Just been given a PCN for £60 for going over the time limit. Paid £5.50 for 4 hours.
Emergency admission for my son - T1 diabetic, high blood sugars and in excruciating head pain. Being T1, he has immediate access to the children's ward (until he transfers to Adult Care). Anyway, the hours tick by, and I'm speaking to consultants, E&T and down to X-rays. Finally get out at around 1pm to find the PCN.
Never had issues before when we've over-run with emergencies, but looks like the parking company are being bar stewards. We're regular visitors with both me, my son and my mother in law, and pay a fortune in parking.
I've appealed explaining I was on my own and was waiting to see what the consultants were saying.
And to top it off, they have put my reg plate down incorrectly on the PCN, so it's not valid anyway, as my reg plate was entered correctly on my parking ticket.
Oh, and I have to go back again and pay for more parking to collect his prescription.
Grrr.
****s. Hopefully your appeal is successful.
Our hospital charges on exit as how the hell does anyone know how long there going to be?
Mind you I have free car parking now which is great. I did nave to get Cancer but every cloud has it's Silver lining.
Crazy to penalise people for emergency.
Try contacting the hospital? They should be able to get their contractors to quash it, and are more likely to have a soul than parking enforcement agencies.
And to top it off, they have put my reg plate down incorrectly on the PCN, so it’s not valid anyway, as my reg plate was entered correctly on my parking ticket.
It's a shame you've appealed. Maybe have a look on Pepipoo to see if it's enforceable now you've made contact.
A parkng ticket whilst my sister was dying in the ITU was met with a swift quashing and an apology. How does anyone know how long an emergency is going to last? The hospital will be more understanding. Youve already shown intent to pay after all.
And being a minor - you could not have left him on his own anyway - he can't consent to any treatment (children provide assent).
How does anyone know how long an emergency is going to last?
How do the parking officers know a vehicle is parked due to an emergency?
It's a while since I've been to hospital thankfully, but last time I went you could get your ticket validated if you were there 'genuinely' as opposed to just visiting. Things may have changed, but it does seem bonkers to penalise you in the case of an emergency.
Yup, should be a parking office bear main reception, staffed by decent human beings.
They're usually very understanding about situations like this.
Yup, should be a parking office bear main reception, staffed by decent human beings.
Don't they get a bit grizzly?
It's a good point actually, I'm 99% sure there's one at my local hospital.
😔
Lol^
We just take a ticket at the barrier and pay at the machine on exit.
Stafford hospital has 3 different visitor parking schemes. Standard visitors, who probably have a good idea how long they're going to stay for, have pay on exit. A&E make you buy tickets in advance, Blue badge users have to walk to a pay and display machine then go back to their car and put the ticket in the window.
I’ve had a couple of these incident.
When my daughter was born my wife went down with Strep A and nearly died. As they didn’t know if the infection had crossed the placenta my daughter was placed in SCiBU for a day then given to me and we stayed in a single occupancy room on the maternity ward. I had a parking ticket for a day and stayed nearly a week. I went to the security office and they issued me with an exemption to stick on my dashboard, but that was 10 years ago.
I then had an overnight admission (child with T1) about 4 years ago and went to the same office to see if they could help as I had no idea how long we would be there. They told me that the parking was now out of their control, but they did give me the shift patterns of the 3rd party parking attendants so that I could move the car about without getting caught! Luckily we were away before they clocked in for the day.
Hospital parking for patients is a scam, but NPR cameras and payment on exit would be fairer.
And being a minor – you could not have left him on his own anyway – he can’t consent to any treatment (children provide assent).
Ignoring the fact that your statement does not accurately reflect the decision of the House of Lords in the Gillick case, its difficult to imagine a situation which requires such urgent medical consent that a parent could not go to pay for parking (or the toilet, or a diabetic parent to get something to eat etc) but yet would cause the clinicians caring for that child to not immediately believe that they should do what is reasonable in all the circumstances to promote the child's welfare.
