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27th August 2022
My wife (and the registered keeper) parked in a Premier Park controlled car park and had to borrow £1 off our son to pay for a ticket as she had insufficient change.
13th September 2022
PCN received in the post. The offence date is the 27th August. My wife remains adamant that she paid for a ticket as she recalls borrowing £1. The only thing that could be an issue is that she miss-keyed the registration. Last letter of the reg is a O but may have typed 0 - or some other mistype. The ticket issued has since been thrown away.
22nd September 2022
My wife decided to pay the discounted charge of £60 rather than appeal as the stress of an appeal would be too much. Whilst attempting to pay, the online form would not accept her details, even after entering a 0 instead of a O. She called and received an automated message that the fee was £100, so hung up. Upon closer examination of the letter, we noted the issue date was 3rd September, and that the terms of the discounted rate stated that this was only if paid within 14 days of the issue notice.
The day we received the notice, I researched online to determine if mis-keying the reg could be grounds for appeal. The date of this search (confirmed by browser history) was the 13th Sept, which confirms the letter was received 10 days after the issue notice, and 17 days after the alleged offence.
Further research on this forum indicated that such notices should be issued within 14 days, see Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, section 9, sub-paragraph 4:
9 ...
Note that no windscreen notice was given for the alleged offence.
My wife decided that as she would not be eligible for the discount then she would appeal based on the following two points:
Now, reading further into sub-paragraph 6. As the issue date is 3rd Sept (a Saturday), then I make the two working days that would infer delivery is the 6th. As stated above, the notice was not actually received till the 13th, most probably due to the delays from the postal strike on the 8th (the planned strike on the 9th was cancelled after the death of the Queen).
Do you think either of the appeal reasons given are reasonable grounds to have the charge dismissed?
My wife (and the registered keeper) parked in a Premier Park controlled car park and had to borrow £1 off our son to pay for a ticket as she had insufficient change.
13th September 2022
PCN received in the post. The offence date is the 27th August. My wife remains adamant that she paid for a ticket as she recalls borrowing £1. The only thing that could be an issue is that she miss-keyed the registration. Last letter of the reg is a O but may have typed 0 - or some other mistype. The ticket issued has since been thrown away.
22nd September 2022
My wife decided to pay the discounted charge of £60 rather than appeal as the stress of an appeal would be too much. Whilst attempting to pay, the online form would not accept her details, even after entering a 0 instead of a O. She called and received an automated message that the fee was £100, so hung up. Upon closer examination of the letter, we noted the issue date was 3rd September, and that the terms of the discounted rate stated that this was only if paid within 14 days of the issue notice.
The day we received the notice, I researched online to determine if mis-keying the reg could be grounds for appeal. The date of this search (confirmed by browser history) was the 13th Sept, which confirms the letter was received 10 days after the issue notice, and 17 days after the alleged offence.
Further research on this forum indicated that such notices should be issued within 14 days, see Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, section 9, sub-paragraph 4:
9 ...
(4) The notice must be given by -
(a) handing it to the keeper, or leaving it at a current address for service for the keeper, within the relevant period; or
(b) sending it by post to a current address for service for the keeper so that it is delivered to that address within the relevant period.
(5) The relevant period for the purposes of sub-paragraph (4) is the period of 14 days beginning with the day after that on which the specified period of parking ended.
(6) A notice sent by post is to be presumed, unless the contrary is proved, to have been delivered (and so 'given' for the purposes of sub-paragraph (4)) on the second working day after the day on which it is posted; and for this purpose "working day" means any day other than a Saturday, Sunday or a public holiday in England and Wales.
Note that no windscreen notice was given for the alleged offence.
My wife decided that as she would not be eligible for the discount then she would appeal based on the following two points:
- She is certain that she did pay for the ticket, but possibly mistyped her registration
- The PCN was received in the post 17 days after the offence, which contravenes Section 9, Schedule 4, Protection of Freedoms Act 2012
Now, reading further into sub-paragraph 6. As the issue date is 3rd Sept (a Saturday), then I make the two working days that would infer delivery is the 6th. As stated above, the notice was not actually received till the 13th, most probably due to the delays from the postal strike on the 8th (the planned strike on the 9th was cancelled after the death of the Queen).
Do you think either of the appeal reasons given are reasonable grounds to have the charge dismissed?
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