Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) in Kensington & Chelsea while using Source London

[Tintin825]

I would like to share my experience in hope that another reader will see and challenge incorrect Penalty Charge Notices (PCN) received while charging in Source London bays.

At the end of 2022, I parked in Launceston Place, Kensington and Chelsea, London and charged using a Source London charger. I had checked the night before on the Source London site that "All Source London on-street charge points include parking, so you don’t have to worry about paying for additional parking fees when using on-street Source London charge points, even in Central London."

However, I returned to find I had a PCN issued. I appealed the decision, providing the Source London website information and my charging receipt and it was cancelled.

 

[muster39]

Well done for researching before parking and therefore knowing that charging fees included parking. Was it a Penalty Charge Notice or a Parking Charge Notice? As the PCN was issued arguably negligently did you try and claim any costs?

 

[Cardo]

London parking wardens are an utter menace. They will ticket for anything even vaguely out of sorts in the knowledge most people will just pay up as they don’t know the rules.

 

[Jason71]

I once got a ticket for parking in a carpark without displaying a valid Tax disk ( yes it was a while back) despite the fact that it was entirely legal and legitimate that I did not have one that day.
The carpark was directly owned and operated by the DVLA at one of their offices and the ticket was issued by DVLAs own security. It was quickly withdrawn when I pointed them to the relevant exception on their own website

 

[WllXM]

I would like to share my experience in hope that another reader will see and challenge incorrect Penalty Charge Notices (PCN) received while charging in Source London bays.

At the end of 2022, I parked in Launceston Place, Kensington and Chelsea, London and charged using a Source London charger. I had checked the night before on the Source London site that "All Source London on-street charge points include parking, so you don’t have to worry about paying for additional parking fees when using on-street Source London charge points, even in Central London."

However, I returned to find I had a PCN issued. I appealed the decision, providing the Source London website information and my charging receipt and it was cancelled.

I've too found out that RBKC only recruits parking wardens with an IQ lower than their anal temperature.
The Launceston Place EV bay was created very recently, probably mid-November. I wouldn't be surprised that whoever gave you that PCN was oblivious to their surroundings and just went on like the entire street was still resident parking only. Good thing you got it cancelled. At 65p/kWh you surely hope parking is included.... Sadly I'm not sure that it means the warden has learned it, though...

 

[Jason71]

I've too found out that RBKC only recruits parking wardens with an IQ lower than their anal temperature.
The Launceston Place EV bay was created very recently, probably mid-November. I wouldn't be surprised that whoever gave you that PCN was oblivious to their surroundings and just went on like the entire street was still resident parking only. Good thing you got it cancelled. At 65p/kWh you surely hope parking is included.... Sadly I'm not sure that it means the warden has learned it, though...

I have always thought there should be a penalty for incorrect parking tickets / charges. At the moment it feels like there is no incentive not to just ticket everyone and everything and then the onus is on you to prove yourself innocent.
I appreciate that would then reduce the chances of them admitting a mistake, but you could halve the penalty if they admit their mistake straightaway but then increase it if it has go to an ombudsman.
I wonder if anyone ever taken a council or parking company to the small claims court for damages over an incorrect parking ticket/charge?

 

[WllXM]

I have always thought there should be a penalty for incorrect parking tickets / charges. At the moment it feels like there is no incentive not to just ticket everyone and everything and then the onus is on you to prove yourself innocent.
I appreciate that would then reduce the chances of them admitting a mistake, but you could halve the penalty if they admit their mistake straightaway but then increase it if it has go to an ombudsman.
I wonder if anyone ever taken a council or parking company to the small claims court for damages over an incorrect parking ticket/charge?

Actually I believe that several subcontractors used by councils do the opposite and incentivise their workforce by the number of PCNs issued / collected.
Not sure that their accountability system would allow for "double damage" for challenged/cancelled PCNs but I would definitely welcome it.
Docking pay would definitely make them more careful.


On the other hand and back on topic I'm now seeing a trend of people 'fake charging' on dedicated EV bays by plugging in but 'forgetting' to start a session with payment info. Most bays are now blinking red instead of blue when this happens but I've yet to see a PCN issued for this antisocial behaviour. Lack of proper training of wardens I guess. But then the case of legitimate users encountering a malfunctioning / out of order charger would need to be addressed too.

 

[Jason71]

Actually I believe that several subcontractors used by councils do the opposite and incentivise their workforce by the number of PCNs issued / collected.
Not sure that their accountability system would allow for "double damage" for challenged/cancelled PCNs but I would definitely welcome it.
Docking pay would definitely make them more careful.


On the other hand and back on topic I'm now seeing a trend of people 'fake charging' on dedicated EV bays by plugging in but 'forgetting' to start a session with payment info. Most bays are now blinking red instead of blue when this happens but I've yet to see a PCN issued for this antisocial behaviour. Lack of proper training of wardens I guess. But then the case of legitimate users encountering a malfunctioning / out of order charger would need to be addressed too.

I used to catch people at work doing that when I worked somewhere with a couple of L2 chargers but not enough parking
This should also be double the PCN but as you say harsh on someone whose charging fails and they come back to a flat battery AND a PCN but in my limited experience ( not on these chargers) there is usually a visible difference in between the two. AND if your charge fails after you walk away you would be billed for the bit you used so you should have some sort of receipt to show you were legitimately using the the charger.

 

[Tony Hoyle]

The local council handled out of order chargers by explicitly writing on them you would get a PCN for not charging even if the charger was faulty.. I'm not sure how strict they would be if it eg. failed after 5 minutes but these were 7kw chargers that didn't often fail like that.

 

[Tintin825]

Well done for researching before parking and therefore knowing that charging fees included parking. Was it a Penalty Charge Notice or a Parking Charge Notice? As the PCN was issued arguably negligently did you try and claim any costs?

It was a Penalty Charge Notice. I did not pay any fine, so other than my time, it cost me nothing.

 

[Tintin825]

I've too found out that RBKC only recruits parking wardens with an IQ lower than their anal temperature.
The Launceston Place EV bay was created very recently, probably mid-November. I wouldn't be surprised that whoever gave you that PCN was oblivious to their surroundings and just went on like the entire street was still resident parking only. Good thing you got it cancelled. At 65p/kWh you surely hope parking is included.... Sadly I'm not sure that it means the warden has learned it, though...

I do sometimes lower the current so I get longer time at Source London without incurring idle charges. The parking is so expensive in Kensington that its almost a "free" charge

 

[Cardo]

I do sometimes lower the current so I get longer time at Source London without incurring idle charges. The parking is so expensive in Kensington that its almost a "free" charge

Park over the border in Westminster and all you have to pay is the minimum charge for the bay and stay the maximum allowed. It’s generally around 85p for a 4 hour stay.

 

[AlexMasters]

Source are a massive PITA to get a session going on pay as you go and also very expensive. I'd get my own back for the latter by setting my charge current limit to 1A. Cheap parking then, compared to a meter!

 

[WllXM]

Source are a massive PITA to get a session going on pay as you go and also very expensive. I'd get my own back for the latter by setting my charge current limit to 1A. Cheap parking then, compared to a meter!

They're on Bonnet, and, recently, on Octopus Electric Universe, which makes using them a breeze now.

And afaik can't go lower than 5A, but still beats RBKC ~£4/hr parking... and that's the 'EV discount' rate. Diesels pay 6...