Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not pay a parking charge

59 replies

Rain1975 · 13/09/2012 09:38

I was parked in a retail car park yesterday afternoon for about half an hour and on returning to my car I saw that I had a yellow sticker attached to my windscreen. It was a charge for £90 which stated 'not parked correctly within the markings of the bay or space'

I use p and c spaces if available as I really struggle getting uncooperative three year old dd and sleeping baby ds in and out if cars are parked either side. No spaces available yesterday so as it wasn't busy I parked far away from the shops so no other cars were next to me.

I would never win any prizes for parking and yesterday I was indeed over the white lines but as that section of the car park was empty I didn't think about straightening up so wrangled the dc out the car and did my shopping.

I know IABU for having a stupid large car that I struggle to park and for being lazy in not parking properly but my DH says to ignore the charge and any other letters and I'm not so sure.

So AIBU to not pay. Thanks.

OP posts:
MoaningMingeWhingesAgain · 13/09/2012 11:48

Yes they could take it to court, but they nearly never do. And they often lose. IMHO it's a very small risk and worth taking.

I mean - who in their right might would knowingly and willingly agree to pay £50/£70 for the privilege of parking over the white lines Grin

geegee888 · 13/09/2012 11:51

Let them enforce it and only pay up if a court order against you.

But please just bother to park properly. Its embarrassing to our sex when women pull that "I drive a big car and have children so I can't park" line. I also drive a big car and on occasion a bloody horsebox, both of which I take care to park out of respect for others. If you really can't park properly, you shouldn't be on the roads.

ActionLiposomes · 13/09/2012 11:51

I agree that if it's a private company, then you can safely ignore.

However, there's quite a few people here who seem to be taking umbrage with parking outside the lines.

I deliberately do this, because I have a relatively new car with immaculate paintwork, and I don't want selfish fuckers parking right next to me and opening their doors into my car. So I always park in the middle of 2 spaces, right at the far end of the car park. I have never yet been in a situation where the car park has been so full that by doing so I have prevented someone else from parking. But if it did, then I wouldn't lose any sleep.

Why should I put my car at risk of damage because other people are thoughtless ? I have yet to receive a "fine" for this, but if I did I would flush it down the bog.

kdiddy · 13/09/2012 11:51

Even if it did go to court, any award would be about their losses, which aren't going to be £90, so they won't bother.

On an aside, I have some sympathy, since a lot of car parks near me seem to have ever- narrowing spaces. I don't drive an unusually big car and yet I often find if I park properly I am literally just inside the lines on both sides. I think some greedy car park owners are trying to squeeze too many spaces in.

missmartha · 13/09/2012 12:04

Oh they do have time scales for paying.

My first letter told me my fine was £75 and would continue to double every 21 days I failed to pay it.

Must amount to a fair whack now. How they'd justify a parking ticket for a couple of grand to a court I don't know.

TheOriginalSteamingNit · 13/09/2012 12:08

@ Actio - *I deliberately do this, because I have a relatively new car with immaculate paintwork, and I don't want selfish fuckers parking right next to me and opening their doors into my car. So I always park in the middle of 2 spaces, right at the far end of the car park. I have never yet been in a situation where the car park has been so full that by doing so I have prevented someone else from parking. But if it did, then I wouldn't lose any sleep.

Why should I put my car at risk of damage because other people are thoughtless ? I have yet to receive a "fine" for this, but if I did I would flush it down the bog.*

Seriously? How unbelievably selfish of you! Why should others not be able to park because you're so fussy about your shiny car? There's only one 'selfish fucker' here, and it's not your imaginary person opening a door into your car!

I've seen this (oddly enough, not here but loads in Manchester for some reason!) and always wondered how anyone justified taking two spaces to themselves, and how you could actually square that - now I know they are just quite knowingly arrogant fucks! Sheesh!

TheOriginalSteamingNit · 13/09/2012 12:09

Arses, what happened to my bold there? Angry

SaggyOldClothCatPuss · 13/09/2012 12:09

I looked into this last year. The general consensus seems to be, that these companies issue parking tickets willy nilly. They expect many people not to pay, and many to chicken out and cough up. Its not enforceable, but they play on peoples fears with threats and legal sounding letters, and get money for old rope!

ActionLiposomes · 13/09/2012 12:16

TheOriginal - we'll have to agree to disagree on this. I take steps to avoid impacting others by parking right at the back of the car park. But I will not tolerate other people causing £££ of damage to my car. I see it happening all the time in supermarket car parks. Not usually deliberate, but the effect is the same - scratches or dents to the car which the owner has to then pay for.

TheOriginalSteamingNit · 13/09/2012 12:21

But if you stopped someone else getting a space you wouldn't mind? Because the shininess of your car is more important than anything they might need to park for? Nope, nothing about that is changing my mind about who the 'selfish fuck' (your words) is here!

mayorquimby · 13/09/2012 12:37

"Dawn it is still able to go to court and if they have proof she broke the contract by parking in between bays then the court would uphold the fine - private parking firms do actually have rights and can and do take people to court"

completely correct.
However penalty clauses are not enforceable, you can only enforce set fines for breach when they may be classed as liquidated damages and must reflect the damage suffered by breach of contract.
This would most likely be in the range of £6 for a parking bay as the damage they suffered would be not having 1 parking space unavailable for X number of hours.
However as they don't have a liquidated damage clause, they'd have to prove they suffered damages. unless the car park was full they may have problems with this and even if successful would receive nominal damages, once again in the region of sweet FA.

