Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 54 total)
  • Parking fine again, what to do?
  • 29erKeith
    Free Member

    Popped in to the local Lidl to pick up a couple of bits on my way home, it’s a 90 mins free parking press the button thing. I didn’t press the button, it was the evening and the car park was empty I was there 5 mins and got a ticket.

    So do I just pay up £60 or do I try to get it reduced\cancelled?

    To be fair I was bang to rights, I didn’t bother with the ticket, but I hate these companies in general. My first ever parking ticket I might add.

    £60 rising to £100 just seems a bit steep for a 5 mins trip to the shops when the car park was empty

    zokes
    Free Member

    My first ever parking ticket I might add.

    but:

    Parking fine again, what to do?

    scandal42
    Free Member

    Whatever you do, do not pay a single penny.

    What you have received is an invoice, not a penalty notice (only issuable by council bodies and police)

    This invoice is not enforceable regardless of the threatening letter that you WILL receive.

    http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/private-parking-tickets

    scandal42
    Free Member

    Oh and whatever you do, do not engage in communication with the parking compny, simply ignore.

    martinhutch
    Full Member

    You’re not bang to rights, though, are you? You’re a genuine customer who didn’t even overstay.

    Previously, you could have ignored it completely with virtually no chance of comeback, but nowadays it seems they have more powers to chase you up. Pepipoo forums would be your best bet for some tailored advice. I guess you’d go down the ‘what loss have they actually suffered’ route, which is zero, of course.

    Oh, and make sure you keep the store receipt.

    Cougar
    Full Member

    They can pursue you for damages to redress their losses. So on a free car park, they’d be able to take you to court to claim the £0.00 they’re out of pocket.

    Unless the ticket was issued by or on behalf of the council, ignore them.

    Bregante
    Full Member

    From that money saving expert link

    DO remember this is about fighting UNFAIR tickets
    DON’T get caught out by illegal clamping
    DO print the Glove Box Parking Guide
    DON’T assume the driver’s liable for the ticket
    DO gather evidence if you plan to appeal

    I think the first thing to consider is whether the ticket was UNFAIR

    29erKeith
    Free Member

    Zokes – “again” as in I’ve seen it come up on here before

    I thought the ignore thing had changed?

    The more complicated bit is I was driving my brothers car, and he wife’s the worrying type. Exactly the type these company’s prey on, although I was bang to rights, I just dislike their tactics in general.

    zokes
    Free Member

    Zokes – “again” as in I’ve seen it come up on here before

    Ah, sorry 😳

    29erKeith
    Free Member

    Brigante – Unfair? Not in the way it was issued, no.
    unfair as in it’s an extortionate charge for 5 mins in an empty car park yes.

    martinhutch
    Full Member

    I wouldn’t get caught up in an appeal. The ‘militant approach’ detailed on the MoneySavingExpert link there seems more straightforward.

    If it’s your brother’s car, though, it’s pretty much out of your hands, because they may pay up for a quiet life.

    cp
    Full Member

    the letters some of these companies send out are laughable – poor English, random capitalisation, random ramblings. just hilarious. best ignored…

    theotherjonv
    Full Member

    Read this thread and then make your own decision whether you can ignore it, like the old advice used to be.

    http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/parking-eye

    I would certainly suggest that you don’t pay if you are minded that it is unfair, but you might need to be prepared to stand your ground a bit more actively than just ignoring it if my sister’s case is anything to go by.

    flicker
    Free Member

    Appealed a ticket with UK CPS last year, with the rule change last year it is not neccessarily the best idea to ignore as some companies can and will take you to court.

    We raised an appeal with the company first – rejected (there’s a surprise 😀 )
    POPLA appeal – the parking companies don’t like this at all as they have to pay POPLA for each and every appeal.

    POPLA upheld the appeal on the basis trhe car park was free so no loss to the car park owners. Parking company are not allowed to include their operational costs, which they all try to justify.

    Our heinous crime was my wife parking in a disabled bay with no badge on display.

    jambalaya
    Free Member

    £60 rising to £100 just seems a bit steep for a 5 mins trip to the shops when the car park was empty

    The parking is free, the fine is for not displaying a ticket/pressing the button.

    Our heinous crime was my wife parking in a disabled bay with no badge on display.

