Just to ask if anyone can help with PCN ticket? — Scope | Disability forum
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Just to ask if anyone can help with PCN ticket?

tobehappy
tobehappy Community member Posts: 21 Listener
edited October 2018 in Transport and travel
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  • tobehappy
    tobehappy Community member Posts: 21 Listener
    Just to ask if anyone can help with PCN ticket. I received one for forgetting to set my clock badge to correct time although badge was displayed ticket received for overstaying in a 3hour time limit zone with no return within an hour. This was after 6.00pm. I have challenged it but they will not back down. Any help would be greatly appreciated. 
  • Sam_Alumni
    Sam_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 7,671 Disability Gamechanger
    Hi @tobehappy
    I dont know about this but there is some information about appealing a parking ticket here.

    i hope someone else will be able to offer their thoughts soon :)
    Scope
    Senior online community officer
  • Markmywords
    Markmywords Community member Posts: 419 Pioneering
    I am not a lawyer but I've beaten several attempts to extort money from me.
    When you are on a private car park a ticket is just an invoice from a company. They see it that you have breached an implied contract.
    Take photos of the sign in the car park. If the sign says no restrictions after 6pm or it does not clearly say that the clock must be set then their claim is a lie.
    Small print on a sign that cannot be read from the car is an unfair term and would be unenforceable.
    If you find you are correct in how you remembered it then you have two options; you can pay it for a quiet life or tell them that you will see them in court.

    Just for reference, even on the actual highway, forgetting to set the clock is not a punishable offence in law. I've beaten one of those too.
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 53,333 Disability Gamechanger
    Hi,

    When using a blue badge in a timed parking space you must display the clock as well as the badge, if you don't then they don't know the time you arrived. Having a blue badge doesn't mean you can park for as long as you want, even in a timed space. Believe it or not some local councils and traffic wardens work until 7pm, they do where i live. Having already challenged it and they didn't change their minds there's really nothing more you can do. When using my blue badge i always make sure i add the time, this way if a time is needed there's no problems with tickets etc.
    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
  • tobehappy
    tobehappy Community member Posts: 21 Listener
    Thank you for your comments everyone but it was “on street parking” ( not in a car park). On this occasion I simply forgot & I always set the clock. I was attending the theatre & sent in my tickets as evidence as to the reason for being parked. This happened in the evening at 9.25 Poppy so they really do work late. In the same street across the road there is paid parking until 6.00pm. From then on there are no restrictions for normal parking but where I was parked there is a 3hour time limit for disabled parking & I have since found out that this is enforceable 24hours per day 7 days a week....but no signage... strange when normal parking has no restrictions that I know off after 6.00pm......I then ask myself surely this must be discrimination to restrict disabled & not normal parking even though it is on the opposite side of the road. Markmywords in their response to me (PCN for Northampton County Council) they referred to Blue Badge Rules for parking... which is true for setting clock times but we are human & can forget. Does anyone know of all the parking signs in Guildhall Road Northampton or had a ticket themselves for this. 
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 53,333 Disability Gamechanger
    Were you parked on single or double yellow lines?
    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
  • tobehappy
    tobehappy Community member Posts: 21 Listener
    There are no lines at all in this street white or yellow Poppy. They modernised the road a couple of years ago. So difficult to understand. 
  • Markmywords
    Markmywords Community member Posts: 419 Pioneering
    It sounds as though you actually did overstay then @tobehappy and it was not just that you forgot the clock.
    Indeed you are legally required to set the clock but as the Road Traffic Act states there is no legal punishment for not doing so.
    In my case the numpty of a warden wrote that I was "not showing a valid badge."
    This fine was thrown out by the council themselves although they felt obliged to throw in a dig and a threat at me.
  • tobehappy
    tobehappy Community member Posts: 21 Listener
    No Markmywords I didn’t overstay as my clock  was set at a previous time...  I just forgot to reset it when going to the theatre. That’s where the over time limit applied as my clock was set at 3.30 from before.
    Can you tell me where in the Road Traffic Act it states no legal punishment for this even though it’s a legal requirement to display the clock badge. That seems strange that they can issue a PCN for it doesn’t it. 
    As it said earlier it also seems strange that normal parking after 6.00pm has no restrictions but disabled applies a 3hour time limit enforaceable 24hours 7days a week but no signage for this. !

