Unfair Parking Tickets: Have you appealed or spotted a loophole?

mancrob26

I've only ever had two, and I contested them both. I didn't win, but I did get another month to pay by contesting it, which could prove useful for some people,

tenuissent

I parked in Tunbridge Wells and bought a ticket. The ticket emerged blank. I left it in the car with a note about the time I bought it and what I paid, and went to work. Came back to a parking ticket. Arguments by phone ensued. Eventually I picked up all the Tunbridge Wells parking tickets lying around the car (it pays to be untidy), stuck them on sheet of paper, photocopied them, and sent it to the council to prove I regularly parked there and regularly paid the proper parking fee. They cancelled the fine.

Parked in Maidstone the day after my husband died and took weeping daughters and crying baby to do essential tasks on very hot day, and literally forgot, in the drama of finding parking bay and getting baby gear out of the car in all the noise, to buy a ticket, so got a fine. Wrote to them about extenuating circumstances, enclosing three dated obituaries. Fine was cancelled.

Parked in Hastings, bought ticket, left car. Unknown to me, the seafront wind blew the ticket away as I closed the car door; came back to a fine. Tried and tried to persuade council I had done the right thing, but they were adamant.

My impression is that if you can enclose some paper evidence of what you have done (photocopies of previous tickets, obituaries) they are empowered to cancel the fine, but if you can only make assertions with no evidence, they can't, which is understandable.

teflon

What was the fine for?
Parking in a residents' only bay in a controlled parking zone without displaying a resident's parking permit.

What was the problem with it?
The whole street is marked with bays which can be used by residents at all times, pay-and-display at some times, and free for all at some times.

The signage is about as clear as mud: I quickly read it and assumed it was okay to park at 8pm on a Sunday without a permit.


Did you try and appeal and on what basis?
I told a colleague who'd managed to appeal on similar grounds before - he told me to check the signs against The Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002, and it turned out they didn't comply. He also gave me a copy of his appeal letter, which included the wonderful sentence "In the case of Davies v Heatley [1971]R.T.R 145, it was ruled that no offence is committed if the sign is in any way contravened, even if the sign is clearly recognisable to a reasonable man as a sign of that kind."

Did it work?
The last I heard from the council on the matter was an email advising me that they'd recieved my appeal, and would write back to me within ten working days. That was in February, and I've not heard anything since...

Other interesting stuff?
Following the recent news coverage about dodgy yellow box junctions and parking bays, my local council have started tightening up a bit - they've already repainted the yellow box opposite my house, as apparently it was previously a little bit too big.
While I've managed to get hold of some visitor's permits to save the hassle of getting a ticket and appealing for the occasional times I need to park there, I think I might keep quiet about these particular bays, just in case they notice and take away the free parking!

Pablo_Bones

What was the fine for? Parking in a resident's only bay (with a valid resident's permit) that had been suspended for builders to use to deliver bricks.
What was the problem with it? Notices suspending the bay had only been put up at 5.30pm the day before the warden came round & issued the ticket & started making arrangements to have the car towed (at 7.59am)
Did you try and appeal and on what basis? Appealed on the basis that the Council state on their website 'we will give 48 hours notice of any suspension'. Argued that the word 'will' was an unequivocal promise, despite the warden's assertion that this was only something they would 'try' and do.
Did it work? Yup, for my car, neighbour's car and babysitter's. Council agreed that they had failed to uphold their promises.

Clarence63

I parked on a car park in Conwy, North Wales. Had no change for the machine, so went to get some. Came back, bought ticket, turned round and the parking attendant was just finishing off the ticket. I explained the situation to him, politely, and he told me that if I wrote to the address on the ticket explaining what had happened, and enclosing the parking ticket, it would be cancelled. I did, it was. The attendant was very polite, in fact, a credit to the profession.

I received another ticket in a Lake District town (yeah, I know, I get about). We were late back to the car by about 10 minutes. The parking attendant was less than sympathetic and told me tough. Even though my wife has IBS and we had to find a toilet at the other end of a strange town. I wrote to the local council, complaining about him and the issue of the ticket. It was again cancelled.

We were recently in the same town and they have a new parking attendant who was quite merrily issueing fixed penalties to people who thought they didn't have to buy parking tickets. It is clearly sign posted that you have to pay every day.

