Appealing a parking ticket - would I have any luck?
 

My wife just came in from shopping. She parked in a local council run multi-storey that used to have a simple pay-and-display tickets and you placed the ticket in the windscreen, those have now been replaced by a system whereby you have to key-in your registration on a screen, but it's not necessary to display the ticket in your windscreen.

Well, she had problems with the first machine she tried with some digits not coming up, so she moved on to another machine. This also had problems with the screen/keyboard and it took several attempts to type in the registration. She paid, put the ticket in her purse and went off to do her shopping.

You guessed it, a parking ticket was on her windscreen on her return. She checked the ticket that was in her purse and noticed one digit wrong on the registration.

So where do we stand? Technically she entered incorrect information, however she has proof that she purchased a ticket. Has anyone had successes appealing in this sort of situation, or is it like arguing with a brick wall and not worth the hassle?

Go for it , nothing to lose , keep the incorrect ticket , write out clearly what happened , how did she pay , debit card ? try and get a copy of the bank statement to prove she actually did pay , then submit all the details to the local authority , do it within 14 days of the pcn issue date or she'll miss the appeal deadline

This is a genuine error so I would appeal.

Definitely appeal.
A genuine mistake & your wife paid so clearly not trying to evade the fee.
Is it a barrier controlled exit where you put your ticket in to raise the barrier or do you still have the ticket?
As already said, do you have any proof of purchase?

In my experience Adrian the Local Authority will display no humanity, simply telling you that the PCN was correctly issued (because of the registration number error). I think your best defence is that their equipment is new so some latitude should be allowed and that your wife made several attempts showing that there was no intention to deceive. Stress that she did actually pay so the Council has suffered no loss. Despite all this, prepare yourself for failure. After all, this is a revenue raising exercise for Councils to offset the reduction in grants that they get from Central Government so that taxes can be kept low and elections won.

In London a Council's rejection of your "representations" can be taken free of charge to a special tribunal staffed by lawyers. I have had some success with this. A similar service is available in Sussex and if you choose to use it, I think your argument would be viewed sympathetically.

Is it like arguing with a brick wall? Yes! You will need determination and stamina.

Is it worth the hassle? That depends how much it matters to you donating at least £45 in "tax" for a simple human error.

I would challenge them, but then I'm like that. I despise the abuse of authority. ;)

Simon

Thanks all.
We will be appealing, although I somehow suspect that what Simon says is true.
We do have proof that payment was made, so I will base the argument on that.

And they wonder why high streets/town centres are suffering when you get aggressive ticketing like that:devil: Yes I would appeal that ridiculous parking fine too. Good luck.

Stand firm if they try to play hardball & remember that during your appeal process, the time for discounted payment is frozen.

Personally, if a fight ensues, I would take it to the bitter end but that's just me :D

I agree with Simon's view too.
A number of years ago, I received a ticket although I had purchased one.
It was displayed on the dashboard, as it seems, as a cost saving measure, they are no longer sticky. ;)

My son went back to the car to get something, and all I can think of was that, when he slammed the door, it flipped the ticket over.
That was how it was when I returned to the vehicle, together with a parking ticket on the windscreen. :mad:

Anyway, not a problem as I had a valid ticket, which I sent to the council with an explanatory letter.
They were having none of it, as failure to display a correct ticket is also an "offence".

Live is too short. I now do not use the car park. Instead I park, free of charge, in the road.
We should be even by about 2023. :D

I would suggest that you pursue the route suggested to appeal. With the proof already that you have, I believe you have as much evidence to successfully argue the case in a Court of Law, so put that in your appeal. They are not likely to want to take you to Court.

Enjoy challenging them, as the advantage is with you.