Appeal Against Fraudulent PCN Upheld by Adjudicator... By Thomas the Taxi.

On the 15/10.10, I received a charge certificate from Westminster Parking Services, along with  a demand for £180.00 for a parking offence which I had no knowledge of. I had not previously received a PCN in regards to this incident so I was quite shocked by the sudden demand for money. If I had of received a PCN notice to owner, I would have appealed as I have in the past.

I immediately phoned Westminster Parking Services helpline and was told I could pay at a reduced rate of £120.00 there and then.

I stated that I wanted to challenge the ticket as is my statutory right as I had no knowledge of this alleged incident. I was told by the operator I could no longer submit an appeal as it was now too late.

After checking the incident on Westminster's website, it seemed I had been filmed by CCTV camera on a double yellow line while picking up a pre-booked job.

The same spot where, every night of the year, you can see minicab touts illegally plying for hire.

As luck would have it, that month in Dial-A-Cad's Call Sign magazine, there featured  a case where a Taxi driver had won his appeal at the adjudicators in very similar circumstances.

I wrote to Councillor Rowley, who passed my letter over to Kevin Goad (Westminster Parking Services). 

Mr Goad replied, as I did not answer the first letter (which I never received),  I could not appeal further and had to pay the full amount of £180.00.

I then spoke to a few "NoToMob", motorcyclists opposed to the Westminster Bike parking tax, who informed me I should do nothing, wait till my ticket went to court, then write to the court telling them I had not received the PCN. The ticket would then have to be reissued by Westminster. 

This I did.

Whilst waiting for the case to go to court in Northampton, I received another demand from WPS,  followed by 3 (Yes THREE) bailiff demands for money.

The court upheld my explanation and in due course another PCN was issued.

By this time, a High Court Judge had issued an official statement (owing to the thousands of appeals going through his court... Click Here for case report.) which laid out the facts of the boarding times regulations applicable to Licensed Taxis and PHV's picking up pre-booked jobs. 

Simple, there could be no excuse for Westminster to proceed further with a claim against me.

Wrong. 

My appeal against the PCN was again handled by Kevin Goad, who decided to ignore the High Court Judge and throw out my case law examples, again demanding that I pay the ticket.

I then had to elect to go to the adjudicator but, as unable to attend due to personal matters, I applied to have my case examined by post.
This morning came the news from the adjudicator that after contacting Westminster Parking Services for a statement, WPS said they would not be contesting my appeal.

And so my appeal had been successful.

Well done Kevin Goad of Westminster Parking Services. What a complete waste of tax payers money and court time. You are a disgrace to your job. 

The letters (including 3 bailiff demands) should be treated as demanding money with menaces. The fact you pursued this issue after a High Court Judge had issued a statement laying out the legislation in crystal clear English, would make your further claim for payment fraudulent. 

I will be pursuing this matter with my MP, and Colin Barrow, the Leader of Westminster Council. 

My union, the RMT, will be making an official complaint on my behalf.

It's high time Westminster Council were brought to book over wasting public money and acting outside the law. Recently huge sums had to be repaid to motorists caught in illegal honey traps enforced by mobile CCTV smart cars.
  See Kevin Goads email about this issue, makes interesting reading. 

This is not the first time I have been treated badly by Westminster. In the first week the rank at Tiger Tiger was implemented, I along with three other Taxi drivers received parking tickets from a warden who refused to read the Taxi rank appointment board. The three other driver had their tickets withdrawn at first appeal.
My ticket was taken to the adjudicator (which they failed to contest) again by no other than...Kevin Goad.