Original poster
Rain1975 · 13/09/2012 12:43

Thanks so much for all the responses I know it was a stupid way to park in taking up two spaces and the dc and large car are no excuse. Im not a confident driver so really need to work on this. It was one of those moments when I just thought 'that will do' in an empty bit of car park and didn't think of consequences.

Have had a look at the Money Saving link and have decided to ignore any future letters. I feel that the £90 charge is unfair as its so expensive even though I was in breach of the car park rules. A mistake I certainly will not be making again.

Thanks again.

OP posts:
MrsRobertDuvallHasRosacea · 13/09/2012 12:45

There are some very entitled people on this thread.

scuzy · 13/09/2012 12:55

TheOriginal you DO know that at some point you are going to get a dent or a scratch on your paintwork whether someone other "fucker" does it or your own stupidity. It WILL happen.

TinyDancingHoofer · 13/09/2012 13:03

If you can't park a car in a parking pace then you shouldn't be on the roads.

Of course you probably can park your car or you would be driving into children and buildings the way you drove into the spacing lines. You were being lazy.

bureni · 13/09/2012 13:12

Got a fine from DVA 2 days ago (£60) for failing to display an MOT disc in a waterproof holder, the disc was displayed behind a clear screen in a car disc type holder out of the wind and rain and highly visible, some rules are just petty and made to gather revenue imo.

TheOriginalSteamingNit · 13/09/2012 13:18
  1. I think there are scratches on my car, but guess what? It still goes!
  2. Even if I cared, I don't see why my caring matters more than someone else being able to park.
WineGoggles · 13/09/2012 13:27

YABU to not have enough pride in how you leave your vehicle, which IMHO just feeds into the stereotype that "women can't park". I get really peed off with people who park badly/inconsiderately and when it's a woman it's even worse,like they are letting the side down in a way. If you have problems parking how about spending the money you would have paid for the fine by taking some driving lessons so you can be taught the knack of parking? Or at the very least stop the "that'll do" attitude to it.

ActionLiposomes · 13/09/2012 13:33

I am prepared to accept that taking 2 spaces may be a little selfish, but I don't know why you see thoughtless damage to other peoples' cars being acceptable.

Yes, there is always a risk that it will get damaged from being used on a day to day basis. But it's like clothes in that respect. Let's say you bought an expensive outfit and wore it outside. You would do your best to keep it clean, and you would be mighty pissed off if an unruly child splashed their drink over it in a restaurant. However, you might have spotted the unruly child early on, and sat at a table further away in order to keep your distance. You can't always prevent other people damaging your property, but you can take steps to minimise the risk.

SoupDragon · 13/09/2012 13:34

I don't want selfish fuckers parking right next to me and opening their doors into my car. So I always park in the middle of 2 spaces, right at the far end of the car park

I know who the selfish fucker/s really are/is in that scenario.

OP, invest the fine money in having a few parking lessons!

TheOriginalSteamingNit · 13/09/2012 13:38

Let's say you bought an expensive outfit and wore it outside. You would do your best to keep it clean, and you would be mighty pissed off if an unruly child splashed their drink over it in a restaurant. However, you might have spotted the unruly child early on, and sat at a table further away in order to keep your distance. You can't always prevent other people damaging your property, but you can take steps to minimise the risk

Hmm. But would it be ok for me to take two tables just for me, to make absolutely sure nobody could sit near enough to get their drink on me?

ActionLiposomes · 13/09/2012 13:47

TheOriginal I would liken it more to taking a bigger table than you need, at the back of the restaurant, next to the toilets.

But would that be selfish ? Or would it be the parents of the child being selfish, if they had made no attempt to control him?

TheOriginalSteamingNit · 13/09/2012 13:52

At least on your big table you can (and, I hope and trust, would) move if somebody who actually needed the space turned up, I suppose, unlike when you take two spaces and then go away. However there aren't big spaces and small spaces other than disabled/p&c ones, so really the equivalent would indeed be that you take two tables just in case.

In the case of the imagined parents of the imagined child, I don't think the metaphor quite stretches! But if you're going to a busy family cafe in your poshest clothes, which you'd be heartbroken to soil, I don't know that you're being all that sensible or reasonable, really.

LtEveDallas · 13/09/2012 13:57

But Action, if you are parking as you said right at the far end of the car park

and you say I have never yet been in a situation where the car park has been so full that by doing so I have prevented someone else from parking

Why do you need to park in between 2 spaces? Surely parking at the far end of the car park means you can safely park between the lines?

It doesn't make sense Confused

ActionLiposomes · 13/09/2012 14:00

Yes OK, bad example... But my point is that my "selfishness" is only necessary because of the selfishness & thoughtlessness of others. If other people could be relied upon to open their doors nicely and car park owners did not try to jam in more cars than they should, then I would be happy to park in a normal space. However, I don't see why I should just suck up unnecessary repair bills. So if that makes me selfish and unreasonable, then so be it.