Thanks for your advice- I wrote to the hospital - and received a reply today saying that they have written to PE to ask them to reconsider. I also filed the appeal on the PE site before the dealine, so I'll have to wait and see what they come back with.

1 Date of the infringement 22/11/16 2 Date on the NTK 02/12/16 3 Date received 08/12/16 4 Does the NTK mention schedule 4 of The Protections of Freedoms Act 2012? Yes 5 Is there any photographic evidence of the event? Black picture of car lights and Reg Plate 6 Have you appealed? About to Have you had a response? N/A 7 Who is the parking company? Parking Eye 8. Where exactly [carpark name and town] Bath Royal United Hospital A&E Drop/Pick Up Bay

Can anyone point in me in the right direction for a mitigating circumstances appeal for a PE ticket for overstaying in a 20 min free bay at A&E? It is not pay and display at all (only 3 bays) - but following emergency admission with youngest son (11th this year- life-threatening brittle asthma) ) - didn't get to move the car for 40 mins. Have another 7 days to appeal.

FINALLY ... after much to-ing and fro-ing I have a result. I had to email the CEO again - because I did not receive a reply to my first email (Thanks for the draft Tingy!). I did however receive a few nonsensical account updates and a very silly letter, all apparently written in retrospect and including calculations that bore no resemblence to outstanding sums on my account - hence the follow up mail. The second email was responded to almost immediately - resulting in a conversation littered with pontifications about "policy" and "procedures" etc ... but eventually concluded with my account being put "On Hold" until the end of April to allow the remaining £40 to be cleared as requested - without attracting Court Costs or a Liability Order. Hooray!

I just wanted to update on the current situation. I have had no reply to my letter - but I have received a revised bill - with revised schedule of repayment starting in December 2010 - through to March 1st 2011! This was dated 08/03/11. The amount of the scheduled payments exceeds the stated Balance Outstanding figure by over £20 - and quite frankly makes no sense whatsoever!! Hey ho ... the saga continues!! (I am, however, continuing to pay a weekly fixed amount via Internet banking - irrespective of the non-sensical communication from the CT Office!). I'll keep you updated as the situation unfolds

Of course ... the only annoying thing about the LO when you ARE obviously paying - especially when they use the "end of Financial Year" excuse - is the added court costs

dx has a point about paying directly. I've been paying mine weekly since late last year by internet banking. (My arrears were created in November last year by a recalculation - and overpayment of CTB across a period of 18 months totalling around £240). My arrears are now £90 - but they still insist on me paying it by the end of the Financial Year or have a liability order! If you phone them - they can put your account "on hold" for a month, but after this they continue the recovery process even if you are paying regularly. Having said that - if you are paying and continue to pay regularly - even if they get the LO, you should be OK as long as you keep up the payments until it's cleared. In my personal experience - they only get really pedantic and heavy when they get nothing at all!

I've PM'd you with all the figures - no bailiff threats yet, just the prospect of £130 court costs to come to an arrangement for an amount less than £100!!

Not Bristol City Council by any chance, is it? They pretty much said the same thing to me!!

It's Bristol City Council. I know what they're saying is absolute tosh - but trying to discuss the matter with them is impossible! It took me almost 8 months to sort out the overpayment problem in the first place because they kept getting the calculations wrong ..... It's the stance on Court action that annoys me - even when it is obvious I'm paying regularly and the arrears were a result of an administrative error their end. (My accounts with them have always been paid on time and have never been in arrears at any of my addresses under BCC!)8-)

Hi. I have just received a Reminder Notice from the council about "arrears" on my account and despite contacting them they refuse to budge or accept any payment arrangement other than "In Full before the end of the financial year". The situation arose last year when I contacted the Council to inform them of a change in circumstances. They realised that they had not updated my account with my reported change in circumstances (childcare & rent)- firstly in June 2008 - and again in September 2009 when my daughter started school and ceased attending Nursery. The upshot was that my Council Tax & Housing Benefit claim was re-calculated for the whole period - and I was required to send in (again) evidence of childcare costs, income, bank statements covering an 18 month period. The whole situation dragged on for MONTHS because it was nigh on impossible to speak to the person actually dealing with my case. Letter tennis and mammoth phone calls ensued ... and finally we agreed on a figure of overpayment. (Although I was a bit miffed because I thought that my claim was accurate as I had informed them of my change in circumstances - as is required - but despite them acknowledging this they had not updated my claim). So, as it stands, with the Housing Benefit claim, my payments have been reduced by £9.90 per week to recover the overpayment. No problem there - all agreed and ticking along nicely. However, due to the recalculation, my Council Tax account for 2008/9 2009/10 2010/11 were also recalculated using the revised figures generated by Housing Benefit - and this resulted in "Arrears" being added to my previously "paid "accounts. I was issued with a new "Bill" showing these amounts outstanding with an installment plan to clear the balance within 4 months. I contacted them and asked if I could make an arrangement - as to clear 18 months of a miscalcuated claim over 4 months was going to be difficult - and it wasn't enitrely my fault that it had come about in the first place. Answer? NO. Apparently, payment arrangements cannot be entered into UNTIL you default. So ... I just paid them direct the samne amount every week using my online banking facility - and have continued to pay each week. The balance now stands at £90.00 I received the letter this morning so I called them and explained that I could not afford to pay the "arrears" at more than I was paying at the moment. I was told that I had 2 options: 1: Put my account on "hold" for 31 days - after which the Recovery process would recommence 2: Sign up for Direct Debit and they could discuss a repayment plan I explained that I was paying regularly and that I intend to clear the balance - but I just cannot afford to pay more just because they want it cleared by the end of the month! I was told that "we are following Legislation and are unable to make arrangements outside of the scope" (RUBBISH) So, as it stands at the moment, I will continue to pay my fixed amount each week - but at the end of March they will send me another Recovery letter. The balance at that point will probably be about £40. (My new bill will be due - but should be calculated correctly and the installments should be manageable.) My question is, after the 31 days are up - and they send me another letter, are they likely to issue a liability order (along with the associated court costs) if I am continuing to pay regularly and it is obvious that the amount will be cleared within a few weeks? It just seems a bit heavy handed that they are unwilling to accept a payment arrangement that is affordable - by using the "Legislation has our hands tied" line - along with the highly irritating "well, we've given you an extra month to pay anyway" line. (Should be over 12 months and not 10 in my opinion!) Obviously I want to avoid any court costs - and will borrow the money if I have to - but it seems daft that my council aren't willing to compromise, when it is obvious that I am not refusing to pay - I am just not paying as much as they would like me to in order to clear the account before the end of the financial year!

