PATAS - w/c 7 July 14 - when not in Rome

parking like this is fine in Italy, just not in England

In this week at PATAS there were 1,166 new Appeals registered (the same as the previous week, which is some coincidence) of which 65 (that is 6%) were Barnet ones as against 55 the previous week and what should, other things being equal, only be 4%.

A PCN was upheld for parking a scooter on the pavement. To the many visitors form the continent it must be a terrible shock to be given a PCN for something which is quite normal at home. In barnet you can park your 2 wheeler for free in Residents and PayByPhone bays and in car parks and you are meant to park in a car space rather than hide in a quiet corner.

A PCN was cancelled as the council insisted on writing to the wrong address despite being asked in bold print to write to a different one.

In Egerton Gardens, bang opposite Hendon Town hall, there is a PayByPhone bay which operates Monday to Saturday inclusive. Someone parked in it on a Saturday having noticed they had driven into a Monday to Friday CPZ. This is illogical but possible and legal. Don't pay to park on a Saturday if the residents bays do not apply that day, park in the residents bays for free. Their PCN was upheld which was correct.

Someone who didn't get a permit reminder had their PCN cancelled. This is not a guaranteed outcome but should be. There are going to be lots more cases like this since Capita took over permit renewals in May 14 and it appears to be in a complete state.

Keep those appeals coming. 44 out of 68 were won. That is 65%

Yours appealingly

Miss Feezance

PATAS - w/c 30 june - ex gratia

Four dozen (48) roses

There were 1,166 new Appeals registered at PATAS in this week.

56 of them came from Barnet so that is 5% which is more than one should expect and is a sign that the motorist simply isn't going to roll over and pay when faced with a doubtful PCN.

There were 48 appeals heard and 32 of them went the way of the motorist which is a 67% success rate.

Only 3 appeals of note:

- in Brampton Grove the signs were not clear so the PCN was cancelled.

- a suspension sign was set at an uncommonly low level so that PCN was cancelled.

- A Notice of Rejection was sent out in an unstamped envelope, imagine having to pay the Royal Mail an extra £1 to find out that your PCN was not cancelled. This person didn't want the public purse to bear any further burden for expenses even though the adjudicator though the council's behaviour was borderline unreasonable. The adjudicator suggested the council should make an ex-gratia payment.

Keep those appeals coming.

Yours appealingly

Miss Feezance

Patas - w/c 23 June 14 - bus lanes

Another quiet week at PATAS with 1,206 new cases filed of which 50, that is 4%, were the expected amount for Barnet.

65 Barnet appeals were heard and 50 finished up with cancelled PCN so you can see how worthwhile it can be to appeal.

Only 4 things of note:

- someone was loading (possibly a decorator) and a ladder was in a photo taken by the traffic warden which rather confirmed it

- 3 PCN in the Saracens Event Day Zone were cancelled

- a baby being collected was subject to the boarding exemption as they can't walk themselves from the house to the car

- two bus lanes that were 250m apart were treated as one by the adjudicator who did not agree with the council's argument that they had discrete 9i.e. separate) legal status. The adjudicator will only allow one PCN to stand if you go through 2 stretches of bus lane, which is very fair of them.

Have you got a PATAS form? Then fill it in. 

Yours appealingly

Miss Feezance

PATAS - w/c 16 June 14 - Which flat?

a random block of flats in Finchley

In this week at PATAS there were 1,191 new Appeals lodged of which 61 or 5% came from Barnet so numbers are up slightly again. Of the 60 Barnet cases that were heard 37 were won which is 62% so keep them coming.

Five cases worth a mention:

- Gervase Road again so be careful where you park there. The PCN was upheld so has to be paid.

- The council in the case summary said that the traffic warden did not refer to the Blue Badge. The adjudicator, always a lawyer and very sharp, said that did not mean that the traffic warden had looked for one. PCN cancelled.

- A motorist denied swearing or spitting at the traffic warden and their PCN was cancelled. Please do not behave in this way to traffic wardens who get the miserable pay rate of £8.20 an hour and are probably put upon by management.

- A motorist was in the process of complying with the payment instructions (whether by voucher, paypoint, meter or PayByPhone is not relevant) and must be given adequate time to comply. PCN cancelled.

