Photo: Wikipedia Commons / Crookesmoor
John Barrett, a driver from Chiswick, West London, was the victim of a mix-up and received 51 fines in a single day for driving in a restricted area that he actually has a permit for. And the total amount was around $7,900 (£6,000).
Mix-ups can happen, because to err is human. But when you get 51 fines in a single day (yes, you read that right) that have been bundling up for months, there’s something fundamentally wrong going on.
This is the case of a British driver, John Barrett, 54, from Chiswick, West London, UK. The man had received seven penalties last year for his trip up the road to his gym over a five-month period, to which he has a permit. So, he replied to all of them, explaining just that, and he never heard back. Probably, expecting it all to be sorted out.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case, and he didn’t receive a resolution. He got more fines instead. He challenged the fines and discovered that Hounslow Council claimed permit-holders had to send a letter asking for a specific fine exemption so they could appear in their system.
He said via Metro: “The cost to the tax payer must have been massive – each notice has three screenshots of my car. The time it takes them to print out those screenshots and put the letter in the envelope would cost a fortune.”
Barett added: “All they had to do was put my registration into their computer and they’d see I had a permit. This has taken so much of my time.”
Naturally, the £6,000 ($7,900) fine has been cancelled, but Barrett won’t stop there. He is demanding the council to update its system and avoid the same issue happening again to other drivers.
A spokesperson shared, via the same outlet: ‘When the resident emailed in their resident/permit status, a staff member cancelled their PCNs and sent a letter outlining that they needed to apply for their exemption.”
“However, this letter was yet again sent to the wrong address. Subsequent fines were then issued as they still hadn’t applied for their exemption (as the letter had gone to the wrong address). All fines have now been cancelled.”
This is the case of a British driver, John Barrett, 54, from Chiswick, West London, UK. The man had received seven penalties last year for his trip up the road to his gym over a five-month period, to which he has a permit. So, he replied to all of them, explaining just that, and he never heard back. Probably, expecting it all to be sorted out.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case, and he didn’t receive a resolution. He got more fines instead. He challenged the fines and discovered that Hounslow Council claimed permit-holders had to send a letter asking for a specific fine exemption so they could appear in their system.
He said via Metro: “The cost to the tax payer must have been massive – each notice has three screenshots of my car. The time it takes them to print out those screenshots and put the letter in the envelope would cost a fortune.”
Barett added: “All they had to do was put my registration into their computer and they’d see I had a permit. This has taken so much of my time.”
Naturally, the £6,000 ($7,900) fine has been cancelled, but Barrett won’t stop there. He is demanding the council to update its system and avoid the same issue happening again to other drivers.
A spokesperson shared, via the same outlet: ‘When the resident emailed in their resident/permit status, a staff member cancelled their PCNs and sent a letter outlining that they needed to apply for their exemption.”
“However, this letter was yet again sent to the wrong address. Subsequent fines were then issued as they still hadn’t applied for their exemption (as the letter had gone to the wrong address). All fines have now been cancelled.”
John Barrett, 54, from Chiswick, west London, received all the fines in a single day after a mix-up saw official letters repeatedly sent to the wrong address.
— Metro (@MetroUK) March 23, 2022
The charges had accrued every time he drove up the road to the gym over a five-month period. pic.twitter.com/oOWITRQWKk
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