Aberdeen City Council - parking PCN

[8bit]

So I guess strictly speaking this maybe belongs in SP&L but I gather there is some variance in how different councils handle PCNs so asking in here in the hope of some local advice.

Few weeks ago I parked in the Denburn council car park in Aberdeen. I was about 15 minutes late returning to my car and discovered a PCN on it. I did some digging online and found a copy of what appears to be the council's guidelines for City Wardens when issuing PCNs. This was hosted on the council's own website under the Freedom of Information Act requests section. I wrote to the appropriate email address objecting to the PCN on three grounds.

First, the guidelines say the warden must not issue a PCN until the paid parking duration has been exceeded by at least ten minutes - the PCN was issued after only nine minutes from the expiry of my parking. Second, the warden is also supposed to allow ten minutes between "time first seen" and "time of issue" for the PCN, the gap between the times was only three mintes. Finally, the guidelines say the PCN must accurately record the colour of the vehicle under "Essential Information" but on my PCN it just says "n/a".

So yesterday I got an email saying they will not be cancelling my PCN. The wording of the letter seemed to pretty much miss the actual points of my argument and basically just said "your parking had expired so it's a fair ticket." On the face of it that's correct and I'm not disputing that but I sort of feel like the warden hasn't done their job right so why should I just take it. The car park was almost deserted at the time I arrived and the time I left so it's not like I'd massively inconvenienced some law-abiding citizen.

Anyways, I haven't decided what to do yet but just wondering if anyone has had a similar scenario with Aberdeen City Council and what they did about it. Also, it seems, according to the letter, that I have to wait until 28 days from the issue of the PCN (which has already passed so I presume it means the response letter now) before the form I need to formally challenge it arrives, by which time I've lost the chance to pay the reduced rate of £30. Is that true or can I request the form and start the proceedings early if I choose to go that route?

[M32Guy]

I don't have any local advice for you but from what you've said I think you've got a good case for an appeal. I would offer to pay for the parking time you overstayed just to further prove your weren't intentionality trying to skip paying.

My local council pauses the time from when you submit your appeal claim to when they reply to it so you don't miss out on paying the half fee

[8bit]

Thanks for that. Yeah they are still offering the reduced rate if I pay up now, the problem is that I have to wait until long after that offer has expired for them to send me the forms for the official appeal.

I might post in the SP&L section then, unless anyone local has similar experience they can share?

[Peanut Gallery]

Sorry to say, but I parked on the single yellows just round the corner from that parking lot, and got done at 5 past 8.

I started to fight it but gave up just before the end of the £30 period.

They do make intentionally hard to fight so that people do as I did, which does not help.

I have previously found the wardens fairly helpful (they will be less helpful when they realize you are trying to get out of paying) but maybe give them a call and question them directly?

City Wardens
Phone: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

[onlynik]

Appeal it again.

I had a parking ticket issued for the wrong offence, "unable to prove payment of parking", however I was able to demonstrate that it was paid for.

I had to wait the 28 days after the first appeal failed to write to the parking appeals board again.

If they have not followed their rules then you have valid grounds and will try everything not to grant your appeal. (IANAL)