented upon in a past report and in articles by the Chief Adjudicator:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/8...mmon-sense.html

''Caroline Sheppard, chief adjudicator of the Traffic Penalty Tribunal, accused some local authorities of operating a "zero tolerance" approach to minor infringements.

She suggested that motorists who are given parking tickets for petty breaches of the rules should be let off if they appeal against the penalties.

Mrs Sheppard complained that motorists were being punished for such offences as leaving one wheel over the white line of a car park bay, or failing to display their pay-and-display ticket correctly.''

And here's a useful recent pepipoo thread a bit like yours with another very good quote from Caroline Sheppard, specifically about towing:

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=70114

Read it and copy & paste the useful bits into your own draft appeal but don't post there on that thread. Start a new thread here after registering:

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showforum=30

You will need to show close-up pictures of all sides of all documents received at the pound, leaving all dates & details visible, all small print except your PCN number, car reg and card payment details. Don't start a thread without pics but make sure you do it this week, no time to lose!

Let us know when you win in the end.