Traffic wardens are illegally ripping you off!

Fight back against illegally issued parking tickets!

The ill-fated profession of the traffic warden was 50 years old last year. And looking back at the first parking ticket ever issued, it’s not hard to see why these uniformed fine dispensers are so widely detested.

It was Dr Thomas Creighton who became the first victim of the traffic warden when his Ford Popular was slapped with a ticket as it sat outside a hotel in the West End of London.

But Dr Creighton was let off the £2 fine as he had only parked illegally in order to treat a guest at the hotel who had suffered a heart attack.

And to this day, traffic wardens continue to issue us with inappropriate tickets – but, if new research is to be believed, we’re not fighting back against them anymore!

Illegal tickets

It’s estimated that motorists in England and Wales could be paying more than £500m a year for parking fines that should never have been issued. Government figures show that traffic wardens issue over 10 million tickets in England and Wales every year – raking in around £781m in fines.

But according to Safiya Hussain of noparkingfine.co.uk – a website that advises on and campaigns against illegal parking fines – 67% of these tickets are actually invalid. Yet despite these illegally issued tickets and the fact that over two thirds of appeals against parking tickets are upheld - only 1% of drivers will attempt to get their fine dropped!

When you consider that the average parking fine outside of London is between £40 and £60 while those issued within the capital can reach £120, it’s easy to see how motorists could be losing millions through dodgy ticketing.

So if you believe that your cars been unfairly fined, here’s how to appeal...

Fight back!

First of all you have to be honest with yourself – have you been caught red-handed parking illegally or is this actually an invalid fine?

If the parking signs or road markings were unclear, confusing or obscured then you may have a case to appeal. Similarly, if you had a genuine reason – like our friend Dr Creighton did back in 1960 – for parking your car illegally, you should also consider appealing. But it’s worth noting that “wanting to park near the shop” or “I only left the car for 10 minutes while I got a pint of milk” probably won’t float with council as a legitimate reason for breaking the law.

The next step is to photograph and make a note of any evidence that could help your case. Pictures of an obscured sign or unclear road will be vital if you’re to prove that your ticket is invalid. Crime reference numbers, doctor’s notes and witness statements can also help if you believe you had a valid reason for parking illegally.

Make copies of all of these documents and send them off to the parking fine appeal address of your local council (you can find this on the council’s website).

Initial appeals for tickets that are stuck to car windows by traffic wardens will be classed as informal. If this informal appeal is rejected you can make a formal complaint and if you’re still having no luck you can send your case off to an independent tribunal.

There are also several websites that can help with your appeal. noparkingfine.co.uk offers a free service that will advise you as to whether the ticket you’ve received is valid or not, and for a fee of 50% of the fine they will draft a letter of appeal for you to send to the council. Parkingchargenotice.co.uk also offers lot of advice on parking tickets as does appealnow.com.

For some further tips on fighting unfair parking tickets watch this video on the subject and to read about how to claim back other unfair fines and charges head over to Claim £££ of your money back.

Cowboy clampers

We first wrote about the problem of privately run parking enforcement outfits back in September 2010 in Protect yourself from cowboy clampers. And since then the government has been fine tunings its appropriately titled Freedom Bill to make clamping and towing on private land completely illegal.

But until the new legislation does come in, it’s still important to protect yourself against these rogue wardens. Of course, you should always check the relevant parking signs when you park on a street or in a private car park. Choosing car parks managed by a member of the British Parking Association’s Approved Operator Scheme is also a good idea, as they have to follow a code of practice. You should also look out for the Security Industry Authority (SIA) badge on any clamper – as they must all be licensed by this government body.

If you do find yourself on the receiving end of unfair treatment, your best bet is to contact the British Parking Association. If after doing this you discover that your parking nemesis is in fact an un-registered cowboy then you should report them to your local Trading Standards branch immediately.

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Diplomatic immunity

As I mentioned earlier, if you’ve genuinely been caught parking illegally by a traffic warden, you will in all likelihood have to cough up.

Unless, that is, you happen to be a foreign diplomat.

Yes, it seems that more that 60% of cars owned by foreign embassies have failed to pay for parking tickets issued by Westminster Council – that’s a total of more than £1 million in unpaid fines! Kazakhstan is the worst offending embassy, with its vehicles owing more than £189,640 in fines generated from 1,715 unpaid tickets!

The Sudanese embassy comes in second with £108,240 of fines from 1,005 unpaid tickets with Afghanistan, China and Saudi Arabia making up the rest of the top five. Between them they owe a whopping £207,100 from almost 2,000 unpaid tickets.

The embassies argue that their diplomatic immunity should extend to traffic rules, but should it?

Let us know your thoughts on this – as well as the question of whether you should be allowed to clamp a car that’s parked on your private land – in the comment boxes below.

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