If you got a parking ticket from private land, would you pay it

[Lardlizard]

That was an unfit ticket because it was a restaurant that said you could park there for four hours, but they obviously didn’t put the details into the computer properly or something
They won’t deal with, as straight away I call them expecting them to sort it and they said has to be taken up with the car park people

[FizzyGreenWater]

Nope!

[Lardlizard]

I do have the receipt for the food and drink

[Still1nLove]

Appeal it with the parking company, including proof of your restaurant booking and the receipt to prove the time you arrived and paid. I would pay it if I lost the appeal, there is always the possibility that they could take you to court and you could get a judgment against you.

[goingtotown]

Don’t pay it. You’ll get lots of letters asking for payment, just ignore them.

[Blankblankblank]

After seeing an episode of can’t pay? We’ll take it away, or whatever it’s called, and someone ignored a parking ticket because he was told it was unenforceable, and ended up owing £100’s because it went to court, I would at least go down all the appeals possible.

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

[Countrysidelife54]

I saw that too @Blankblankblank

[ExCoffeeAddict]

Nope. Weve had an ongoing dispute for over a year. I say ongoing dispute DH just keeps recieving letters which he ignores

He disputed it. Sent proof of his payment (!!!) There was even an article in the local paper about how it was faulty and people were getting incorrect tickets (!!!) They still said he owed it. Saying they will take him to court....nothing more than threatening letters almost 2 years later so i wouldnt bother

[TimetohittheroadJack]

Don’t pay, don’t engage with them. They usually send three or four letters. Ignore all and they will stop.

Don’t appeal, they will reject it and hound you even more.

[Kitmerow]

So much bad advice here. Do not just ignore.

They can and do take people to court - and usually win.

I would appeal this in your case though as they will likely cancel on the basis you can prove you were parking to use the restaurant.

[safariboot]

Look for the advice on money saving expert.

In your situation I would fight the ticket.

I would also be seriously unhappy with the restaurant. In virtually all cases the shop or restaurant has the power to get the charge cancelled. If it's a chain or franchise, escalate your complaint. If not, or if they still do nothing, I'd be stating it factually in an online review

[JacobReesMogadishu]

Ignoring it is now considered outdated advice. Rarely, but sometimes, people do get taken to court. I run a fb group which gives advice (for a specific car park).

You should appeal initially to the parking firm. Also lean on the restaurant, they probably can get it cancelled. If neither of those work you need to do a popla appeal. Google it.

[Lardlizard]

That’s what I’m thinking I’m better off just not engaging as I know these car park places are cowboys
I mean a £100 fine for a parking fine
If they take me to court
I’ll show them my proof

[margarita7]

Been to court as I was one of the unlucky ones who they decided to press action against. They didn't show up and I won.

[margarita7]

@Blankblankblank you have to be incredibly stupid for that to happen. You never ever ignore court docs. You go to court, you THEN still have a chance to pay and only then if you don't do you get a CCJ.

[JacobReesMogadishu]

If they take you to court you will not get a CCJ even if you lose as long as you then pay it. You can’t get a CCJ without a court hearing so any letters which they send you saying you’re going to get a CCJ are bollocks and common scare tactics. As are the solicitor letters.

I’m waiting to be taken to court for 3x tickets. I’m confident if it went to court I would win because I have an email from my employer saying I could park there (it was work car park). But they still won’t cancel it. I keep laughing telling them to take me to court.....it’s almost been six years so they’ll run out of time soon.

The worst that can happen to me is I go to court and the court tells me to pay....at which point I will pay and I would not get a CCJ, my credit rating wouldn’t be affected, etc. Certainly a colleague got that far and paid up when told to by the court. Others who ignored got CCJs because they also ignored court letters!

[Lardlizard]

Thanks for info

[goingtotown]

They don’t send court letters, they’re from the parking company.
There was a Watchdog programme about car park fines (Ann Robinson) the outcome was that private car parking cannot enforce fines so ignore the letters.

[Redhair23]

I would ignore unless court documents are issued- obviously they can’t be ignored and as a pp said you don’t get a CCJ unless an amount is awarded against you and you still don’t pay.

[billyt]

Firstly, I'd advise you to ignore anyone advising you to ignore the ticket, OP.

Join the good people on the Pepipoo.com website. (I know, weird name for a website but there are some very knowledgable people on there)

One thing I did see (which I can't confirm as I joined a long time ago) is that it won't let you join using a Hotmail email address.

Don't ignore any parking invoices (they are not not fines as private companies cannot fine). It always was the 'rule' that you could ignore private parking invoices but I think the regulations and requirements changed a few years ago.

Join Pepipoo, follow the instructions on how to upload a copy of the invoice, give the details and you will get sensible responses.

[BarbaraofSeville]

In my experience you've almost zero chance of winning an appeal pre-court with the parking company, they'll just ignore everything you say and continue with their threats.

No idea about what happens if it gets as far as court, or how likely it is that it will go that far.

In these circumstances, your best bet is usually to ask the landowner to overturn the invoice, they can do this, but sadly they're not co-operating, which is rather short sighted of them, in my experience they are happy to do this, especially if an error has been made and they don't want to upset a customer.

I don't normally review restaurants or use the power of social media to threaten business owners, but in these circumstances, I would politely ask the restaurant owner/manager to ask the parking company to cancel the ticket that was issued due to their error and if they don't, I will mention in my review of the restaurant that people should use the parking facilities with caution due to the risk of getting a parking ticket.

Because if you try and sort it with the parking company, you're facing months, if it not years of hassle that will leave you wishing you'd just paid the ticket.