    In fairness to the parking company they cannot tell that you are a legitimate user of the space.

    Lots of useful advice here and I’ve learnt from the thread. I recently got a Hammersmith and Fulham charge overturned and if you think you are in the right it’s always worth appealing. The “I forgot a ticket” isn’t much of a defence though. Put yourself in the parking attendant shoes, he/she is issuing a ticket/penalty based upon what they see and the rules, in the LIDL case and Disabled Bay one above the attendant is just doing their job.

    OP, I would definitely do something about the ticket, just ignoring it seems a bad move to me.

    njee20
    Free Member

    Our heinous crime was my wife parking in a disabled bay with no badge on display.

    Is that what you mean, or do you mean:

    Our heinous crime was my wife parking in a disabled bay despite not being disabled.

    Because the latter (whilst tempting) is a dickish thing to do.

    TrekEX8
    Free Member

    Seeing as it’s your brother’s car, I’d try and sort it out to stop him and his wife getting a string of unpleasant letters.

    The only thing I would try is going into the store and explaining the situation – I think they can cancel it.

    Otherwise, to keep your brother and his wife sweet, I’d just pay it and move on.

    flicker
    Free Member

    njee20 – Member

    Our heinous crime was my wife parking in a disabled bay with no badge on display.

    Is that what you mean, or do you mean:

    Our heinous crime was my wife parking in a disabled bay despite not being disabled.

    Because the latter (whilst tempting) is a dickish thing to do.

    No, definitely the first one.

    You’re assuming my wife isn’t disabled, didn’t explain this and send copies of her badge to the parking company and that the badge wasn’t in plain view, just not on the dashboard 😉

    flicker
    Free Member

    TrekEX8 – Member

    Seeing as it’s your brother’s car, I’d try and sort it out to stop him and his wife getting a string of unpleasant letters.

    The only thing I would try is going into the store and explaining the situation – I think they can cancel it.

    Otherwise, to keep your brother and his wife sweet, I’d just pay it and move on.

    Simply appeal the PCN and name yourself as the driver, all correspondence will then go to you not the registered keeper. Brother and wife are then clear and can fret about something else 🙂

    sbob
    Free Member

    29erKeith – Member

    I thought the ignore thing had changed?

    It has.
    Previously, the contract would have been between the unknown driver (could be anyone using the car) and the parking company, now they have the right to chase the registered keeper of the vehicle, irrespective of who was driving.

    I was driving my brothers car

    Sweet, his problem. 😆

    Cougar’s point about about occurring no losses is pertinent, have a read here about ParkingEye losing such a case.
    Read the whole court transcription, especially when the Judge awards the defendant costs, it really is priceless! 🙂

    BoardinBob
    Full Member

    Don’t pay but don’t ignore it
    Go to Pepipoo for proper advice
    Assuming the ticket issuer is part of POPLA, appeal to the parking company which will be rejected then appeal through POPLA using guidance from Pepipoo
    This will cost the parking company £27
    Win at POPLA using the proper guidance from Pepipoo
    Cost to you = £0

    ourmaninthenorth
    Full Member
    hora
    Free Member

    I wish there were parking fines for all the people who park in baby/toddler spaces in supermarkets etc etc. Even if its for 5mins.

    Saves everyones cars from being door-dinged too when access to a rear door is hindered. Lazy ****.

    deadlydarcy
    Free Member

    Just skimmed down through that case in Brizzle. Mr Gopal was well and truly pwned. 😆

    Cougar
    Full Member

    Wait up.

    The parking is free, the fine is for not displaying a ticket/pressing the button.

    Private companies cannot issue fines, that would be illegal.

    The car park is free. Therefore, they appear to have invoiced you for not pressing a button.

    sbob
    Free Member

    Always be wary of advice given on Pepipoo.
    Although they have helped a lot of people out, they keep very quiet about the cases people lose after following their advice.

    theotherjonv
    Full Member

    +1

    And i would worry that if you don’t follow appropriate process by appealing the ticket in the proper way first, and just ignore until the day the court papers drop through the door* and then start to rely on the fact it’s an unfair / illegal contract, etc., if it does go against you you’ll be more harshly treated for not having followed process.

