" Greenwich Council did not contest a single appeal - citing "no evidence" in every instance. In such circumstance, the adjudicator must quash the driver's penalty charge. Greenwich Council said it had not been able to supply any evidence during that period because of staff shortages." I feel sad for the people who simply paid up without question , many of whom were probably overloaded by the daily struggle to keep children fed and clothed , and safely delivered to school . It appears that highway robbery is still alive and well , despite Dick Turpin being long gone ! Drivers succeed in every penalty charge notice appeal https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-67066744
Absolutely appalling and cynical behaviour. I’ve just won a small victory against those parasites, Excel Parking, who tried to charge me for overstaying the 2 hour limit in a retail park. I went back and took a video which clearly showed there were no signs, which I sent to them along with pointing out that as they hadn’t complied with the provisions set out in Schedule 4 pf the orwellian entitled Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, they could not impute liability to me as the keeper. The quarterwit I was dealing with at the bottom of the barrel scraping claims farm lawyers they instructed seemed to think she knew better, however, and they issued proceedings. I filed a Defence and, lo and behold, they decided they weren’t so confident of victory after all, and they discontinued. They may think that’s the end of the matter, but they will soon be receiving a bill of costs for 20 hours of my time, charged at 2/3 of my professional rate of £300 p/hr plus VAT, along with an application asking the court to disapply the usual Small Claims Track “no costs” rule on the grounds that Excel behaved unreasonably. I doubt I’ll get anywhere close to that figure and the application is more speculative than a nailed on certainty, but it will mean they’ll need to spend a lot of time dealing with it and, if there’s a hearing, they’ll need to brief counsel of equal experience to me, which will cost them an arm and a leg.
Ha-ha-ha... I know exactly what you mean. I've just been dealing with their sister at the bank when trying to make a transfer. Just what is it with customer facing people nowadays... they all seem to have a complete lack of common sense or any semblance of ability to converse with others in a adult manner. In addition to being thick as a post. Second rant of the day over... and breathe again...
i didn't speak to a lawyer when NCP issued me with a ticket. i just happened to mention i got one to a mate (a retired copper) who said just bin it. he went on to explain why, even tho there was signs up. i didn't pay, got a couple of reminders then that was that. no need to get arsey with somebody on the phone. i dont know if the same rules apply in England but i'm pretty sure if NCP wanted to test a case they could outbid me. just to add, my car was only in the carpark in question (all day ) because i was asked to park it in there by the store manager while they took delivery of an extra large load and my usual parking space was making it awkward for the artic driver to gain access.
driving in london is very stressful, nearly always looking at fines, LTNs, school roads with time restrictions, bus lanes, box junctions, no right turns, double red route restrictions, 20 mile speed limits, sometimes i get home convinced ill be getting a fine through the post then parking restrictions and congestion charge on top of that you get ambulances and police cars behind you at lights, you will get a fine if you cross a red-light to let them through and then you have other bad drivers, mopeds cutting you up, scooters doing whatever they want, i recently got stuck behind someone roller skating (1970s roller skates) down the walworth rd i have learnt to drive slow and give your self plenty of time to read the signs, it can take a second or two to understand them
The obvious (though I could not condone this…) requirement is civil dis-obedience on a larger scale. If drivers in the UK grew some balls, like the gillet jaunes over here, and just did not pay! It would take organising, but the starting point has to be Ulez. (Btw, thank Johnson for that, it was his spawn that started it, not Sadiq). Enough people not paying will be too big a problem for them to deal with. At which point a review would be required. What do I know…people in the UK can just keep taking it up the tail pipe? Meek. Never how I viewed people of the UK…until now.
True that. But unfortunately most people aren’t willing to risk their credit rating for a point of principle, so they just pay up through gritted teeth.
That’s one of the main reasons my youngest son has given up on bikes. He said he was spending so much time and attention trying to spot entrapment cameras, to read all the signs and make sure he wasn’t committing some minor but financially ruinous infraction, that it was making riding too dangerous for him.
Zhed could you explain to me what that statement actually means please, I ain’t the sharpest knife in the drawer
The POFA 2012 contains provisions that provide a mechanism for scumbags who run private parking companies to impose liability for parking charges on the registered keeper rather than the driver. The principles governing private parking enforcement are governed by contract law. In short - if signage containing T&Cs is displayed prominently then a driver entering the car park is deemed to have accepted those terms and has entered a contract with the company that owns or manages it. All well and good, but how does the parking company prove who the driver was? They can obtain the registered keeper’s details from the DVLA and ask the keeper to disclose who was driving at the time, but the keeper is within their rights tell them to jog on. That’s where POFA 2012 comes into play - if the parking company send notices to the keeper that comply with the procedural requirements contained in Schedule 4 to the Act, then if the keeper refuses to identify the driver (ie: the party to the parking contract) or ignores the notice, a legal presumption arises that the keeper was the driver at the relevant time. However, if the parking company don’t serve notices on the keeper in the correct form or at all, then, unless the keeper volunteers the identity of the driver, they have no practical way of proving the keeper was the driver. Theoretically, I suppose they could examine cctv and compare it to images of the keeper on social media or whatever in an attempt to identify them, but ain’t nobody got time for that. So, when I drafted my Defence, in response to their assertion that I was also the driver, I pleaded, “The Defendant admits being the Registered Keeper of the said vehicle on 22nd December 2022, but as to the averment that the Defendant was the driver on the said date, no admissions are made and the Claimant is required to prove the same. As the Claimant is not relying on the provisions of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, there is no basis, and nor has such a basis been pleaded, for imputing driver liability to a Registered Keeper and as such the Particulars of Claim should be struck out.” As it is their case to prove, not mine to disprove and I could elect not to give evidence at trial, that left them with nowhere to go really.
