Fined for a delivery that never arrived!

ITOOK a call to my LBC radio show last week which, on first hearing, I thought must be a scam. It wasn’t but it’s an issue that, potentially, could affect a lot of people. Jane from north London received a letter on September 12 purporting to be from Brent Council Environmental Enforcement fining her £200 for fly-tipping. It provided a link to a photograph of the offending waste – a cardboard box, roughly the size of four shoe boxes – addressed to her. She then received a second letter levying a further fine for dumping the folding chair carried in the box.

Jane discovered the package had been sent to her by Ikea, but had been delivered to the wrong address, so the box and chair had never come into her possession. Ikea had sent replacement goods and an e-voucher as compensation. After Jane explained what happened next, it became clear this was not a scam; instead it was a local authority acting shabbily.

Jane provided evidence to Brent to confirm Ikea had delivered the parcel to the wrong address. It had subsequently been dumped.

While Brent Council has cancelled the fixed penalty in relation to the box, it has refused to budge in relation to the chair – telling Jane she must pay the fine. The council has levied its fine in accordance with section 34(2A) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

This puts an obligation on homeowners to dispose of waste “produced on the property” – by taking it to a local recycling centre or leaving it out for refuse collection.

Jane did not breach this, as neither the box nor the chair reached her house and could not therefore be defined as waste “produced at the property”.

Brent Council confirms these fines are levied “up and down the country” and has threatened to take her to court if she fails to pay up.

I have now written to them on Jane’s behalf to highlight why they should be ripping up the fine and apologising, rather than threatening her with court action.

Given the volume of online shopping and courier deliveries across the UK, this is an issue you need to be aware of when ordering products to be delivered to your home.