Another victory as Camden caves in ... but beware the smokescreen

Please try and keep a straight face when you read that Camden had decided to refund credit card surcharges across all council services "as a goodwill move."
Is it the fear of litigation that has brought about this change of heart?

Harrow, Merton and Kingston are set to follow suit.

Perhaps councils will start to understand that they too must respect the law. After years of fining motorists for the most minor of contraventions and using parking enforcement as a stealth tax it now seems that those days are not only numbered but likely to come with a very heavy price indeed.

We will shortly be revealing which councils outside of London are set for a nasty shock as they too fall foul of just wanting a little too much blood.
If you have had a ticket and want to be kept updated then drop us an e-mail at enquiries@parkingappeals.co.uk and title it refunds. You can support what we do at www.parkingappeals.co.uk or www.motoristslegalchallenge.co.uk

Council to repay credit card levy
BBC 9th August 2009

Camden Council in London has scrapped a policy only introduced in January of levying an extra fee to taxpayers for processing money paid by credit card.
The move follows a ruling by an appeals body that applying a card surcharge made an entire parking fine unlawful.

The council said it was still looking at that ruling but meanwhile was abandoning the handling fee across all council services as a "goodwill move".
Parking fee lobby group Parking Appeals said the move was a "smokescreen".

The council said processing bills through credit cards was costing the authority about £250,000 a year and the charge had been introduced to recover those costs.
"This fee has now been suspended across all council services, and those people who have paid a credit card charge may apply for a refund," the council said.

'Legal action'
The council has given out £26m in parking fines this year and stopped levying the credit card handling fee after the ruling by the Parking and Traffic Appeals Service.
The authority says it is still considering what to do about that decision but has meanwhile stopped levying the credit card charge across all its services, not just on parking fines.

Neil Herron, from pressure group Parking Appeals, claimed the move was a "smokescreen to cover their actions".
"I hope the council do not think that by refunding the credit card surcharge across all its council services they will avoid repaying the entire parking fines to the thousands of motorists who have been unlawfully penalised," he said.
"The entire fines have been ruled unlawful, not just the surcharges for paying by credit card.
"If they do not abide by the appeal tribunal ruling, we will not hesitate to take legal action."

A council spokesman said the authority was expected to decide within a fortnight what action to take following the appeal panel's decision, which was handed down in June.

The ruling could also affect many other boroughs, including Harrow, Merton and Kingston, which had also charged extra to pay tickets by credit card.

More refunds to come ... this time Leicester City Council

If they are marking the bays 'so that they are clearer' according to the council's statement then there should be no alteration to the format. Anyone with pre and post photographs please forward them. We are building up evidence against many authorities.
Thanks also to council officials and Civil Enforcement Officers who continue to forward information of deliberate misconduct by colleagues. We can reassure you and others that such matters will be treated in the strictest confidence.

Drivers may get tickets refund over parking bay errors
Leicester Mercury
Wednesday, June 24, 2009,

Drivers given parking tickets may be able to claim a refund after it emerged the wrong measurements had been used for parking bays.
Leicester City Council workers are remarking many of the 240 bays in the city centre.
However, the authority has insisted it is only doing the work to make the bays clearer, and not because they are wrong.
It comes after a driver successfully appealed against a ticket he was given in a loading bay in the city because, he said, the dimensions of the space did not meet legal requirements.
The Leicester Mercury carried out its own checks on five random bays in the St George's area and found all were incorrectly marked out.

Under the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions Act 2002, lines marking out a pay-and-display bay must be 60cm long.
However, a slight leeway is allowed with gaps of a minimum of 60cm and maximum of 90cm between each one. However, in the city centre, several are not marked out in that way, which experts say makes them unenforceable. Therefore, tickets handed out are invalid.
See measures for Pay and Display bays
Measures for Disabled bays
Measures for split Pay and display bays
The council. however, said if the experts' comments led people to believe they could get their parking fines overturned, that would be "raising expectations which will almost certainly prove to be unreasonable".

Richard Bentley, a former North Yorkshire police officer, is now an expert witness on the issue.
He said: "The format for parking bays is set out in law and those laws cannot be ignored.
"A mistake in law means any money they have taken in those bays has to be repaid. Any tickets issued must also be repaid.
"Put simply, if the lines are wrong the fine is wrong."
Mr Bentley said there was no time limited on appealing against tickets handed out in incorrect bays.
It is not known how many people might be able to claim refunds on tickets given since the city took over parking from the police in January, 2007, but it could be thousands.

Between July 2007 and July 2008, the latest figures show more than 62,000 fines were issued in the city and drivers handed over about £2.7m.
It is also not clear how many of the bays are incorrectly marked, but the council said it was repainting up to 95 per cent.
The bays in question are disabled spaces, loading bays and on-street pay-and-display spaces.
City council traffic manager Andy Thomas said: "A person argued a loading bay was incorrectly marked. It was not contested because the issue was ambiguous and not because we recognised we were wrong.
"This work has not been prompted by any appeal.
"My main concern is all bays are clearly and accurately marked. While we are repainting, we will also check they are correct."
Mr Thomas said if any bay was wrong – adding he did not know of any – the council could rebuff appeals because there was "clear intent" to police parking.

Parking rule expert Barrie Segal, founder of AppealNow.com which has successfully appealed 50,000 parking tickets across the country, said that argument was "rubbish".
He said: "This argument that because there is intent to police bays, even if they are wrong, is the same rubbish councils trot out in these situations."
Mr Segal said the fact the council did not contest the appeal against the loading bay ticket "shows there is clearly something a miss".
He said: "They are measuring and remarking all of them, which suggests to me they are not sure if they are right.''

