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Licence lost after TAO refuses to accept late cheque
Page 32
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Regardless of any Christmas postal delay, the requirement to receive payment of the fee by the due date is clearly set out in the legislation, and repeated in the reminder letters sent out by Traffic Area Offices. Operators need to make doubly sure that payment is made by the due date if they wish to avoid the inconvenience of making a fresh licence application. BIRMINGHAM-BASED Mercian Skip Hire has lost its appeal against the automatic termination of its licence because its annual fee was received six days late by the West Midland Traffic Area Office.
In November 2004 the TAO wrote to remind Mercian that its annual licence fee of £200 was due by 31 December 2004. That letter bore a clear warning that failure to pay by the due date would result in automatic termination of the licence.
On 7 January the TAO wrote again to say that the licence fee had not been received and the licence had therefore been terminated. In fact, the company's cheque was received by the TAO on 6 January, but late payment was declined.
The company appealed to the Transport Tribunal, explaining that the fee cheque had been dispatched by post on 21 December, allowing more than sufficient time for it to reach the TAO by the deadline.
The company queried whether delay in the Christmas post or the annual Christmas-New Year closure of theTA0 was responsible for the non-process of the fee until January 2005.
Dismissing the appeal, the Tribunal said that whether or not the company's cheque had been posted on 21 December, the envelope in which it was received was stamped by the Post Office with the date 5 January 2005.