Appeal all Motorcycle/Scooter parking tickets (PCN)
Valid reasons for appeals and getting your PCN cancelled in Westminster.
» YOU WERE NOT AWARE OF THE MOTORCYCLE PARKING CHARGE DUE TO LACK OF PUBLICITY.
» THIS IS YOUR FIRST PCN FOR A CODE 11. (Westminster Council have a policy of cancelling the first PCN issued if it is a code 11 “Non payment of the parking tax”)
» NO INFORMATION SIGN AT THE MOTORCYCLE BAY, IF THERE IS NO SIGN INDICATING YOU MUST PAY THEN THE BAY IS UNENFORCEABLE THUS A PCN ISSUED IS INVALID. READ THIS TOPIC ON YOUR FORUM FOR FULL INFORMATION
» UNREADABLE OR VANDALISED SIGNS. READ THIS TOPIC FOR FULL DETAILS AND ADVICE.
» NO PAINTED LINES/BAY MARKINGS.
REMEMBER ALWAYS TO TAKE PHOTOS… DON’T LET WESTMINSTER STEAL YOUR MONEY, APPEAL, APPEAL, APPEAL ALWAYS!
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Head over to our forum where our very helpful campaigners will help you with your PCN woes:
Hello there,
I recently got a fine in the city of london by the city of london police for not showing my correct tax disk.I have a vespa 50cc and it is very hard to show the disk on the bike as the casing its to go in is rusted shut.
I always keep the new tax disk on me just incase i get stopped, shorely the city of london police can look it up on their data base to see that i have the up to date tax disk.
I am also very consious that the disks get stolen as well.
however looking on the parking fine it says that my bike is a manual when it is a automatic do you think i have the right to appeal against the £60.00 fine
many thanks
Arron
Hi, I recently had a parking ticket (as i forgot to renew the permit). I had one before and i paid it (it was my first) but didnt know you didnt have to, can i not pay this one and say it was my first as i am a new owner etc.? cheers
Don’t forget, if you receive a parking ticket for parking your motorbike, moped or scooter in a solo motorcycle bay without paying the daily parking charge, and it’s your first time, then write to Westminster Council and they should cancel your first ticket (they agreed to this after pressure from the No To Bike Parking Tax group).
Just because a Civil Enforcement Officer (CEO) gave you a parking ticket, it doesn’t automatically mean that he/she was right to do so. A lot of parking fines are cancelled due to being issued incorrectly so I always suggest challenging ALL Penalty Charge Notices as you have got nothing to lose. Just make sure you try to write to the council within 14 days of receiving the parking ticket so if your reason is rejected, you can pay the fine at the lower rate (they will keep the fine at the lower rate while they deal with your case). If the council rejects the reasons you have given, write to them again. I have heard from a lot of motorists and motorcyclists that Westminster City Council will always reject your first informal challenge in the hope that you will just pay up and go away. So if Westminster’s Parking Department does reject your challenge, write to them again. If you still don’t have any luck then you can make a formal representation. If Westminster still won’t cancel the parking ticket, then you can appeal to the independent Parking Adjudicator at the Traffic and Parking Appeals Service (PATAS) but unfortunately you will need to wait until you receive the Notice To Owner (NTO) by post (this will be sent to the registered keeper of your vehicle).
It’s always a good idea to take photos to back up your appeal. For example, if you parked your bike in a motorcycle parking bay with a damaged or missing sign (Rathboned) and a traffic warden issues you a ticket, make sure you take a picture as this sort of evidence can really support your case.
I’ve managed to get Westminster Council to cancel loads of parking tickets for all sorts of reasons… parking on double yellow lines, pavement parking, parking in a residents parking bay without a permit, parking in a pay and display bay without displaying a pay and display voucher …I could go on and on.
If Westminster Council want to make life hard for bikers by charging us to park and making us use the ridiculous Verrus Pay By Phone system, then I think we should make it as difficult as possible for them to get their hands on hour money.
If you need any help appealing a City of Westminster parking ticket, visit the NTBPT Forum http://forum.notobikeparkingtax.com
I just had an informal appeal upheld. When I parked I phoned the number on the plate but they wanted my phone number. I bet it was on their screen, but I told them that it was a borrowed phone and I didn’t know the number. This totally stalled the process and they did not have a way for me to pay the tax.
After getting nowhere with the call centre person I requested that they put me on to their supervisor which they (eventually) did.
I requested the logging number for the call but was told they didn’t have one (yeah, right) so I got the name of the Supervisor and the time of the call. I also discovered that the calls are recorded – even though they don’t tell you this and are therefore breaking the law.
So, I had made “all reasonable attempts” to pay the tax but been unable to do so.
I wonder if this would work with a second or third ticket?
Bob
that’s a common misconception.
it’s not illegal to record a call without telling the other party, although it’s a courtesy and it would defeat any argument about a reasonable expectation of privacy, it’s *not* breaking “the law”.
it’s not even a breach of license. (implicit licence to use the telecommunications equipment)
you’re only required to inform a caller you are recording a call if you want to make the recording available to a third party, and if you breach that, you’re breaching your license, not breaking the telecommunications act.
You would only be breaking the law if your implicit licence to use telecommunications equipment were revoked by the regulator (say, for repeated breach of licence), and you still used telecommunications equipment.
There *is* a specific law, however, about interception of telecommunications, but that relates to a third party intercepting communications where neither party A or B knows about it.
That’s how I understand it anyway.
