£63 cup of tea at BP service station.

[CatOnAMushroom]

Just returned from (what was suppposed to be a cheap camping) holiday to a £60 fine for parking at a BP petrol station for 49 minutes for a break on a long journey in torrential rain.

I always check when parking in car parks, on roads etc but I never thought to check for parking rules at a petrol station ☹️

If anyone is going on holiday this week don't overstay your welcome at a BP service station

I genuinely painful €18 for a cup of tea in a restaurant once so was gonan come and offer sympathy. But yeah, that really sucks when that happens!

This is quite common in BP petrol stations with a Starbucks next door. We have several both near my house and near where I work (different county). The one closest to work I sometimes pop to at lunch time for a quick Starbucks. One day I decided to go to the petrol station instead and noticed the spaces outside had a 30 minute limit. The Starbucks ones don't, just the ones outside the petrol station. I've always been ultra careful since then.
That's rubbish for you OP what a shame to come back to that after a holiday. Hopefully your post will help others though, there are lots of similar set ups around.

Ouch! I hope it was good cup of tea

That’s so unfair. It’s also not legally a fine. It’s an invoice. Please read some advice from the Money Saving Expert parking forum or Consumer Action Group on how to win an appeal. Don’t pay it yet!

Its NOT a fine... they its a invoice receipt.

Its your legal right to appeal, they cannot charge you more for it... they use wording to scare people into paying but unless they take you to court for a CCJ they have zero jurisdiction to make you pay anything.

When you appeal you have to appeal to them first, they will obviously say 'no' in 99% of cases. They will give you a report number and you can then appeal to the independent adjudicator. They will usually find in your favor if you have a legitimate argument (and safety seems like one).

Well not really - it is a parking fine (actually really an invoice asking you to pay for the parking) - if it was paying for the parking, it would be a couple of quid for going 20 minutes over - not £60.

OP if it was Scotland - don't pay - just keep ignoring the letters. In England (not sure about Wales or NI) it is the owner who is charged. In England, the owner by law has to say who was driving (as the driver is the person who has entered into the parking contract). In Scotland, it is different - the owner of the vehicle will still get the fine notice but there is no legal requirement to say who was driving - so can just ignore. There have been cases in Scotland where the parking company has won, but these are cases where someone has been parking consistenly over time for ages where the court has ruled in favour of the parking company. For a one-off Joe Bloggs, the parking company will not take you to court. But you will get letters for literally years asking you to pay. My DD got one in my car by mistake - she entered the car park the wrong way at night - there was no one else around and she accidentally went out the 'in' bit and when she returned the next day (using the correct way in and out), the camera picked her up as being there more than 24 hours, IYSWIM? The gym said they would get it cancelled as she could show her clock in and clock out times but it never happened so we just kept ignoring. The fine went round multiple companies over a 2 year period then the letters just stopped.

And yes, I guess this could be aruged to be morally wrong - but that's another thread. There is also the issue of the parking companies being morally bankrupt - if you look at the parking cowboy forums, you can see examples of the parking companies sending out letters which are threatening/mis representative etc. We've had letters from supposedly different companies but the same letter with the same name and fake signature where you cannot make the name out.

I'd ignore the morals or it and the why you parked and go with signage.

Do a Google and go on parking forums.

I appealed a fine for my dad. He had the physical ticket to show he paid but transposed his reg number. They refused this initially (annoying as they had the money for the bloody space).

I then found template wording setting out signage issues and he won the appeal. You need the right wording that scares them, not a rambling list of excuses!

Like these https://penaltychargenotice.co.uk/free-letter-templates/private-parking-ticket-appeal-letter-template/

I would just pay it so that it doesn't increase and you can put the issue to bed. Yes, it's truly shit and unfair. All you did is toilet, snack and rest for less than an hour and missed any signage from some money grabbing parking company. It's not like you parked there all night or parked there and went somewhere else. You just sorted your family. It's basically legalised robbery.

