PCN appeal advice
Discussion
Hello all,
Hopefully some more experienced bods may be able to help me out here. Brief synopsis, parked car in Finsbury Sq on 28th April, as I already have the Ringo app set-up, I paid for 2 hours of parking. Came back to car and had PCN attached to windscreen with contravention code 11 - Parked without payment of the parking charge. Seems I input an incorrect location code into the app - 6368, not 61368 - and when the location flashed up on the phone, E3 - Berkeley Sq. for whatever reason, my brain didn't register it was wrong.
I emailed an informal challenge to Islington on 8th May and requested that as I had made a payment, albeit for an incorrect location, could Islington apply some discretion to cancel the PCN as the public purse had not been detrimentally impacted.
I received their decision today, 11th June, and unsurprisingly it has been turned down.
Id like to appeal further as even though the reply from Islington acknowledges and confirms that a payment was made and that I intended to park legally, they were satisfied that a contravention had occurred as the location I paid for was wrong, that the PCN was issued correctly and they are therefore unable to cancel the PCN. "Unable" being the wording used.
There is no reference to any application of discretion to the decision, despite specific reference to it in my initial challenge, and the statement that they are unable to cancel the PCN seems to be contradictory to 10.3 of the Traffic Management Act where authorities have explicit power to cancel PCN's at any point during the enforcement/appeal process, in addition to having "a duty to act fairly and proportionately and are encouraged to exercise discretion sensibly and reasonably and with due regard to the public interest" and to be flexible in the application of discretion.
Any thoughts on the possibility of successful formal challenge, considering it'll cost me an additional £40 if I lose?
Hopefully some more experienced bods may be able to help me out here. Brief synopsis, parked car in Finsbury Sq on 28th April, as I already have the Ringo app set-up, I paid for 2 hours of parking. Came back to car and had PCN attached to windscreen with contravention code 11 - Parked without payment of the parking charge. Seems I input an incorrect location code into the app - 6368, not 61368 - and when the location flashed up on the phone, E3 - Berkeley Sq. for whatever reason, my brain didn't register it was wrong.
I emailed an informal challenge to Islington on 8th May and requested that as I had made a payment, albeit for an incorrect location, could Islington apply some discretion to cancel the PCN as the public purse had not been detrimentally impacted.
I received their decision today, 11th June, and unsurprisingly it has been turned down.
Id like to appeal further as even though the reply from Islington acknowledges and confirms that a payment was made and that I intended to park legally, they were satisfied that a contravention had occurred as the location I paid for was wrong, that the PCN was issued correctly and they are therefore unable to cancel the PCN. "Unable" being the wording used.
There is no reference to any application of discretion to the decision, despite specific reference to it in my initial challenge, and the statement that they are unable to cancel the PCN seems to be contradictory to 10.3 of the Traffic Management Act where authorities have explicit power to cancel PCN's at any point during the enforcement/appeal process, in addition to having "a duty to act fairly and proportionately and are encouraged to exercise discretion sensibly and reasonably and with due regard to the public interest" and to be flexible in the application of discretion.
Any thoughts on the possibility of successful formal challenge, considering it'll cost me an additional £40 if I lose?
What authority is the other location in? If not Islington then they will not get the money. I can't really see what grounds you can appeal on, yes it was a genuine mistake but that is not good enough grounds for appeal. You are relying on their goodwill, Islington and Camden hate cars and will grab any cash they can get their hands on.
I made a similar mistake in Westminster, however the code I entered was also in Westminster so they where ok and cancelled PCN, I'm a good customer of their's!
I thought the reduced PCN rate was maintained through appeal? So even if you lose you still pay £40?
I made a similar mistake in Westminster, however the code I entered was also in Westminster so they where ok and cancelled PCN, I'm a good customer of their's!
I thought the reduced PCN rate was maintained through appeal? So even if you lose you still pay £40?
Edited by megaphone on Monday 11th June 13:31
Parked in Islington, paid for bay in Westminster. I see your point.
For the sake of £9.80 due to a genuine mistake, I would hope some discretion could have been applied, even if they had said "yeah we thought about it but we wont". All the reply said was the PCN had been issued correctly, which I even agreed with in my informal challenge and as such they are "unable to cancel the PCN".
For the sake of £9.80 due to a genuine mistake, I would hope some discretion could have been applied, even if they had said "yeah we thought about it but we wont". All the reply said was the PCN had been issued correctly, which I even agreed with in my informal challenge and as such they are "unable to cancel the PCN".
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