Decision Report 201304320

Summary

Mr C, who is a Member of Parliament, complained on behalf of his constituent (Mr A) about a fine Mr A received for driving in a bus lane. Mr A was dissatisfied that he did not receive the initial penalty charge notice, and, therefore, was unaware that he had been fined. He said that when he did find out about it, when a charge certificate was sent to his home address, a surcharge had been applied and the council refused him his right of appeal as they had not received it within the prescribed time limit. Mr C told the council that Mr A did not dispute the offence, but was concerned that he had not received the original charge notice allowing him the opportunity to appeal and pay the lower charge. Mr C said that the council had not replied to two emails Mr A sent them about this.

The council said that there were no procedural errors in the handling of the charge notice, but offered Mr A the opportunity to pay the reduced charge which he subsequently paid.

We acknowledged that Mr A tried on two separate occasions to raise concerns about not receiving the charge notice, but we found that he had not used the correct email address. We did not identify any failings by the council in processing the charge notice, and, on balance, considered that they had acted reasonably in offering Mr A the opportunity to pay the reduced charge.