To not understand why I have received a parking charge?

[Traurig]

I've received a £100 parking charge from Parking Eye claiming I hadn't bought a ticket whilst out shopping last week. I did buy a ticket, I displayed it on my dashboard and luckily I still have it now (thank goodness for my messy car!)

I have emailed an appeal with a picture of the parking ticket that shows the date, time and correct fee paid. Will I still have to pay the fine?

[perplexedpirate]

Aargh!! How I hate Parking Eye! I'm embroiled with such a ludicrous situation with them at the moment that it's beginning to look like they have acted in my name without my permission and it may even be a case of identity fraud.
They are fuckers of the highest order, do not pay them!

[UterusUterusGhali]

I'm currently ignoring them. It's a civil fine so can't be perused, right?

I haven't acknowledged them.

[Tobyjugg]

There's another thread on here about parking that thrashed this all out. The general view was that you should not pay these fines. I'll see if I can find it.

[MillionToOneChances]

Check the moneysavingexpert guidance. I believe they're more enforceable than they used to be.

[MillionToOneChances]

But you should definitely appeal since you have the ticket, my previous comment was in relation to uterus ignoring them.

[InfinitySeven]

The OLD advice was to ignore. As of 2013, they can take you to court, so you need to reply.

There's a guide on moneysaving expert if you need help. Don't ignore it, though. It's really outdated advice.

[Sonoma]

I would recommend you browsing one of the specialist parking forums out there (fightback/peppipoo etc). Info on there helped get me off mine (although I had to go to the tribunal as it was council issued in my case). They are brilliant. Undoubtedly they'll say don't pay but will have plenty of useful advice how to respond etc.

[ASunnyTiger]

[[http://forums.pepipoo.com/ Pepipoo] give good advice about unfair parking charges, they've helped me a few times in the past. Definitely don't pay.

[ASunnyTiger]

Oops, try again Pepipoo

[manicinsomniac]

I had this exact situation last year. I scanned the ticket and emailed them a rather frosty enquiry as to why exactly I was being charged.

It turned out that I had parked in a bay that was for electric cars only and hadn't noticed so I was in the wrong.

Could that be the case for you?

Still worth complaining though as they let me off anyway!

[Traurig]

Thank you everyone for your responses.

A bit of research on the internet has flagged up that I should have put in my full reg number when buying the ticket but I only put in the numbers as this is what I had to do the last time I parked there a few months ago and I hadn't realised/noticed that the system had changed. So I suppose I am technically at fault but as I can prove I did pay, I'm not paying £100 for the sake of 5 missing letters!! It's a disproportionate amount for the 'offence' committed!

Thank you for the links to the websites, I have used a template to put together a letter disputing the charge and I've sent it by registered mail so we'll see what happens. Lesson learnt, I'll not be parking in that car park again. I'll let you know what happens! Thanks!

[pregnantpause]

I recently ( October) had a run in with them charging for overstaying the allowed three hours. I wrote to them and sent copies of my receipts to prove I was using the shopping centre and they wrote it off with an apology. I was gearing up for a fight, but they were actually quite gracious about it

[Fairyfellowsmasterstroke]

Another interesting link:

parking link here

[daisychain01]

I agree with the advice to never ever ignore.

Always be prepared to put up a good fight with a polite conciliatory letter with photocopies or originals of evidence (keeping your own copy in case of going to court)

I have lost count of the tickets I have received because the attendant couldn't be arsed to walk round my car to read my parking permit and assumed because it was on the left side not the right side it meant I didn't have one. Or at my mum's where she lives in a permit only area and in the time it takes to walk over to her house get a permit, write my details and scratch off the times of stay, some dick had already put a ticket on my car and refused to cancel it

The best day ever was when I parked on a pay and display at 9am on a Saturday morning, nipped to get a paper for all of 5 mins and by the time I got back, a warden was tapping my details into his machine. I lept into the car and drove off before he could take a photo of my car in the bay. I never heard back so "sadly" for him he wouldn't have added that one to his quota ha bloody ha

I don't know if the law has changed but that was at a time where the rule was if you could move your car before they had fully issued the ticket, you were quite within your rights to escape the charge.

[UterusUterusGhali]

Oh pregnant that is interesting!

I got one because I overstayed on a Sunday. I was spending money in their shopping centre! I do have receipts!

[emms1981]

Ouch £100! We had a parking ticket from lidl once and I kept ignoring it but was unaware the law had changed. I played it before it became a letter taking us to court.
My husband parked my car somewhere sun evening and i kept saying are you sure we can park here? Yes its fine he says, we came out of family gathering to find a fine stuck to my car window but I guess at £35 we got if lightly. His argument was that u should of naged him more! Ffs

[emms1981]

Ffs stupid tablet. Off lightly, and I should have nagged him more

[JingleBellSniffer]

You must reply as they can take you to court and the legal fees add up.
Never heard of parking eye but I assume they're like UKCPS? a lot of people ignore it then end up with a nearly £300 fine.
They still don't pay because they don't think they can go to court.
The letter will say reply in a certain time frame. as long as you reply and dispute it it will be put on hold and they won't charge you more but there are ways to get it lowered.

[Crinkle77]

I am sure I heard something once about the parking companies passing it on to debt collection agencies if the fine went unpaid.

[JingleBellSniffer]

Yeah they are. They're using solicitors too.

[prh47bridge]

the legal fees add up

No they don't. These cases are dealt with in the small claims court which means the parking company cannot reclaim any legal fees even if they win. Even though they are better placed to pursue people the courts will still reduce the fine if it is excessive. The parking company can only reclaim its losses. A charge of £100 as the OP is facing sounds like a penalty which would be substantially reduced by the courts (if they upheld it at all).

[Traurig]

I've done quite a lot research these last few days and from what I can see, I'm a way off court yet.

I've put my dispute of the parking charge in writing and sent it, with the evidence that I paid for parking by registered mail. They may accept my explanation and cancel the charge, if they don't, they have to issue me with a 'POPLA' code and I can then escalate my dispute with POPLA who may or may not agree that the charge be cancelled. I think only then if POPLA rule against me (and from what I've read on various different forums I'm fairly confident they won't) and I still don't pay up, then Parking eye may take me to the small claims court. As someone rightly has said, I wouldn't be liable for court costs and it's likely the judge will rule in my favour as I can prove I did pay for parking and the £100 charge is disproportionate to the alledged 'offence' committed.

I'm ready for a fight, I won't pay this charge lightly!! Even if I should have put my entire registration into the machine, I didn't see and obvious signage telling me to do this and surely in this day and age, the ticket machine could be programmed not to issue tickets until the whole reg has been entered. But the parking company wouldn't want that because then they'd have less opportunities to slap such ridiculously high charges on people!!

[Traurig]

any obvious signage even... Auto correct!