Not sure what guidance they give but three weeks should be plenty of time for them to process a renewal.
I would suggest leaving a note on your car saying that permit has been applied for. You will probably get ticketed and Ealing will probably reject your appeal but I'd be surprised if the adjudicator didn't uphold it. Your responsibility is to display the permit but it is clearly the Council's (Serco's) fault that you couldn't do this. Ideally you'd have a record of the date you sent your application but even if not I would hope the adjudicator would expect Ealing to supply documentation of when your application was received.
You are taking a risk by challenging any tickets but I think the chances of success are good as SERCO/Ealing won't want the spotlight shone on their incompetence. |