    * which can and does happen far more easily since the law change. in the past they could ONLY pursue the driver but could only get the details of the keeper. And if the keeper wasn’t the driver, or even denied being the driver, they couldn’t summons the keeper instead. Now if you don’t disclose the driver the keeper becomes liable, hence if you ignore your brother will be getting a court date at some time in the future**

    ** perhaps – but would you take the risk.

    jamesgarbett
    Free Member

    I recently won an appeal against Excel parking services who wanted to charge me £60 rising to £100 for failing to buy a £1.20 ticket.

    I went through the process described above. Appealed to Excel, they rejected it but sent me an appeal code which I then used to lodge an appeal with POPLA. Several weeks later they emailed to say my appeal was successful on the grounds that Excel had not suffered anywhere near £60 worth of loss or damages.

    29erKeith
    Free Member

    jamesgarbett – Can I ask what you put in your initial appeal? Any reason for not getting your ticket? or were you purely focused on loss\damages and left it at that?

    MartynS
    Full Member

    As several have said, don’t ignore this. The old advice was to ignore.. if its parking eye really don’t ignore them. They do try it on at court

    to take the hassle away from your Brother do a soft appeal to them as the driver so they are contacting you and not the registered keeper (your bro I guess)

    Appeal using advice from MSE or Pepipoo. This will be rejected. They should give you a POPLA code.
    You then appeal to POPLA using the argument of “not a genuine pre-estimate of loss”

    This appeal will almost certainly go in your favour.
    Its a bit of hassle but it avoids court papers

    jamesgarbett
    Free Member

    Hi Keith – feel free to email me but basically the initial appeal is irrelevant as the parking company will always reject it. All you want them to do is send you a POPLA appeal code. Then you submit the proper appeal to POPLA but you need the code to do it.

    I think I just forgot to get a ticket as I was waiting in the car for someone to nip into a shop – feeble excuse and I would have been happy to pay them £1.20 after the event but not £60. The car park was half empty so it wasn’t as if I was preventing someone else from parking (and paying).

    martinhutch
    Full Member

    That court transcript is one of the funniest things I’ve read for ages.

    Judge Melville-Shreeve is my new hero!

    29erKeith
    Free Member

    Right all sounds good, I think I’ll appeal on the basis of the’ve lost sod all and I was in and out and it would have been free I just thought it was ok in the evening so didn’t press the button, cheers all

    mattsccm
    Free Member

    Morally?
    You were wrong . Pay up. You broke the rules.
    legally and on here. Lie and avoid responsibility where possible. It the modern way.

    29erKeith
    Free Member

    That took longer than i expected 🙄

    Lie! I’m not going to lie about anything!

    The point of these parking charges is to stop people parking there all day for free, popping on the train and taking spaces from people who want to use the shops there. I parked for 5 mins and used the shops, there were half a dozen cars there out of 100+ spaces. I wrongfully assumed that in the evening nobody would be ticketing so didn’t bother pressing the button, so £60 is fair for that given the circumstances?

    Morally what an awful person I am

    Now if this company operated as the other local supermarket’s parking company does where they have a 2 hour limit and they have a man wondering around inputting registration numbers into a handheld, looking for breaches and then issuing tickets, I’d pay as I would have been breaking the spirit of what it’s intended for, but I wasn’t. These types of company’s seem to have no intention of taking any normal parking charges or stopping abuse of the car park the fines seem to be their primary revenue stream.

    BoardinBob
    Full Member

    You broke the rules.
    legally

    Epic fail. What law has he broken?

    Cougar
    Full Member

    The point of these parking charges is to stop people parking there all day for free

    Nah. The point of them is to make money.

    chewkw
    Free Member

    Cougar – Moderator
    Nah. The point of them is to make money.

    ^^^ To make money. Fact.

    🙄

    29erKeith
    Free Member

    The shops in question are very close to a train station with no parking at all, so that’s what they should be for. I agree that’s certainly not the spirit of how the parking company enforces the rules though

    iolo
    Free Member

    You went into a car park.
    The sign said press this button and get a ticket.
    Put this ticket on your car or they will charge you extortionate money.
    You don’t follow the above simple points.
    You get an extortionate fine.
    Odd that.
    If you add up the time spent studying up on how to get out of paying it including writing all these letters,emails and phone calls then multiply this by however much you get an hour it’s probably cheaper to pay the bill.

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