Please help! I appealed to a London Council against a parking ticket and (believing I had a good case) to it to the second stage of appeal.

However the Council have now raised the penalty fee from £50 to £100.

I have completed every stage on time, and by-the-book. The Council turned down my 2nd stage appeal and said the rise in penalty fee was applicable on the date they sent out the rejection letter (turning down my 2nd stage appeal).

This seems to be a clear £50 extra penalty for taking the appeal to the 2nd stage.

Despite believing I have a good case against the original parking ticket I wanted to call it quits and just pay the £50, but the Council won't let me, insisting I have to pay the full £100.

The Council said if I don't like it I can appeal to the adjudicator. I'm thinking of doing this.

Can I appeal to the adjudicator on grounds that the rise in fee is against natural justice? Does this count as a procedural impropriety?

Advice welcomed!

It is normal that, when things go further through the legal systems, the cost goes up.

I do not know the details of the offence but my feeling is that, if you feel that your case is strong, you should continue your appeals until it has been looked at by someone who is independent of the council (like a magistrate or an independent body).

If you win, you should pay nothing. If you lose, you will pay more. That is the system.

Thanks for your advice to soldier on with the appeal.

However I do think it is wrong for the Council to slap an extra £50 on for appealing. I'm not sure the Council's internal parking mechanism of determining appeals counts as a legal process, there are no barristers involved surely?

Basically I think that while we citizens are still appealing to the Council they should not hike the charge up, because this is an active disincentment to taking the appeal further, and that is simply not fair.

my daughter has got 2 tickets for parking outside her house, which happens to be in a commercial area so parking is illegal, however, how on earth are you expected to get goods into your house, it's half way up a very steep hill and she's only small, so she has to park occasionally to unload things, anyhoo, the first one she appealed and won so didn't have to pay...the second time she lost, but only had to pay the original charge, i'm sure she said the time period she had to pay within was frozen during the time of the appeal, which is only fair, maybe it's different if it goes to another stage, but hers was just decided there and then, no doubt by some council bigwig who feels it's quite reasonable to charge people to park outside their homes, grrrr

i think the council will do anything they think they can get away with....

concerned parent:

my daughter has got 2 tickets for parking outside her house, which happens to be in a commercial area so parking is illegal, however, how on earth are you expected to get goods into your house, it's half way up a very steep hill and she's only small, so she has to park occasionally to unload things, anyhoo, the first one she appealed and won so didn't have to pay...the second time she lost, but only had to pay the original charge, i'm sure she said the time period she had to pay within was frozen during the time of the appeal, which is only fair, maybe it's different if it goes to another stage, but hers was just decided there and then, no doubt by some council bigwig who feels it's quite reasonable to charge people to park outside their homes, grrrr

i think the council will do anything they think they can get away with....

What is a council bigwig?

I have to pay to park outside my home; I live in a controlled parking area. Your response doesn't help the original poster and is just one long, whining bleat of a whinge. If you don't like what your local council does, then get involved in changing it.

ettoburb:Please help! I appealed to a London Council against a parking ticket and (believing I had a good case) to it to the second stage of appeal. However the Council have now raised the penalty fee from £50 to £100. I have completed every stage on time, and by-the-book. The Council turned down my 2nd stage appeal and said the rise in penalty fee was applicable on the date they sent out the rejection letter (turning down my 2nd stage appeal). This seems to be a clear £50 extra penalty for taking the appeal to the 2nd stage. Despite believing I have a good case against the original parking ticket I wanted to call it quits and just pay the £50, but the Council won't let me, insisting I have to pay the full £100. The Council said if I don't like it I can appeal to the adjudicator. I'm thinking of doing this. Can I appeal to the adjudicator on grounds that the rise in fee is against natural justice? Does this count as a procedural impropriety? Advice welcomed!

Either carry on fighting your case because you believe you're right, or pay up and shut up.

If I were asked, I'd hazard a guess that a judge would rule that the full penalty for the parking offence is £100, but that the system gives a discount for prompt payment of £50 - think of it as the parking fine equivalent of plea bargaining or a discount for prompt admission. We don't formally have plea bargaining in the UK (though we have it in practice) but the principle of a discount on sentence for a prompt plea is well accepted.

was only saying i didn't know if it was different in other towns, but where i am they freeze the charge while the appeal is ongoing, jeez, i'll stop bleating and whining then,

and my daughter would pay to park in her road, but she can't do that either

oh and council bigwigs are very prominent here where i live, think they're better than everyone else, and to get involved you need to be elected which won't be happening anytime soon...

sorry for trying to help, but try not to be so pompous,

happy new year anyway :)

Ex Banker what poor manners you have!

Is Ex banker rhyming slang?

impolite:

Ex Banker what poor manners you have!

Is Ex banker rhyming slang?

Such wit is a guarantee that I will be laughing all the way to 2009, which is a surprise, because I normally reserve only ire for shining wits.

lol very amusing you ducking blunt!

happy new year