The reasons for overstaying are what you send to BP to get them to tell the parking co with whom they have a contract to cancel the fine. Simultaneously, you follow the advice on MSE on how to appeal effectively to the Parking Co. That is more technical and timings matter. We’ve succeeded both ways. Often the shop / hotel etc gets it cancelled for you but we’ve also had a Parking Co mess up on the timing of their response to our appeal which rendered the fine unenforceable as they couldn’t satisfy the requirements for taking it to court.

The law changed in 2015 when the Supreme Court upheld the right of ParkingEye to levy "fines" as a matter of contract law.

ParkingEye Vs Barry Beavis case summary (parkingcowboys.co.uk)

It will always depend on the circumstances as to whether a "contract" exists, but you do not ignore them.

Although I have no idea how CCJs get imposed without people knowing that court proceedings are happening. What are the judges doing - do they ask to see proof that all the relevant documentation has been sent out to the individual. It seems quite suspect.

I appealed a fine for my dad. He had the physical ticket to show he paid but transposed his reg number. They refused this initially (annoying as they had the money for the bloody space

I think that's one of the items in the government consultation.

You can get fined for not parking correctly as well. We have a quite longish car and I did park within the lines, just that the car stuck out too much?? This was a private company.

Near where I live there is Shell garage with a Starbucks and a Miller & Carter pub next door. You need to put your reg no into a machine in the pub if you are parking there, but people who go into the Starbucks don't know and get "fined".

If the retailer/pub has engaged the parking company they can usually get the tickets annulled; the problem comes if the landlord engages the parking company and then the retailers can't do anything about it.

I agree (think we're making the same points) I'd previously quoted the 2015 change earlier.

I've seen companies use what I assume is the electoral role to send out fines because the ones I've heard about having always gone to an old address. My friend had an unknown CCJ, when he queried it the paperwork had gone to an old address. He appealed to the court to set the CCJ aside on the basis their original fine was sent to his correct address so the court paperwork should have been as well. The set aside was accepted, and it just brings the claim back to the start again where he paid the fine and therefore no CCJ.

That sounds unfair in your case.

However, I am all for drivers of SUVs getting fined for taking up two spaces.

I've seen companies use what I assume is the electoral role to send out fines because the ones I've heard about having always gone to an old address

A lesson for people to pay for their mail to be redirected!

We successfully appealed a similar charge where DH had parked a bit into the next space (they were poorly marked). However, this was a retail park 10 mins before the shops closed and the car park was 90% empty. We went straight to the Retail Park and pointed out that no other customers had been inconvenienced or prevented from parking (and they needed to repaint the lines). The photos the parking attendant had taken showed how empty the car park was.
It’s always worth trying a common sense approach with the shops as they don’t want to piss off customers unnecessarily.

Appeal 30 minutes doesn't seem like a long time to get coffees, presumably some people will drink them in their car on site, even if there is no seating in the shop. I'm wondering the 30 mins is for people not buying anything.
Also check out FightBack Forums (pepipoo.com)
They can probably give better advice on how to appeal and on what basis you can appeal.

Get over to MSE and on their forums there is one dedicated to Private Parking Tickets. PLEASE read the newbies thread at the top first and follow the instructions exactly to appeal. They get people off these invoices all the time. If you have a disability or health condition, you need to include that.

In short, the signage has to be obvious and legible. If it isn't, you win. If you didn't see the sign because it's tucked away, or 10 feet up with tiny writing, you win. One good thing about a site like this is someone is bound to either live nearby or be passing through. If you can bear to name the site, I'm sure another MNer would be happy to take photos of the signage for you.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/426233990873672

Join this group. Ask for Tony. £15 and he will make it go away for you. Just whatever you do, don't reply and don't admit anything.

No idea of the legalities, but 30 minutes seems an unreasonably short time limit for parking at a place with a café.

The only reason I know there's a 30 min wait at BP, is due to the fact we've stopped off at the one near Stansted for toilet break, drink, snack - I searched before and found it was free, then you can park another 60 mins free in short stay, ideal if you'r waiting for somone.

It ruins the day if you really didn't know and get a fine afterwards.

I'm sorry that happened to you OP but thank you for letting us know I will definitely keep it in mind in future!