How to fight your parking fine
By Chris Torney
British motorists pay millions of pounds every year to local authorities as a result of parking infringements.
Getting a ticket is bad enough, but paying to have your vehicle released after being towed could set you back hundreds of pounds. In London, councils can charge a £200 release fee (the upper limit is £105 in the rest of the country); and on top of this motorists also face the cost of the original ticket, plus storage fees for every 24-hour period their vehicle is kept in a pound.
If you accept you have parked illegally, you may resign yourself to paying your fine and putting the episode down to experience.
But many motorists complain they have been given tickets or had their cars removed when parking restrictions have not been made clear, or when they don’t believe they have broken the rules.
The good news is you can appeal against any fine: and there is now a lot of assistance available, often at little or no cost, on the internet.
How appeals work
If you are issued with a parking ticket on your vehicle windscreen or by post, you can appeal in writing to the local authority concerned within 28 days of the date of the offence – and there is no need to pay the fine before your appeal is considered.
Provided you submit your appeal within 14 days, you should still be eligible for an early-payment discount if your appeal is ultimately turned down.
If your car is towed, you will have to pay for its release. You will then be given the original ticket as well as documentation about the release, after which you can appeal.
In all cases, details of the address to write to must be given on the parking ticket. The council then has 56 days to let you know the result of your appeal.
If it is rejected, you can then take your case to an independent adjudicator, who will look at the council’s evidence and your own.
There is no charge to make either appeal.
Grounds for appeal
Your appeal stands a better chance of success if you can show your car was ticketed incorrectly. For example, if the parking signs were not clear, or if you were displaying the correct permit.
When you submit your appeal, gather as much evidence to support your case as possible. If the parking signs were obscured by overgrown shrubbery, for example, or road markings were old and faded, take pictures.
Getting help
If you do a Google search for the type of penalty you have been issued, you will find a host of other internet users’ experiences and advice on countless web forums.
This information may be useful with your own appeal.
There are also services, such as the website Appealnow.com, which can give more detailed assistance in return for a small fee.
Appealnow, for example, charges from £7.99 for a parking ticket appeal letter, to £19.99 for help with a towing appeal.
By enlisting expert help, you may increase your chances of having your fine overturned. Those who know the ins and outs of the parking-fine system, and the legislation set up to support it, are much better equipped to spot errors in local authority paperwork that could render fines invalid. However, this doesn’t mean you can’t be your own consumer champion and, if you want to, take on the councils yourself.
Motor annoyances don’t stop there though and clamping is another big issue for motorists. So we’ve put together a guide so you know your rights if you fall victim to wheel clamping. And if you want to have your say on the issue, then add your opinion to our Clamping down on the clampers blog.