Got a parking ticket last night, although it was for a legit offence. Normally i might consider paying it although they must have been quick as i was only there one minute literally. I pulled into a disabled bay on the end of a line of parked cars and nipped into a shop to pick up a bag. Came out and had a ticket for "parking in a designated disabled persons parking place without displaying a valid disabled person's badge in the prescribed manner" usual kind of £70 or £35 if paid in 14 days.

now the interesting bit, they have marked my reg wrong on the ticket by one digit, B instead of D. Although they have taken note of the tax disc number which will lead them to me eventually.

If its relevant this is quite far from home 20+miles, its a council ticket and is issued by a civil enforcement officer.

So, should I

a) pay

b) ignore then deny

c) write and appeal on basis it appears to not have been my vehicle.

They will normally take a photo also so they dont need to get the number plate right.

They take pictures of the car with a digital camera for exactly this kind of scenario. A single digit off on the reg. number is very unlikely to be grounds for appeal if the rest of the ticket is correct.

U DUN BAD

I think that they have to follow all steps of the process correctly - if they didn't write the reg no. down correctly, you could appeal... however, if it's not too much and it was a fair cop, you could pay up. As MikRJ says, if they took a picture you would be on dodgy ground anyway

Have fun!

quote:

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Originally posted by MikeRJ
They take pictures of the car with a digital camera for exactly this kind of scenario. A single digit off on the reg. number is very unlikely to be grounds for appeal if the rest of the ticket is correct.

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You've no chance, take it like a man

I would contact them and say you think they have put the ticket on the wrong vehicle. Legally tho I think you have got a get out as the the notice does not bear your index plate and is not the enforcement a legal doc ?

A company my son worked for and left have pursued him for a weeks wages they say they overpaid since a year ago, after finally getting a solicitor mate involved they decided to cease proceedings as the letters of intent came from different companies ( group of ) and this had already started to go thru the
courts !
Hope they got really stuffed with their solicitors costs. LEGAL TECHNICALITIES and LOOPHOLES is the word::

If you pay up, put a bogey in the envelope along with the cheque, very childish, but it makes me feel better.

quote:

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Originally posted by MK9R
If you pay up, put a bogey in the envelope along with the cheque, very childish, but it makes me feel better.

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quote:

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Originally posted by MK9R
If you pay up, put a bogey in the envelope along with the cheque, very childish, but it makes me feel better.

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quote:

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Originally posted by MK9R
If you pay up, put a bogey in the envelope along with the cheque, very childish, but it makes me feel better.

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Not trying to get on my high horse BUT (climbs a ladder and grabs the reigns)

You shouldn't have parked in a disabled space, and so you deserve the ticket.

Pay it, and learn from the error of your mischeivious ways!

quote:

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Originally posted by Dangle_kt
Not trying to get on my high horse BUT (climbs a ladder and grabs the reigns)

You shouldn't have parked in a disabled space, and so you deserve the ticket.

Pay it, and learn from the error of your mischeivious ways!

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I'd ignore it and see what happens!! If you do you may well get away with it.... Then again, you might lose the ability to get off with a half price fine....

anyway-

tut tut......

apparently if you drive off before they get the ticket on the screen, the ticket doesn't stand - I was parked in permit holders only (on an empty street) this morning. A council van turned up and a traffic warden jumped out - I'd only been there for 10 mins and only noticed when my friend pointed it out.

I legged it out, shouted "sorry I didn't know it was permit holders zone", jumped in the car and blasted away. She only stopped writing the ticket when my wheels started moving lol


Try contest it under the defence "This isn't your registration so how can they prove it wasn't for another vehicle?"

You may aswell just pay it. You parked in the wrong place. If you did contest it, it will end up going to court, then you'll have to pay court fees.

Had the same sort of thing for a speeding fine. I got enticed into racing an unmarked Subaru WR1. 83 in a 30. (not a residential area and 11.30 @ night). I just took the 3 points and £60 even though they got the time of day incorrect and were unable to record an accurate average speed.

If it were me, i'd just pay.

Typo errors can not be used in court as evidence of innocence!!! You were in a disabled bay!!

Couple of other points that came up above...I thought council types have to have the ticket on your vehicle but the police just need to be writing the ticket out for it to be valid.

83 in a 30?......!.....

quote:

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Originally posted by Dangle_kt
Not trying to get on my high horse BUT (climbs a ladder and grabs the reigns)

You shouldn't have parked in a disabled space, and so you deserve the ticket.

Pay it, and learn from the error of your mischeivious ways!

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quote:

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agree, sorry but disabled bays are for disabled

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I have the unfortunate pleasure of being a parking manager for a local authority (ducks for cover!!!)
Anyway, the job does have its perks, i.e. knowing how to get off tickets, or rather get other people off tickets, of course I never get them myself!!

Anyway, back to the post. Photographic evidence is not required by the legislation for a PCN served to your vehicle or your hand (called a regulation 9 PCN) and can therefore not be used in isolation to prove what vehicle was involved. It is only there as secondary evidence.

The best option for you is to ignore the ticket. You do not need to challenge it. If you do the Council will only find out who you are. If the PCN is not paid within ~16 days the authority will request keeper details from the DVLA so they can send a Notice to Owner to the registered keeper. If the reg was printed wrong on the ticket it must have been recorded wrongly by the CEO on their hand held computer. Once logged this info cannot be changed. The DVLA request will therefore go off using the wrong reg and come back as a missmatch, no trace etc.

The Council cannot use the photos to request keeper details, in the same way that they cannot ammend the data in the database. If they do it would be procedural impropriety and they would have to cancel the PCN.

If one of my CEOs get the reg wrong we close the ticket down straight away.

And by the way, with respect to a ticekt not being valid if you drive off, this is not always the case. Many authorites accross the country are starting to issue PCNs by post (regulation 10). These can be issued if the CEO was prevented from serving if you drove off or were abusive.

Rich

Edited to say: Not that I condone abuse of disabled parking etc. but mistakes must be acknowledged. Too many Council's try to get away with it!

[Edited on 11/12/08 by jamesbond007ltk]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
WOW - I didn't know that...
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Just goes to show you...

Steve

Interesting post Rich

I once parked in a disabled bay and warden shouts "Oi whats your disability?" so I said "Touretts now feck off"

I know the old ones are the best
Rich

I got nabbed for speeding so I paid up. There are ways of trying to wriggle out of fines but think of it like this......
"Everytime I drive, I break the law. I'm usually doing 35mph by the time I leave the 30 limit at the end of my village and liewise, I probably come through the 30 signs at a few mph over. I sometimes park facing into the traffic or reverse out of my drive. etc etc etc...
Pay the fine but be smug knowing that you've got value for money by only getting caught once!"

just found this ticket in a draw and its been a while so thought i might post an update for anyone searching this thread.

it has been best part of 6 months and i just ignored the ticket and have not heard anything to date.

right or wrong, lesson learnt and i was just lucky this time.

pif

Pay £35 and dont do it again.

Put part of the fine amount in a charity box.

send me £ 35 and lesson learnt!