Just to let you all know - the email sent to jeremy.darroch@bskyb.com worked a treat. All problems now sorted - due to being allocated a designated "handler" for the problems, credits issued (with a £60.00 extra credit for all the hassle)- account up to date and many apologies. Seems that the email route is a good option. Thanks for the advice

Got the TV back on - after much pontificating. Had to set up a new Direct Debit - but the operator was quite helpful - and said he'd cancel it as soon as TV was restored (finally got a sensible person - he was quite shocked but not surprised at the history of the problem) . He also sent ANOTHER email to the Back Orifice (sorry ... Office) - gave them my dormant savings account details anyway - so not too bothered. Sent Email as suggested - so will wait and see 8)

Thanks - will try that! Nothing ventured and all .....

Sorry if this sounds like a bit of a rant - but I'm quite literally champing at the bit at the mo!! Back in October 2009 - I decided to upgrade my Sky Talk package from their standard Evening and Weekend tariff - to the £5 per month Anytime (which allows landline calls at anytime - including USA & Australia) for up to an hour for free. I also have a TV package and Broadband with them - which I am (relatively) happy with - so decided this would be a viable option - as I have to make several overseas calls a few times a month. However, despite everything being "confirmed" by Email - when my bill was issued on 15th November, my new package was not active and I had been charged throughout October for all my calls. So, I called them - as you would. They assured me that it was purely a glitch and that the calls would be credited on next month's bill - and apologised for the inconvenience. 15th December - my bill came in - and what a surprise - another £50 of call charges and NO upgrade OR credit. SO - I called again. Once again - I was told that an email had been sent to the "back office" - but it was still pending and should be sorted in the next few days. I was advised to cancel my Direct Debit - and call on 28th to pay for my other services - as the credit would show later in the month. It was also suggested that I did NOT use my telephone until the package had been sorted in case charges were still applied - oh but STILL pay for the rental!!! HELLO????? NOT USE MY PHONE OVER CHRISTMAS????? (Different Planet these people) 28th December - I called to pay for my TV & Broadband. The operator applied the "pending credit" and took £2.27 from me to CLEAR my account to date. She advised that once the January bill came in - all should be sorted and I could reinstate my DD. SO ... Friday last week - I receive a letter demanding payment of the credit amount - so I CALLED AGAIN. The operator was very helpful and spent quite a while trying to sort things out for me - as apparently the credit had still NOT been actioned. Someone had actually managed to apply 2 CALL PACKAGES to my line - which is why I was still being charged! She assured me that a "note" had been placed on my account to prevent suspension of services - as it was their error - and another email had been sent to the elusive "Back Office Personnel" - who are unable to be contacted by anyone outside of SKY .... TODAY - I come home with 3 kids - only to find that my TV service has been suspended - and on calling them, am told that "although the credit is being processed" you will have to pay the amount to reinstate your services and wait for the credit!!. I pointed out that I had made several calls to them - and that the problem is at their end - so why should I have to pay out for something they KNOW is being processed and will be applied (even though they STILL haven't upgraded my phone package!!!!!) - just to have my TV service. I was told that their SYSTEM only checks for outstanding balances and suspends service until it is paid - so I can either GO WITHOUT MY TV SERVICE or PAY THE AMOUNT AND WAIT FOR THE CREDIT! No doubt my Broadband service will be suspended next - and what is the alternative? Virgin Media?? They're just as bad! My question is, what would the best course of action be? As my call package has STILL not been upgraded (and call charges are accumulating on my account) - and the CREDIT I was promised at the end of October has still not come to fruition - AND now they have suspended my TV Service - what can I do?? Any ideas anyone? Sorry for the rant - but the kids are climbing the walls without Batman and Peppa Pig tonight!!