I have just had a PCN from RBKC for parking in one of their Motorcycle Permit only bays. I had assumed of course that it was the usual non-Westminster free motorcycle parking bay. While the bays are clearly marked in paint on the road surface there is no sign board, which is the thing one automatically looks for. Can anyone tell me if it is a requirement that there should always be a sign board? The implication if the answer is no is that these bays operate 24 hours a day, which seems odd given that car resident parking bays always have restricted hours of operation.
hello
I just got parking fine for not having permit parking … thing
Need to pay 120£, 60£ if il do it within 14 days
I m out of luck today cause day where I suppose to transport motorbike abroad I got a fine
and thats the matter.. is there possibly way for me to not paying the fine ? if im selling it abroad ? I just got moto from 2 weeks
and why my fine is so high ? I heard about 60.. 40 .. but they put 120 on me
Have you tried to beg them to cancel the fine ;d ? its my first bike, first fine ( cause i had no idea about it, If I knew I would pay this 12 £ permit parking (for quater)
Its so strange for me I couldnt park on front of my house .. Can lack of knowlage be the reason to cancel the fine ? seriously Im spending here only vacation..
I would suggest you join the forum and make a post detailing your situation including where this happened (Westminster?) and what kind of bay it was (motorcycle bay/resident bay?)
Always warn wesminster when you appeal that you will take it to the ajudicator. As that costs them £70 + per pcn. If they don listen take it to the ajudicator and let westminster pay for the pleasure.
@arron cuthbertson
did you end up paying the fine?
the exact same thing happened to me today and I am eager to challenge it but not sure how. The city of london police seem to require a court appearance!
@ian
I had the exact same thing happen to me 2 weeks ago. Argued the same case you made but to no avail sadly
I just had 5 PCN’s 5 days in a row for the same thing and managed to get them all cancelled! I’d bought a new bike, updated my details on the website after reading how to do it in their FAQs……but what they don’t tell you is that once you’ve updated your details with the new registration you have to then link that bike to your permit. I managed to prove that their website was rubbish (makes you wonder if they do it deliberately in the hope most people will pay up….) and didn’t provide the correct information – so in my view that was a ‘procedural impropriety on the part of the Council’. Hey presto – 5 tickets cancelled.
I just got a ticket for pushing my bike up a one way street – something I have done for years! Is this indeed not allowed or are they trying it on!
I received a PCN after paying the tax. The fine was timed at 9 am whilst I paid at 12. As the payment is a flat fee of 1 pound per scooter per day, Westminster had taken my money and there is no time limit set between parking and paying. As payment for parking can be made by mobile phone it is assumed that the phone is always with you (which is not always the case)…. anyway I challenged the fine.
First objection was refused but the second one was granted on the fact that I was the first one who brought out these arguments!
Keep challenging those fines.
Cheers,
Danny
i had same penalty from rbck in a permit holders bay, on the street of course, where not signs board,
Looks that i’m not the lonely that did not notice the advice printed on the floor, as normally the first thing that you look x isa sign board…
Should i pay?
diego
Hi
I have received a PCN in Birmingham, I parked put a ticket on the motorbike screen went to my interview on my return there was a PCN. I contacted them they said write in with my ticket which I couldnt do as it had been removed form my bike.
They are still demanding payment, but I have not parked incorrectly, I have copied my emails to the head of the council and to a cllr but cannot get any response now. ANY IDEAS?
I received as well a ticket in a motorcycle permit bay in ken and chelsea borough but was not aware of such bays, The bay is marked in paint on the road but there is no sign board on the bay. I appeal against on the ground that I was not aware of such bays and was my first ticket but they didn’t cancel the ticket. Any advice?
Hi Guys! Ok today i’ve parked in Westminster my scooter, and as i was in a rush i didnt ahve my mobile with me and nor access to an internet as iw as going to an interview! Now what should i do? Shall I appeal to the ticket saying that i didnt have a phone and i couldnt call in? and tell them that they should have parking meter too in case this things happens? My though is that a person is not obliged to have a landline a mobile or internet, and so they should put other means of payment for this service… But if i think with a devil’s advocate mind, they could say that is my responsibility… to find a phone and the way to pay! What do you think guys… and then the phone lost/forgot excuse must have been used 1000′s times no?
My son went away to visit his friend and came back after a few days to a parking ticket on his bike.It is in a residential area and mentions permits.He however lives there,but he has aspergers and his logic is that he is a resident and there is no place to put a permit on his bike and he does not really understand why he has a ticket.Is there any way we can appeal,and what would be best to say.He has been there since April and never been given a ticket before.Advice please.
An update on my previous post of August 21 2011, just to let anyone know. I appealed against a parking ticket from RBKC for MOTORCYCLES PERMIT BAYS to the PATAS and I got the PCN cancelled. Here is the letter I received from PATAS:
Adjudicator reason:
The carriageway legend “M/C PERMIT ONLY” is not a permitted variant of Diagram 1028.4 Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002 and there is no evidence that this form of words has been authorised by the Secretary of State. I do not consider that the variation can be said to be substantially compliant with what the Regulations require particularly in a case where the motorist clearly failed to understand what was meant. As the bay was incorrectly and insufficiently clearly signed the vehicle was not in contravention and the Appeal is allowed.
If anyone get a PCN for those motorcycles permit bays DO NOT PAY THE PCN but appeal against it all the way to the “Parking And Traffic Appeal Service”
I do not know why some people do not care about parking?
If anyone would like help in fighting a ticket at PATAS I am very experienced having one 15 odd so far this year because I own and operate a delivery van in London and I am inundated with PCN’s so much so that I am considering relocating my buisness out of the capital.