I am new to this forum so please forgive me if this subject has been discussed extensively elsewhere.
Yesterday I went to London to see a friend who has sadly been told that his cancer can no longer be treated. The words "the cancer's got me mate" were still ringing in my ears as I went to visit him with HWMBO. It was difficult enough trying to concentrate as we drove round the M25 and we were grateful for the Cameras Ahoy application on the iPhone (certainly saved us a few points on the licence).
To access the apartment block's parking area we had to wait to be let in by our friend's carer. The car park was empty (bar 4 cars) and she told us to park next to our friend's car. We reversed the car in the parking bay wondering what on earth we were going to say to our friend, and keeping our eyes on the carer as we weren't quite sure where to go next.
After our visit (which can only be described as extremely sad and challenging) we returned to find a Parking Penalty Notice attached to our car windscreen. We had an £85 penalty, reduced to £60 if we paid within 14 days. The car park was still empty, and we didn't have the heart to go up and mention anything to our friend.
Looking on the walls behind the car we noticed the penalty notice signs which were the last thing on our mind when we arrived. Our friend hadn't mentioned the need for a permit, but that was definitely the last thing on his mind - it took him 5 minutes or so to even remember that there was a garage fob to open the doors for us.
We rang the penalty company who said that we could always appeal the notice and suggested that we sent through medical information confirming the current condition of our friend (we'd rather pay the money than do that and couldn't believe the response from the customer service operator). The enforcement company could see from their CCTV that the car park was empty when we rang, so is it possible that they saw the series of events when we were let in and could see that we weren't trying to evade using a permit?
Does anyone know what salient information we should include in the appeal? And has anyone had experience of trying to have a penalty notice rescinded?
PS The company who issued the ticket was Central Ticketing.
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