No time to pay with Barking & Dagenham Council

 

Having just written about Barnet Council not allowing time to pay Mr Mustard had this case come to his attention.

This is the part time no right turn into LIDL which has made cheap food rather expensive for so many people.

You will note that the argument that you can't see properly to drive equates to a poke in the eye for oneself. Not seeing signs six times is also not a good look.

The council didn't have to fight all six PCNs, they could have let 4 or 5 go by the wayside and still got the message across that one should not turn right at this juncture.

The hands of the adjudicator are tied, the contraventions either occurred or they didn't. The nudge is as helpful a step as the adjudicator can take within their own powers. Whether the council will listen or not is to be seen but Mr Mustard doubts they will take much notice. If however the motorist has a blue badge their car should not be removed by the bailiff so they may struggle to recover these penalties.

Every LIDL doesn't help.

The end.

Barnet Council - no time to pay

 

Never assume that a council will be helpful or reasonable. There is nothing within the legislation which imposes a duty on councils to consider accepting instalments and in this case they could have done so without a huge administrative burden. Had they accepted the offer, which appeared to need time to pay until the end of January, and the motorist not paid as promised, the council could have moved straight to a charge certificate at 150% of the penalty value, so £195.

Adjudicators are not allowed by law to exercise discretion, only the council can. The adjudicator, if such a challenge had been mounted, might have found that signage was inadequate at this location which happens about 50% of the time and then the motorist wouldn't have had to pay anything so they missed a trick there.

By fighting the PCN at the tribunal the motorist has got themselves time to pay but only at the full penalty value of £130 not the £65 they offered. Somewhat usurious.

The end