Private Parking Ticket Megathread (Part 3)

[Leviathan747 0]

I did have a letter before claim, but ignored it, because it looked like a scam!

[NGower 0]

Hi, I'm looking for advice. I parked at Berkeley Precinct on Eccy Rd which used to be free for two hours. I genuinely thought this was still the case and the signs look they say two hours free. So i parked for 72mins without a ticket and received a fine. 

 

I appealed and went to the obudsman, but they disagree with me and now I have to pay £160 or go to court apparently. I genuinely would've bought a ticket if i thought i had to. The ticket is £1, my fine is 160 times more than this!

 

Anyone else had this problem? Did you pay/ ignore/get taken to court? Please help. I'm a hard-working honest Mum of two who sticks to the rules, this is stressing me out, i can't afford £160.

[dave_the_m 61]

You should take this to the pepipoo or money-savings-experts private parking forums; you'll receive specialist advice there.

 

But in short: they will take you to court. £60 of the £160 is an illegal extra charge which some courts have started to reject. Court charges will amount to an extra £100 + 8% interest if you lose. The supreme court decided that £85 was reasonable for overstaying in a free car park, so the extravagant / no loss argument no longer works . Your strongest defence is probably the poor signage - especially if the signs don't make it clear that a new charge has been introduced. I assume the driver was identified in you earlier appeals. Note that the IAS (assuming that's who you meant by "ombudsman") is not actually independent and rejects around 85% of appeals.

[DerbyTup 10]

I had similar.  I didn't pay.  I ignored all letters.  They kept coming for about 6 months, threats of taking me to Court, etc.  Then they stopped and that was the end of that.  They could have taken me to Court of course.  That may have turned out even more expensive because I'd have been liable for Court costs if I'd lost.  But I was willing to take that risk.  I've been in this situation 3 or 4 times and the same thing happened every time.  They gave up chasing me.  

 

In your case you've responded to them.  That may change the goalposts a bit and they may continue to pursue you.  

 

A friend of mine got caught in Berkeley Precinct.  He was delivering something and was only there a few minutes but he got a "Parking Notice".  He ignored it and it went away eventually.  Of course, this isn't for everyone and I'm not suggesting it's right for you.  

 

There's some good advice on the moneysavingexpert website (a brilliant website for anything financial and it's independent).  Link below:  Good luck!

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

 

[geared 315]

Go back and check the signs, if they've changed it's only recently and there's a chance they didn't bother to change all the signs out yet.

[carosio 186]

5 hours ago, NGower said:

Hi, I'm looking for advice. I parked at Berkeley Precinct on Eccy Rd which used to be free for two hours. I genuinely thought this was still the case and the signs look they say two hours free. So i parked for 72mins without a ticket and received a fine. 

 

I appealed and went to the obudsman, but they disagree with me and now I have to pay £160 or go to court apparently. I genuinely would've bought a ticket if i thought i had to. The ticket is £1, my fine is 160 times more than this!

 

Anyone else had this problem? Did you pay/ ignore/get taken to court? Please help. I'm a hard-working honest Mum of two who sticks to the rules, this is stressing me out, i can't afford £160.

What were the grounds of your appeal? Appeals to the parking organization IPC hardly ever succeed as it's regarded as a kangaroo court. Did you tell them who the driver was, as you are not obliged to.

[NGower 0]

Yes they know it's me. I've asked numerous people and they agree that the signage is not clear. I know someone else who didn't get a ticket and overstayed, but somehow managed to avoid getting fined. 

 

I only have until 18 Nov apparently to pay otherwise they'll take me to court. 

[Mick01 0]

I just got a parking ticket in chesterfield doughnut 6.45 pm got ticket at 7.17 pm I parked in a disabled parking bay showing BB in car is this right.

[RiffRaff 10]

16 minutes ago, Mick01 said:

I just got a parking ticket in chesterfield doughnut 6.45 pm got ticket at 7.17 pm I parked in a disabled parking bay showing BB in car is this right.

Probably.

I think the disabled bays there are simply wider than the norm, to allow car doors to be opened wide(r) if required.

[peak4 279]

On 11/12/2019 at 23:11, Mick01 said:

I just got a parking ticket in chesterfield doughnut 6.45 pm got ticket at 7.17 pm I parked in a disabled parking bay showing BB in car is this right.

At first glance, I'd suggest you may have a problem disputing the ticket; It looks like Chesterfield  allow free BB parking on the street but not carparks.

That said, scan and host all documentation and post it on Pepipoo, where you will get a more comprehensive explanation of your options.

 

Good Luck