So it went like this: my wife parked in an unmarked spot on our main road (near Bounds Green tube), and then we went to Japan for a month to see her folks.
Fast forward one month, and the car is gone - we went and recovered it immediately - after being carted off for being in an illegal parking zone imposed the day after we left. The car was removed the same day the penalty charge notice was issued - nine days before we came home: as a result, the total cost we ended up paying for was £570 for a £100 penalty.
I won't bore you all with all the details and the three stooges-like mismanagement of my first appeal, but in a nutshell our appeal was rejected: their point being that regardless of any over-payment due to proof we were away and couldn't so anything about it, according to them it was a case of illegal parking - ergo, you knew what you were doing so tough shit.
My wife however continues to insist that the yellow lines that now exist were not there when she parked her car, no matter what the council claim - one thing that could be in her favour is that it was three weeks after she parked there before any penalty was imposed, despite wardens patrolling that street all the time.
Should we try and get legal advice? If so, what? Is it worth it (not 'Shipbuilding')? Do we have a leg to stand on? All ILX-ers thoughts welcome please for this long-time sometime poster...
― d-pop, Tuesday, 29 July 2008 20:43 (seventeen years ago)
This happens and generally the council win. Retrospectively, the best way of preventing it is to park the car near enough to the pavement so that lines can't be physically drawn beneath.
― Just got offed, Tuesday, 29 July 2008 20:45 (seventeen years ago)
Just to sum it up simply:
Parked 29 March Left country 30 March Car removed 17 April Returned home 25 April Picked car up 26 April
Appealed etc, rejected 29 July.
Council say zone imposed 31 March but yellow lines set up 23 March.
We say it ain't true as she parked there in good faith as above.
― d-pop, Tuesday, 29 July 2008 20:47 (seventeen years ago)
How did they squeeze the lines in?
― Just got offed, Tuesday, 29 July 2008 20:49 (seventeen years ago)
I'm also concerned that if we appeal to an independent adjudicator, and then lose - we'll be subject to some (maybe hefty?) costs. Anyone know if that's a big deal?
― d-pop, Wednesday, 30 July 2008 08:43 (seventeen years ago)
in my very limited experience of these things, if you don't get them to back down at your first complaint, it's not worth pursuing it by expensive legal-system means. it might be worth having a quick chat with your local citizens advice bureau -- or, if you know any lawyers and can have a quick chat with them and see what your chances are (ie a quick chat that doesn't involve paying them a tonne of cash), try that.
next time i'm in work (newspaper), i'll try to tap up the duty lawyer and see what he or she says. won't be till tomorrow at the earliest, though.
― grimly fiendish, Wednesday, 30 July 2008 09:55 (seventeen years ago)
Thanks Grimly!
― d-pop, Wednesday, 30 July 2008 12:26 (seventeen years ago)
my idiot brother got pwn3d by westminster council a while back and counter-pwn3d them, i'll ask him about it later
― DG, Wednesday, 30 July 2008 12:29 (seventeen years ago)
hi darren, did your claim get rejected by the council? there's a next step in the appeal process which is free done by an independent body (they should have included that in the documents anyway).
I appealed to it the last time (not dissimlar situation), and got all my money back not because my case was so strong, but that the council couldn't even be bothered to send in the proof of my illegal parking (which they actually have as I got them with freedom of information), and so to the adjudicators my fine never even happened - so it's worth it!
― ken c, Wednesday, 30 July 2008 12:39 (seventeen years ago)
and all i wanted in the first place was just to get the cost of car in the pound refunded (because i thought the car got nicked! and then phoned up the TRACE service and they couldn't fucking find it and i found out a week later from the police that the pound had it, and they expected me to pay £175 for their incompetency!!!!)
and i got the full amount back instead!
― ken c, Wednesday, 30 July 2008 12:43 (seventeen years ago)
Thanks Ken.
Yeah, we're looking into various avenues before making a decision - I don't really want to lead us up a load of blind alleys when there's no point.
They can be such wankers. All I wanted them to do really was lower the fine cos we were away and couldn't pay - of course they assume any illegal parking is deliberate and thus you deserve all you get.
― d-pop, Wednesday, 30 July 2008 14:10 (seventeen years ago)
finally spoke to a lawyer about this. he said:
- pay nowt. let them sweat. (assume you'd do this anyway, but hey.)
- ask them for full documentation -- ie as much of a paper trail as you can amass -- of when the zone became restricted. if necessary, force it as an FoI request. ultimately, that way you can have *proof* of what became restricted when, rather than relying on what some official is telling you.
- that said: your other problem is proving when you left your car. are there any neighbours/shops/businesses that could support you and support your claim about when the zone became restricted?
i think a lot will hinge on this.
― grimly fiendish, Sunday, 3 August 2008 19:32 (seventeen years ago)
No it won't. D-pop has already ignored me, and he should continue to do so.
― Just got offed, Sunday, 3 August 2008 19:38 (seventeen years ago)
v similar to my brother's story only he didn't bother with any FOI business, the council just couldn't be fucked to contest appeals
― DG, Sunday, 3 August 2008 19:39 (seventeen years ago)
No it won't. D-pop has already ignored me, and he should continue to do so
eh? wotchoo on about?
the council just couldn't be fucked to contest appeals
aye, fundamentally what you want is to wear them down so they say, fuck it, we can't be arsed, just leave us alone.
― grimly fiendish, Sunday, 3 August 2008 19:42 (seventeen years ago)
I asked him a question which might have helped clear the murk, and he singularly failed to even acknowledge it, probably because of my ILX reputation.
― Just got offed, Sunday, 3 August 2008 19:44 (seventeen years ago)
who are you?
― conrad, Sunday, 3 August 2008 19:46 (seventeen years ago)
hahaha
― robertwolf8080, Sunday, 3 August 2008 20:30 (seventeen years ago)