That is not to suggest that it is in the best interests of the child, the parent or the hospital to have to leave the ward to deal with these issues. A sensible hospital would probably look to add Ringo or similar to allow you to top up from the bedside if necessary; although I suspect half their battle is keeping enough spaces free for parents/visitors by keeping the staff out those spaces.
I once went in for an x-ray and had to stay for 5 days... A nice nurse said that she'd let the car park people know so that I wouldn't have to wait. She either forgot or it didn't work out, so the machine tried to charge me nearly £100 to get out. Once I found the right people to talk to on the phone, they just put the barrier up and let me out for free though.
my reg plate down incorrectly on the PCN
If they don't have your correct reg plate, how could they contact you if you just didn't pay???
Contact the PALS dept at the hospital. Be polite, reasonable and explain what happened and why. The fact you’ve paid something demonstrates you weren’t trying to get away with parking for free.
I’d be astonished if they didn’t revoke it.
The private company are just doing what they’re paid to do by the hospital.
How do the parking officers know a vehicle is parked due to an emergency?
They wouldn't, so getting a ticket shouldn't be a suprise. But given the circumstance the appeal should be successful.
This is it, I'll see what happens - just in-case the bar stewards photo'ed the car. They can't trace the car. I'll also add in they put my car down as grey, when it's a light metallic silver as there are 'grey' cars in the range (it's a minor niggle) but they wouldn't be able to charge.
The PCN is issued in a different vehicle's reg, so not enforceable. There is no NPR system.
I quite often park at a local supermarket if I know it's under 2 hours, then go and buy something from there. Over 2 hours, I'll get robbed by the hospital parking contractor.
I was amazed that the parking was free at the Merthyr Tydfil A&E - BPW local hospital. Only problem was you don't get seen cos they have no staff! LoLZ.
Any of you complaining should visit the wonderful Queen Alexander hospital in Portsmouth. Then you'll have something to rant about.
First half hour free, pay on exit. Three of us arrive at 2 machines and I'm all polite "you first". Then they both fanny around for ages, dropping change, getting cards mixed up. I'm next wave my card at the doodah, all done. 31 minutes. Boo!
I would assume they have the correct reg - otherwise they wouldn't have been able to trace you - and have simply copied it incorrectly when issuing the PCN. So maybe an appeal on the grounds of "not my car, guv" might just get the correct ticket issued? I'm only guessing, though.
"Grey" is probably close enough, I'd highly doubt it says "light metallic silver" on the V50.
I thought these private parking companies could not enforce there penalty charges. they can only charge a reasonable amount for overstaying.
Get proper advice tho.
I've appealed on the fact of the emergency admission, and speaking to consultants etc during the time the ticket ran out.
they can only charge a reasonable amount for overstaying.
Having recently become a third hand expert via my wife's parking ticket adventures I would say:
Yes. Thanks to a landmark case some while ago.
Where there is a clearly defined fee for parking somewhere, they can recover precisely that fee and no more. Because that's exactly what the parking company have lost by means of you overstaying.
The PCN notices for masses of money are stinky winky TV licensing "authority" style hard man tactics to scare and distress you out of more money. And suck donkey balls for being so.
This is very different in a "free" parking type area where the benefits are less clearly defined (e.g. max 2 hours at a supermarket type thing) and I believe any charges are enforceable here. Here the local shop might have e.g. missed receiving a large delivery of something from a lorry, because the lorry couldn't park.
bear-uk
Member
Lol^
Ffs, don't panda to him, it only encourages him 🙂.
The carpark at our local prison is free.
At our NHS Trust immediate NOK and admitted/seen by ED patients can generally get either free (on presenting proof of admission in the latter case) or heavily discounted (with a form signed by nursing staff, for the former) parking.
NOK who are attending regularly can get heavily discounted parking also.
Whilst paying for parking at hospitals is a contentious issue, for many trusts who have city centre sites and thus parking that gets used and abused by non-hospital visitors, its unfortunately a requirement. There is also the cost of up-keeping and controlling said parking and, as a nurse myself, I'd rather that cost came out of visitors pockets rather than the trust's own budget, which would potentially reduce funds for direct patient care.
