Paid to park car, but used wrong reg number and now fined :-(

We are on holiday and stopped off at a beach to walk the dog etc.

I did not have enough change, but I did have a decent phone signal so I used a parking App that I must have registered before, but I don’t remember. I paid for 4-5 hours at about £5.00

When we got back to the car we had a parking ticket attached to the windscreen. I checked the App and I had inadvertently used the wrong car registration number 🙁

If I pay within 14 days it is ‘only’ £25. If I contest it says it will be £50.00+

The holiday has not gone smoothly so far so part of me wants to pay and move on to try and prevent any more angst, but another part of me thinks that I should pay the fine or the parking cost, but not both. However, contesting the fine would potentially see me being clocked for another £25.00

What would the hive mind do?

is there a contact number?

Pay £25 and move on.

When this happened to me in Edinburgh ( using the Ringgo app) they were happy to waive the charge when I explained that I had cocked up.

@mikewsmith – There is a number to call to pay and another number for enquiries. It may be worth a call, but I don’t want to waste any more of my holiday in a dispute 🙁

@imnotverygood – Did you contact Ringo or the parking authority?

NB – It’s not Ringo in this case, but I am wondering which company I should contact

I’ve been in a similar situation myself recently; forgot my “bag for life” TWICE this week when I’ve been to Tesco’s for lunch.

I couldn’t concentrate at work all afternoon after forking out 5p for a carrier bag. They’re not even good quality ones and I’ll never use it again, but I resent throwing it in the bin since I paid for it.

It’s just on the floor next to my desk, pisses me off every time I see it. Sorted myself out today and went into TK Maxx and bought a set of combat pants with a shit load of pockets that I can fill with fig rolls/sandwiches/bananas etc (even if it means having to take them out of their individual packets whilst stood at the checkout).

Less is more DT. Don’t go believing the hype…

@ davidtaylforth

Thanks for making me laugh!

Can you send the bags to me to help me feel better? Email in profile!

😉

deadlydarcy – Member
Less is more DT. Don’t go believing the hype…

😀 Point taken; I didn’t put much effort into that one.

Here’s another way to look at it OP; £25 for five hours out on a beach in the fresh air with your dog. Not too bad, there are worse ways to spend £25.

Send them an email / letter and explain.

I’ve done this twice, once as you had done where it picked up a previous reg, and a second time where I made a transposition error with the reg (new car…)

In both cases they waived the fee. It was different car parks, but might well have been the same provider.

I’d spend 5 mins writing a note. The responses from the operator were very prompt, so you should know within 48hrs whether they will waive the fine. I’d reference the fact you’ve paid them before too, doesn’t hurt to show that you’re a previous customer.

@ davidtaylforth

I happily paid £5

Then I got back to the car to find I need to pay another £25

If I argue I have to pay another £50

Thats an expensive dog walk!

I seem to recall there is an address to appeal to on the Ringgo ticket. I have realised that this is for on street council car parking and not a private car park, so attitudes may be different.. Still worth appealing I’d have thought.

Did you put a completely wrong number in or just one or two wrong numbers or letters ? If it’s the latter I’d bet you’d win an appeal.

imnotverygood – Member
When this happened to me in Edinburgh ( using the Ringgo app) they were happy to waive the charge when I explained that I had cocked up.

Had something similar when the app didn’t confirm so I tried again and ended up paying twice. Ringo said it would be refunded but they couldn’t do it themselves and it’s passed onto the council… never got my money back 🙁

If a council car park where you recueved a real fine rather than an “invoice”, and it was a typo on the rev rather than the wrong car entirely, appeal. The council will reject it but push on through to the independent stage and you’ll win that no bother once you show you paid the right amount at the right day/time for almost the right reg number.

I had a similar thing in Edinburgh – I used their phone service to buy a parking ticket, and had to say my registration number. It picked up an “S” as an “F” and when it read it back to me it sounded like an “S”! I think I later logged into a website and got evidence that I’d bought a ticket for that time/place/registration number, then wrote to them (sent it with proof of postage) explaining what had happened. They replied and said they’d waive the fine, but closed with “Don’t ever let it happen again”!

I’ve been in a similar situation myself recently; forgot my “bag for life” TWICE this week when I’ve been to Tesco’s for lunch.

I lost a button off my shirt last week, then it rained.

Dear Car park Co.

Firstly I would like to acknowledge that I am a complete twunt….

Please please please wave my valid fine

In future I won’t be so silly

Yours

Bentandbroken

It’s not a fine….it’s really not a Valid fine….

Are you in Newquay?

Look on pepipoo. Lots of similar cases
You need to appeal, you can get it cancelled.
You don’t owe any extra, you paid for the parking you used. There is no loss just because you mis-typed your reg number.

Contact Speak to them, explain your error and you should be able to get the fine refunded.

