Car towed whilst on holiday

markhod

Hello,

A few months ago I received a leaflet from my local council, Sheffield, saying in the next few months they would be resurfacing my road and that notice would be given. Cars not removed would be towed according to the leaflet.

I have just got back from a two week holiday to find my car has been towed away. There were no notices when I left, but I see the pavement has been resurfaced. They might have placed a notice after I left on holiday, but I don't know (will try to find out from my neighbours).

The fines are pretty high:

A parking fine of £70 (or £35 if paid within 14 days)
A removal fee of £105
Storage fees of £12 per day (after the first 48 hours)

Do you think I have grounds to appeal and have all charges refunded? Morally I think I should be, because sufficient notice was not given of specific dates and I think they ought to be able to take into account people may be on holidays of 1-2 weeks typically. Legally I don't know though.

Thanks,

Mark

Coupon-mad

Do you think I have grounds to appeal and have all charges refunded?

Yes. I have never known one not be refunded, of all the ones I have read and (in the past) helped with, on pepipoo forum.

And you have nothing to lose. It is a no-brainer to appeal, everyone should ALWAYS appeal a Council towing. The policy is applied arbitrarily, is unfair and 'draconian' = not my word, the word of Caroline Sheppard, the PATAS (whatever they are now called) Lead Adjudicator. She slammed Councils who tow & remove cars like this rather than repositioning them.

You need to pay the charges then follow the procedure to appeal, with pepipoo posters' expert help. You can find examples of older pepipoo threads like yours, where people won, by a Google search:

'pepipoo towed no-brainer'

...in fact the first Google result you will see, matches your case (but it's from 2013 so you need a new thread on pepipoo to get the latest up-to-date advice):

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

HTH, tell us when you win.

Johno100

markhod wrote: »

Hello,

A few months ago I received a leaflet from my local council, Sheffield, saying in the next few months they would be resurfacing my road and that notice would be given. Cars not removed would be towed according to the leaflet.

I have just got back from a two week holiday to find my car has been towed away. There were no notices when I left, but I see the pavement has been resurfaced. They might have placed a notice after I left on holiday, but I don't know (will try to find out from my neighbours).

The fines are pretty high:

A parking fine of £70 (or £35 if paid within 14 days)
A removal fee of £105
Storage fees of £12 per day (after the first 48 hours)

Do you think I have grounds to appeal and have all charges refunded? Morally I think I should be, because sufficient notice was not given of specific dates and I think they ought to be able to take into account people may be on holidays of 1-2 weeks typically. Legally I don't know though.

Thanks,

Mark

That's a bit off. Assuming the vehicle wasn't illegally parked in the first place, then the procedure around here in those circumstances used to be that the vehicle was lifted/towed and simply moved around the corner/out of the immediate work area. No ticket, no towing charge and certainly no storage fee. But those were the days when this was all in house with the council and before Amey were brought in.

markhod

Thanks, yes I am getting advice at pepipoo:

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=110290

markhod

Just to update 44 days after submitting an appeal I have still yet to hear. All they will say is they acknowledge I have appealed.

Is there a legal limit on how long they can take to respond?

DoaM

Best to stick with your PPP thread - they're the experts when it comes to Council tickets.