One of the most annoying things is that the trust I work for funds an excellent, cheap bus service that runs between the three hospital sites, from and via various park and ride sites around the city, yet many people still choose to drive and and queue for ages to get parked.
As for the OP's issue, speak to the hospital PALS team. They are often very effective at sorting things like this out.
Been back this evening and parked at Sainsbury's. Collected prescription. Nurses encouraged me to complain as it's distressing parents of children. They even said complain to the Hospital as the parking company is taking things too far - the senior nurse also said I wouldn't have been 'allowed off ward' when the consultants were there.
Great advice above - the rates were clearly displayed. Upto 4 hours £5.50, over 4, £8.00. Happy to pay the difference.
My understanding is that parking in all Welsh hospitals is free - done by Welsh Government. Had similar when my mum was dying of cancer, but in fairness they gave us free passes but it added to the stress trying to get hold of them.
Parking charges are a huge revenue stream for NHS Trusts in England, from visitors and staff.
My understanding is that parking in all Welsh hospitals is free – done by Welsh Government.
It is, but as the Welsh assembly funds the NH in Wales it's a choice. Free parking means less money for something else. I'm not saying free parking is wrong but you have to accept something else has to give.
It's not a complete free for all though. You can get fined, at the UHW if you stay for over 4hrs you have to log you reg number on a terminal within the hospital. There all over the place so its not an unreasonable requirements, but people still fail to do so and complain about a fine.
My understanding is that parking in all Welsh hospitals is free – done by Welsh Government.
Correct, although some hospitals have ANPR and you have to type in your reg at reception to get 4 hrs. If you stay longer you either re-enter your reg between 3.5-4 hrs after arriving or if you're stuck on a ward tell one of the nurses/doctors and they'll either phone reception to do it or give you a number to enter in the machine when you're leaving. Works really well at the Heath in Cardiff as otherwise all the students and local businesses take the piss.
I was going to say the unintended (or is it intended) consequence of chargeable parking is it makes the general public a bit more conservative about it's use and not take the piss with a finite resource. But then, are there Scottish or Welsh hospital that have become virtually impossible to park in when you have no choice since the parking charges were dropped? My only recent experience is Raigmore in Inverness and its always been fine.
I thought these private parking companies could not enforce there penalty charges. they can only charge a reasonable amount for overstaying.
No the Supreme Court decided in Beavis v Parking Eye that £85 for staying about 1hr beyond a 2hr free period was not excessive, and landowners should be entitled to charge a fee which is sufficiently high (but not excessive) to incentivise compliance with the parking rules. They haven’t defined excessive but if £85 for overstaying a free space was not excessive I think you’d struggle to argue that £60 in a paid car park was.
Pepipo will be able to advise on likely success of the Reg being wrong. Doubt grey v silver is a winner. Of course if the NHS own the land then you probably stand the most chance with the NHS showing common sense, and if nobody complains the system will just become fully acceptable.
It wasn't that long ago that the very idea of having to pay for hospital parking was seen as abhorrent.
Mind you, we had free dentistry and prescriptions then too.
I'm so glad we've abandoned that horrible, lefty nonsense and a de-regulated free market has worked in the favour of the general population, as it always does.
Bloody socialists.
It's likely that the hospital's contract with the parking vendor has a "don't be a dick" clause - I would be complaining loudly to the trust, who will step-in and have the fine quashed. I expect it happens regularly.
The idea of a parking "fine" when the basic technology exists for you to pay on exit is absurd - particularly in a hospital, when you a) Often have no idea how long you are going to be, and b) can't just wander-off at the drop of a hat to top-up your parking.
TBH it must be tough, not becoming an utter bawbag, when in that job. The way people park in my local place is incredible, cars constantly abandoned at the ER entrance and Ambulance spaces.
If you're on Facebook OP, there's a very good group called 'Private Parking Tickets-help and advice'. They offer free advice and they also provide Template appeal letters. On similar cases to yours, they also advise drivers, to contact Pals at the hospital in question first