- Paperwork sent without a flat number to an address in a block of 40 flats is clearly not good service. What numptie at NSL thought that they should bother PATAS and waste £40 in fees on this case?

Keep those appeals coming. You are all (well lots of you) doing very well and learning stuff.

Yours appealingly

Miss Feezance

PATAS w/c 9 June 2014 - 78% win rate

In this particular week at PATAS there were 1,201 new Appeals registered of which 50, that is 4%, came from Barnet which was, for once, the percentage that you would expect. The peak in Appeals looks to have abated for now.

There were 4 PCN worth a mention.

In Bells Hill the signage on a single yellow line, which for some bizarre reason, operates until late at night and is a favourite trap spot of scooterised traffic wardens, was found to be "not very effective". That is because the sign is around the bend in a side turning and cannot be seen from your car.

A person who displayed their blue badge got a PCN notwithstanding. This was because the traffic warden managed to only photograph part of the windscreen which did not contain the Blue Badge. Don't get a traffic warden to take your wedding photographs as the bride or the groom will be missing from shot. This was, of course, a genuine accident which I have seen happen several times before.

Yew Grove was found to be not clearly marked. I see to recall having seen that location in this blog recently. You know what to do, appeal.

Gervase Rd is a regular feature at PATAS as the road is marked out for pavement parking but all of the necessary signs are not in place and people go astray and park, perfectly safely, with 2 wheels on the kerb where markings are not provided. Usually  the PCN gets cancelled due to lack of clarity but in a very unusual move a Review was requested of a decision lost at that location and the PCN now has to be paid. Just remember that within 14 days of an Appeal decision either party can ask for a Review and although there are usually only about 50 such requests a year your winning case could suddenly be a losing case. I wonder if this motorist had been especially upsetting in some way to NSL or the council?

Keep those appeals coming. the odds are certainly in your favour.

Yours appealingly

Miss Feezance

PATAS - w/c 2 June 14 - Motorists win 2 out of every 3 appeals

I don't see a man at work?

In this week at PATAS there were quite a lot of new Appeals logged, some 1,308 of them. Of those, 94 emanated from Barnet which is 7% and more than the 4% that there ought to be given that Barnet issue 4% of all PCN in London. This might be the product of issuing too many marginal PCN.

Probably due to being busy with software change quite a number of Appeals were not contested by the council so those PCN get cancelled.

Other notable points were

- The Saracens zone cases are still being cancelled 99% of the time.

- Someone got 2 bus lane PCN in 1 minute and another motorist got 3 in 3 minutes. The adjudicator doesn't usually let more than 1 PCN stand as he/she regards it as unfair.

- A sign which was meant to be, possibly, Mon - Fri only had the abbreviation "Mon" on it so the restriction only applies on Mondays. It wasn't a Monday when the PCN was issued so it was cancelled.

- A kerb on the corner of a road had slipped but wasn't deliberately dropped for the purposes of assisting pedestrians to cross the carriageway. That PCN was therefore cancelled but you will, I hope, all try not to park on junctions in the future.

Remember, once you have a Notice to Owner you have nothing to lose by appealing all the way to PATAS. It costs the council £40 and you nothing except a little time. There are lots of restaurants near the hearing centre at the Angel. You could make it into a day out.

Yours appealingly

Miss Feezance

PATAS - w/c 26 May 14

Brampton Grove, NW4

It was a short week due to the Bank Holiday Monday and so only 832 new Appeals were lodged at PATAS. Of those 64 emanated from Barnet which is 8% or, put another way, twice as many as there should be.

There were 26 Appeals allowed, 6 refused and 2 recommended for cancellation. That was 81% of PCN cancelled which is higher than usual.

There were only 4 notable cases.

1. There was no evidence to support the claim that the motorist drove away. there are a lot of these sort of cases. If you didn't see the traffic warden then appeal all the way.

2. NSL, for the council, wrote that they were unable to cancel. This is not good wording. they are able to cancel but they have chosen not to. Please appeal these all the way to the end.

3. In Brampton Grove, which is ironically quite close to Hendon Town Hall, some signage was found to be confusing.

4. In another case the council (NSL) didn't "properly engage" i.e properly consider, the representations. this is a procedural impropriety. Make sure you set out a clear argument and if the council don't tackle it properly then keep appealing to the end.

Keep those appeals coming.

Yours appealingly

Miss Feezance