There is a number to call to pay and another number for enquiries. It may be worth a call, but I don’t want to waste any more of my holiday in a dispute

Pay the £25 then. And stop wasting time on STW 😉

Or just make a quick call and get an answer from the company…can’t tae longer than logging in and asking here!

Ok, so I wasted a few minutes on Pepipoo and the CAB site. The CAB site was more useful as there was no emotion involved and the information was not up to 5 years old

In summary it’s a PCN. The grounds for a genuine appeal are not relevant in my case. If I appeal the “Cornwall Council” may decide to waive the charge, but this would be at their discretion

The morale of the story seems to be; when you upgrade a smartphone app, make sure that simple things like the default registration number in your parking app have not been ‘reset’ and check the text you receive when parking using a phone/text style payment service

Welcome to Cornwall, have a nice day!

At M360 – phoning them may result in an extra £25 charge as it could be construed as an appeal hence “looking before I leapt” 😉

I doubt there is any legal basis for imposing a 25 quid charge for typing in a registration incorrectly. But anyway it’s highly likely they will waive the charge if you can show them you paid for a reg similar to your car.

It’s not even vaguely similar, it took me ages to realise it’s actually my Mums car and was only on the App as I paid for some parking for her

Had something similar the other week, after months of using the app which defaulted to my car it randomly decided to use a friend’s numberplate which was in the app after paying for some parking a couple of months ago.

Appealed and it was cancelled, but I had a lot of history of parking the car that got fined in this car park on a certain day of the week and evidence that I had paid for parking on that date.

Thing is, most car parks will happily fine you for not displaying your ticket correctly. Sure you paid for a ticket but they are quite strict on not displaying properly and the terms may state that’s a fine. Is that not similar to not correctly entering your reg number in an app? I bet the T&Cs somewhere say it’s your fault.

Though I’d still fight it.

Try this http://www.donotpay.co.uk/signup.php

Are you sure that’s exactly what it says, because I don’t think that’s legal. I thought that for a proper council PCN they actually stopped the 14 days as soon as you lodged an appeal, so you still pay the £25 if you lose. But don’t trust me – I’m sure there is some better information available.

Its not a fine. Its a strongly worded invoice that is not enforceable.

I had one a few years ago when i put my reg no. in then realised when I went to put the ticket in the window that we were in the Mrs car. Didn’t think anything of it. Had an fine style invoice through which I decided to ignore due to the basis I had already paid the fee and would happily state that in court if it ever got to it.

They sent increasingly aggressive letters, threats, debt recovery letters, solicitors letters from 3 different parties that all looked like they were printed from the same printer and set out in exactly the same way (obviously all from the same people).

They eventually gave up and nothing ever came of it. I was happy to stand my ground though as I knew the law and had no moral concerns as I’d actually paid the relevant parking fee.

I would agree with aracer. I am contesting one at the moment (flipped over ticket) If it is a council PCN then the moment you contest everything is put on pause i.e. you still get the grace period at the reduced charge. But as mentioned check:

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/transport/driving-and-parking/parking-tickets/disputing-a-council-issued-parking-ticket/how-to-appeal-against-a-penalty-charge-notice-from-the-council-first-steps/

Those saying just pay, please pay for the O.P. If it’s just £25.

Do this O.P:

1) Contact/call parking car park and explain politely/assertively.

2) Make an appeal/letter with receipt etc.
If you appeal then you don’t pay and they should give you 7-14 days grace to check your facts.

3) Go to ombudsmen if no luck but doubt it will go this far.

Just fought £150 fine and won in court after researching for about 2 hours so I can justify my labour.

I am still waiting for my council decision. But, I am half expecting, from reading forums, that they will continue with the process and only a threat of court will put them off (it costs them lots of time and money). I am of half a mind at the moment to take it to court (small claims).

Just call/ email a nice humble letter to the council/ parking people saying you made a genuine mistake and were genuinely trying to pay the (you paid) the fee.

I’ve had a few things like this with parking where ive had tickets in bournemouth or southampton where tickets had blown off my dashboard/ i put the credit card receipt in as well and that obscured the ticket/ i went over the time limit on an overnight ticket/ phone pay didnt go through etc and a nice letter/ email explaining that you were trying to do the right thing but got it wrong and they should waive it.

If you’ve got evidence that you actually paid but for the incorrect number then paste that in. It really shouldnt be a problem. You could have done it by now instead of posting on here!

Do this O.P:

Or just ring them and tell them what happened.

gravitysucks – Member
Its not a fine. Its a strongly worded invoice that is not enforceable.

It’s a legally enforceable fine if it’s a council car park.

From the council it’s a valid penalty charge notice. However, you have paid for what you used. Appeal. The council will refuse your appeal. Keep going, be strong. Take it to the independent adjudicator and you will be let off.

Trust me, I used to work in traffic management for a local authority. You just have to hold your nerve.