When the Mercury put its measurements and the arguments of the parking experts to the council, a spokesman said: "If people feel they have been harshly treated, our advice is that they should register a complaint via the council's normal complaints procedure."

PAID A PCN in an incorrectly marked bay?
ASSISTANCE
Click on here to open up a Leicester City Council complaint form
Complaint text:
It appears that the bay in which I received my Penalty Charge Notice was not marked in accordance with the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002. The use of non-prescribed signs is unlawful and therefore all monies derived from such a mistake in law are recoverable under the principle established in Woolwich Equitable Building Society v The Inland Revenue Commissioners [1993].
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 I would like copies of any internal communications the council holds with regard to the enforcement of non-prescribed bays and the instructions (including copies of any TSRGD 2002 drawings) given to contractors detailing what 'corrections' are to be undertaken.
Under the Data Protection Act I would like details of all PCNs issued to my vehicle(s) including any Parking Attendant or Civil Enforcement Officer notes, and any information the council holds on known signing deficiencies in the areas where my PCN(s) was/were issued.
Resolution text:
I would like a full refund of all monies paid for all PCNs issued to vehicle registration number...................(insert vehicle reg in bays which were not marked in accordance with TSRGD 2002 details)

Another one bites the dust ...now Merton Council

Another Council guilty of adding an unlawful Credit Card surcharge to their Penalty Charge Notice. We will help you get you money back for any PCNs paid in Camden, Merton, Harrow and Kingston. Just e-mail enquiries@parkingappeals.co.uk for more information.

Meanwhile, since we went live on the BBC last week another council has confirmed that it has suspended its credit card charge. Merton Council's press release is below (seems that they have missed a bit ... the bit about how you get your money back!) :

Merton Council suspends credit card surcharges
12 June 2009
Merton Council has suspended its credit card surcharges on Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) for parking and bus lane offences. This follows concerns raised by the Parking and Traffic Appeals Service (PATAS) about the legality of a 1.35% surcharge added to all credit card payments of PCNs. The council introduced credit card surcharges on the 15 April this year to recover costs imposed by the credit card companies. In addition to using a credit card, those looking to pay their Penalty Charge Notice can also pay with cash, cheque or debit card.

Paying within 14 days of receiving the penalty charge notice reduces the charge by half.

Information on paying parking Penalty Charge Notices can be found at: www.merton.gov.uk/living/transport-streets/parking/pcn/paying_pcn.htm

Merton Council's cabinet member for finance and regeneration Councillor Diane Neil Mills said: "As soon as we learned of the potential problem concerning the surcharges, we took action and suspended surcharges on credit card payments for Penalty Charge Notices for parking and bus lane offences. We are investigating the situation with urgency and would ask everyone to bear with us as we work on the necessary next steps.'

CAMDEN ...Many parking tickets 'unlawful' BBC reports

Many parking tickets 'unlawful'
BBC News24
Thursday 11th June 2009

Thousands of drivers in London may be affected by the ruling
Thousands of parking tickets paid by credit card could be cancelled after a council's charges were ruled unlawful.
Camden Council has been charging 1.3% extra for tickets paid by credit card.
But a firm claimed the extra charge is unfair - and the Parking and Traffic Appeals Service (Patas) agreed, saying the entire ticket should be cancelled.
The ruling could also affect the boroughs of Harrow and Merton, which also charge extra to pay tickets by credit card. Camden Council may appeal.

Harrow has been charging people extra to use credit card for 18 months.

Camden Council are behaving like the Sherriff of Nottingham
Richard Chaumerton, driver

In January, London General Transport Services Limited was given a £120 penalty charge notice by Camden Council.
But the company appealed, claiming it was unfair to charge an extra 1.3% for a ticket that they had no choice but to pay.
Patas adjudicator Henry Greenslade agreed.
Referring to the rules by which councils must abide, he said: "The words 'authorities cannot justify applying surcharges in relation to credit cards' could not be clearer.
"Authorities cannot justify applying surcharges for their use."

'Could be challenged'
He added: "I find the penalty charge in this case did exceed the amount applicable - accordingly, this appeal must be allowed."
If Camden Council is unsuccessful with its appeal, every fine paid by credit card since the 1.3% charge began in January could be challenged.

The council has given out £26m in parking fines this year.

Neil Herron (left) says Camden Council's "greed" may cost them dear.

Builder Richard Chaumerton, 46, from Kentish Town, north west London, is challenging five tickets which he paid by credit card.

He said: "It's a disgusting, vexatious state of affairs.
"Camden Council are behaving like the Sherriff of Nottingham - they think they can make up all these charges, regardless of what the law says."

Parking campaigner Neil Herron, also battling tickets on grounds of the credit card charge, said: "Out of greed this council has been charging an extra 1.3% - it could end up costing them £12.5 million."

A Camden Council spokeswoman said: "We sought independent legal advice when introducing credit card charges and we remain satisfied this is sound advice.
"The detail will be reviewed by our lawyers and the council will take a decision once we have received advice.
"In the interim, Camden has stopped the credit card fee."


STOP PRESS
Camden, Merton, Kingston and Harrow have now withhdrawn the Credit Card Surcharge. If you have had a Penalty Charge Notice in any of these boroughs and want to know more and want to know whether you can get a refund just drop us an e-mail at enquiries@parkingappeals.co.uk
NB. You need not have paid by credit card to seek a refund.