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 53,333 Disability Gamechanger
    As there were no yellow lines, was there a sign stating 3 hours parking limit at all? Usually if there's a time limit there will be a small sign with a blue outline i think. Sometimes these signs are on walls, so you do need to look closely, as i've almost missed them sometimes. You only need to display the clock when there's a time limit restriction and when parking on single or double yellow lines.

    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
  • tobehappy
    tobehappy Community member Posts: 21 Listener
    That’s where my problem lies Poppy.  This was the photographic evidence they used... the small sign displaying 3hours time limit but no enforceable sign stating that it applies 24hours per day & 7days per week. I can’t find this either in the blue badge regs as it was after 6.00pm.  As I forgot to set my clock to the correct time they used the time that was already on my badge as being set at 3.30 so effectively it looks like it was over the time limit. My fault for not setting clock as I said from the beginning but need to find out if that sign is legally enforceable after 6.00pm in regards to normal parking on other side of the road with no restrictions. I just can’t find anything about it anywhere in the blue badge regs. 
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 53,333 Disability Gamechanger
    Some councils enforce the limits 24/7 and they apply to BB holders too. If you can't find it in their parking enforcement guidelines then you need to ask them to provide you with evidence that this enforcement exists. Good luck.
    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
  • tobehappy
    tobehappy Community member Posts: 21 Listener
    Thanks Poppy I have already asked them for evidence of this ... as yet no response just that they confirmed this in writing from before. I even asked the council highways of all signs in that road but they couldn’t help either. All help appreciated as time is running out whether to pay or appeal although I’m seriously considering the Equally Act 2010 if I don’t pay. 
  • tobehappy
    tobehappy Community member Posts: 21 Listener
    oops should read Equality Act 2010
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 53,333 Disability Gamechanger
    I think expert advice and i'm not sure you're going to get that by posting here. I hope you get the answers you're looking for. Good luck.
    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
  • tobehappy
    tobehappy Community member Posts: 21 Listener
    Problem is timescales now Poppy. Hopefully someone here will be able to help in time. Never give up is my motto. Thank you for your input too. 
  • Markmywords
    Markmywords Community member Posts: 419 Pioneering
    There are no circumstances when it's ok to reset a badge clock @tobehappy . that would be dishonest.
    There are a great many laws that do not have set punishments especially in the RTA.
  • tobehappy
    tobehappy Community member Posts: 21 Listener
    I think you’ve misread this markmywords. I am not talking about resetting badge clock but the time the clock was set was from a previous use  & I just forgot to set the new time hence the PCN if you know what I mean. I attended the theatre in the evening not the afternoon as I evidenced to them. That’s why I am looking for help. 
  • Markmywords
    Markmywords Community member Posts: 419 Pioneering
    Ah, in that case the clock setting alone does not warrant a ticket under the RTA or the Blue Badge Regulations.
    Your council has made an error in law. I am sure of this because I've read the laws and my council accepted the error and cancelled my ticket.
    Sadly the public sector do not always admit when they are in the wrong. All you can do is point out their error to them as going to court would be impractical. You should check the wording used on the ticket too in case they are incorrect.
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 53,333 Disability Gamechanger
    Ah, in that case the clock setting alone does not warrant a ticket under the RTA or the Blue Badge Regulations.
    Your council has made an error in law. I am sure of this because I've read the laws and my council accepted the error and cancelled my ticket.
    Sadly the public sector do not always admit when they are in the wrong. All you can do is point out their error to them as going to court would be impractical. You should check the wording used on the ticket too in case they are incorrect.
    I'm not convinced this is correct here. Tobehappy parked in a street which was time restricted but it was after 7 pm that the ticket was issued. What they're asking is, is time restrictions enforced 24/7. My answer, some are and some aren't, it depends on the local council.
    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.

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