1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190 
Tribunal doesn't accept blaming the postman
Page 30
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
THE TRANSPORT Tribunal has thrown out an appeal by a Norwich plumbing company that claimed its licence renewal fee had been delayed in the post.
Plumbing & Heating Co (Norwich) lost its appeal against the refusal of the EasternTraffic Commissioner Geoffrey Simms to exercise his discretion and allow late payment due to "exceptional circumstances".
The company held a licence for five vehicles and a trailer. The renewal fee was due at the end of April but was not received by the Traffic Area Office until 5 May. As a consequence the licence automatically terminated.
In refusing to allow late payment of the fee, the TC said that unless he was persuaded there had been something in the nature of a postal dispute he found nothing exceptional.
Before the Transport Tribunal, director Stephen Whiting said that the renewal application had been posted on 22 April and it was harsh to be penalised for late delivery caused by the inefficiencies of the postal service. The area's postal service was so bad that the company's post had to be collected from the local sorting office about three times a week.
Dismissing the appeal, the tribunal said the company had an unblemished operating history and they had some sympathy with the position it found itself in. However, the legislation was clear in relation to late payment of licence fees: termination of the licence would result.The TC's approach could not be criticised. The position might well have been different if the application for licence renewal had been sent by registered post on 22 April. Delays in the postal service do not amount to "exceptional circumstances" enabling a Traffic Commissioner to exercise discretion to allow the late payment of a licence fee. Renewal applications and fees should be sent by registered post.