Last December I was hit by a stonking great parking fine. It was £60 for parking opposite a sign that effectively said “no parking until 6.30pm” – outrageously my fine was for parking there at 6.35pm. I blogged back then that this would be the first of my reclaim campaigns I would actually be using myself (see Parking: my first reclaim blog).
So I sent off adapted template letters from the parking ticket appeals guide, for an informal appeal and crossed my fingers. I knew I may’ve upped the ante both by writing about it here, and including it in my News of the World Column and hoped the council wouldn’t get militant because of it.
Unsurprisingly, the first letter I got back was a standard rejection – with photos – explaining why I had no case, and if I didn’t pay up the £60, it would double to £120.
See the letter here…
I wrote back saying I didn’t accept this, and then I (again using the template letters) took it to a formal appeal. Then there was a delay, a seeming age – I wrote back in early Feb, yet it took until early April for me to get a reply…
In it came the fateful words:
See the full letter – again
So no fine to pay. Yet what’s outrageous is this WASN’T spotted on the first appeal; it admits the signage is incorrect, but it took me having to risk the fine increasing to get it sorted out. Worse still, the note says “restrictions can and do differ on opposite sides of the road.” Yet the only sign on either side in that street is the one giving the time to be 6.30pm
There’s a golden rule in this… if you think you’re right… go for it.