SteNpton

What was the fine for? Parking in a green coloured "free" bay overnight whilst visiting London.
What was the problem with it? What I was unaware of (as i'd parked right next to a "FREE" sign - is that it wasn't free from 7am to 8:30am, so had a ticket.
Did you try and appeal and on what basis? I wrote to claim that the signage was not good enough, it clearly stated as you entered the parking area (B1 if you know MK) that green was free - it was only if you read the signs further up the car park that it was not free between those early morning hours.
Did it work? No - even after stating these facts, I still had to pay the fine. Less than six months later, the signage at the entrance changed to say FREE (except between 7am-8.30am!!) - so sort of a result but I never got my fine back! :mad:

Ste

phoneguru_2

got a mate off parking in loading bay last month in newcastle. all we did was get a letter from the business he was in and explained that the ticket warden had only watched the car for 12mins (guidlines 15mins) hey presto ticket cancelled

batvink

What was the fine for? Non-display of parking ticket
What was the problem with it? The ticket had flipped over, presumably as the door was closed
Did you try and appeal and on what basis? Yes. A ticket had been bought, and there is a serial number on the back so it was easy enough for them to check it was valid. They also supplied a photo of the ticket on the dash, with the serial clearly visible.
Did it work? Yes. It would appear the office staff are more capable of engaging their grey-matter and thinking things through.
Other interesting stuff? They supplied a stick-on ticket holder with their response!

gb.dad

I am not sure whether it is something to be proud of or frowned upon but I have several instances of unfair parking tickets.

In addition to those below, I have found that appealing regardless of whether you feel there is a problem also works. My feeling on this is that there could be a loophole that they know of which means if you take it further they will have to back down.

My advice: appeal every time!


1. Returned after an hour

What was the fine for?
Parking in a bay for longer than allowed.

What was the problem with it?
It was a one hour bay with no return within one hour. I parked from 11:00 to 12:00 in the location then went somewhere for lunch but returned to the same bay but a different place around 1:10. Five minutes later a colleague of mine said that I had been given a ticket. I went outside and spoke to the warden, explained the situation and he took the ticket off.

Did you try and appeal and on what basis?
After a period of time I received a letter stating I had not paid my ticket. I contacted the council and the NPS and started appeal process. The evidence from the council included a picture of my car - with my colleague in the background.

After several months I finally got to the hearing and took my colleague along as a witness. The impartial solicitor listened to our views of what had happened.

Did it work?
The impartial solicitor ruled against the council so, yes it worked.

Other interesting stuff?
You should have seen the faces of the council when they saw that my witness was the person in the background of the picture of my car that the traffic warden had taken. Rather amusing.



2. Faded double yellows

What was the fine for?
Parking on a double yellow.

What was the problem with it?
The double yellows were completely faded and there were no signs about parking.

Did you try and appeal and on what basis?
I took several pictures at the time, and then more about a month later and then more about 5 months later when they had finally repainted them. I also spoke to the warden the day after getting the ticket and with his quote of, “there used to be lines here”, I was pretty sure there would be no problem with this appeal.

I began the appeal process and received a date for a hearing.

Did it work?
A month after receiving the date of the hearing, I received a further letter saying my appeal had been reviewed and that I did not need to pay for the ticket.



3. Wrong model of car

What was the fine for?
Parking in a bay for longer than allowed.

What was the problem with it?
The wrong car model was entered on the ticket. Fiat instead of Ford. It made me laugh when I read it because I knew I wouldn’t have to pay it.

Did you try and appeal and on what basis? I appealed along the lines of, “Dear Sir/Madam, you must have made a mistake as my car is a Ford.”

Did it work? Yes it worked, they had no choice.



4. Duration of parking was 0 minutes

What was the fine for?
Parking in a bay for longer than allowed.

What was the problem with it?
The start time was the same as the end time. 13:43 to 13:43.

Did you try and appeal and on what basis?
I appealed stating that the bay was for 2 hours but it was noted that I was parked there for 0 minutes.

Did it work?
Yes it worked, they replied saying I would not have to pay it, but “they were not setting precedence.”

Other interesting stuff?
The not setting a precedence part implied to me that they had a problem with their system and that maybe all tickets would read 0 minutes. Alternatively, I could have meant that they were not confident that their wardens could use their hand held devices properly.

melsuggett

What was the fine for? Not displaying a valid ticket in the window.
What was the problem with it? At my local swimming pool, where as a heavily pregnant lady I was planning on attending their antinatal swim class. I paid for 2 hours and machine dispensed a double ticket - half goes in the window of the car and the other half gets you a 20p discount (generous!) in the swimming pool. I put the wrong half in the window (apparently!) dispite it still showing the time and price paid.
Did you try and appeal and on what basis? I drove straight to the council office when I realised I had a ticket, so technically as I stood in front of the desk there, my ticket was still valid. I wrote a letter enclosing the 'wrong' part of the ticket which showed the 2 hours and time on it. I also stuck my tummy out a lot to see if I could get the sympathy vote.
Did it work? No - apparently they thought I might have stolen someone elses second half of the ticket to avoid paying. I couldn't produce the 'correct' half as I had handed it into the swimming pool. No benefit of the doubt there! And after all that, I didn't even get to attend my class as it had been cancelled and replaced with an over 60's one!!!!!!!!!!