Driver fined for parking on double yellow lines after his van was stolen

A DRIVER was fined for illegally parking, despite reporting to the police that his van was stolen.

John, from Woodford Green, London, reported his van stolen and once it was recovered, he was surprised to find out he’d still have to pay the parking fine.

1

As reported by Wales Online, the local council agreed that the illegal parking wasn’t John’s fault but he would not be exempt from paying the parking fine.

John’s van, a Mercedes Sprinter, was stolen from near his house in Woodford Green but was eventually found and John was able to pick up the van from Romford Road, Stratford.

When John went to collect the van, he found it parked on double yellow lines and a parking ticket was on the windscreen.

This came as a surprise to John as there was “police aware” marking on the car windscreen, meaning the police were aware of the crime.

John called the council to explain his situation but they refused to cancel the ticket without payment.

He enlisted the help of Azolvur, a company that specialises in fighting parking tickets.

Azolvur and parking law expert, Shaf Jade, who represented John said appeals are often rejected the first time in the hope the driver will give up and just pay the fine.

He said: “There were 5.2 million parking tickets issued across London from 2020 to 2021.

“Only 0.6% of those tickets were appealed, but 40% of those that were appealed were revoked or reduced.

“The problem isn’t getting a parking fine, the problem is not appealing it.”

John’s the parking ticket was eventually cancelled, but tou don’t have to go down the route of having an appeals team work on your behalf.

Fighting a parking ticket that you think is unfair is something that you can do yourself.

What are your rights?

You are well within your rights to contest a parking ticket.

Most parking tickets will be reduced by 50% if paid in 14 days.

This is in hope that drivers will just pay the fine quick instead of appealing.

James Andrews, senior personal finance editor at money.co.uk said: “If you’re fined by a public official and want to challenge it, it’s essential to follow the formal process for appeal.

“The tickets are backed by law, so failing to do so properly may see you in a criminal court. 

“If you decide to appeal the fine, this period should be frozen until the appeal is resolved – so make sure you get confirmation in writing that you’re not going to run out of time before progressing anything.” 

If a parking ticket is ignored, your ticket could go up by 50% and you may gain extra charges in court fees.

How to appeal a parking ticket?

First, you need check what type of parking ticket you have received.

If you have a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN), this means this fine has come from your council.

You can head to your councils website, which will have a section on challenging fines.

If they don’t, you can either write your council directly or call them for the next steps.

A Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) can come from either your council or the police so double checked who issued it.

If it was the council, follow the same rules as a PCN.

If it was the police, contact your local station on how to appeal the ticket.

Parking Charge Notice’s are typically given on private land or private car parks.

You’ll need to check the parking company is part of the accredited trade association (ATA).

Check on the British Parking Association (BPA) or International Parking Community (IPC) websites to check.

If they are, contact the company directly to appeal the ticket.

If they aren’t, don’t contact them first as they won’t have your details.

Only ATA members can contact the DVLA to get your name and address.

If you do receive something in the post from a non-ATA member, they may have got your details illegally and you can complain to the DVLA.

Here are four tips for getting your parking ticket cancelled.

Little known rule to escape a parking fine.

Can you be fined if the parking ticket machine isn’t working?