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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To not want to pay hospital parking fine !!

61 replies

Baffledandbewildered · 06/02/2013 12:30

I had an appointment with my consultant on Monday.( I have a life threatening condition so it is very important I do not miss appointments ) . I arrived 20minutes early to give myself time to park in a disabled bay ( I do have a badge !!!)
The hospital had decided to close the main car park for the hospital so it was chaotic . I kept driving around but could find nowhere to park in a disabled bay. As a last ditch attempt I decided to park in the other car park but there was a huge queue, so I would have missed my appointment :( . As I needed to see the consultant urgently I decided to park my car at the end of the disabled row displaying my badge. It was not causing an obstruction and I went. To my appointment.
I had to wait over an hour to see the consultant but as they do various tests sometimes I didn't feel I could leave to try and move the car. Anyway when I returned to my car I find I have just been given a ticket !!! I understand why they ticket but would I be unreasonable to think it is unfair given these circumstances and not pay ??????
Also car park was shut but they were not doing anything to it !!!!

OP posts:

xxxxmrsxxxx · 06/02/2013 13:00

The only tickets that are enforceable are council and police ones. I have got a bunch of them sitting at home. I won't be paying them :)

forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=163

meddie · 06/02/2013 13:02

If its a private parking company personally I would ignore it. If you still feel anxious about doing this, go over to www.pepipoo
forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=46975

meddie · 06/02/2013 13:03

forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=46975

Hobbitation · 06/02/2013 13:08

So aside from the OP's case, if commuters parked on say, a restaurant car park all day so the customers couldn't get in, the restaurant would have/take no action against them? I think not, somehow.

hellsbells76 · 06/02/2013 13:16

They wouldn't have a great deal of recourse in law. They could take them to court but the onus would be on them to prove that the parkers' actions had caused them to suffer a loss - it would be difficult and expensive. That's why so many resort to wheelclamping firms or firms like this that issue official looking tickets and hope enough people pay up to make it worth their while.

hellsbellsmelons · 06/02/2013 13:19

Great advice here - Please ignore it totally.
Do NOT appeal as they will then know you have the ticket and they will also know they have the correct address.
They will chase and chase but you need to ingore each and every reminder.
Be strong!!!

Hobbitation · 06/02/2013 13:20

Yes of course hellsbells, I agree. What usually happens is clamping/removal for obvious reasons.

minibmw2010 · 06/02/2013 13:20

As everyone has said if they're a private firm, ignore ... Friend who is a Dr has a whole wedge from working at local hospital and nothing has ever happened, it was her who told me to ignore them

Hobbitation · 06/02/2013 13:22

I'd look out for a court summons though. Then I'd go and contest it.

hellsbells76 · 06/02/2013 13:22

(I wouldn't park in a restaurant car park unless i was eating there, or other private land - that's just rude. But I have no qualms about refusing to pay to park at a hospital because I either need to use its services or I'm working there. I won't contribute a penny to line the pockets of these scamming gits who prey on the vulnerable. My local hospital is out of town so it's not like people who park there are nipping to the shops or anything - they're all patients or staff).

fluffyraggies · 06/02/2013 13:22

What about private clamping firms then?

Am i right to think they can only clamp your car if they are working for the council? After all you cant ignore a clamp.

Bit confused.

Hobbitation · 06/02/2013 13:23

So if it's 'unenforceable', why bother getting a pay and display ticket when attending hospital? Surely it's better not to pay in the first place.

hellsbells76 · 06/02/2013 13:25

No reason to get a pay and display ticket at all :)

madasa · 06/02/2013 13:27

Because many people (myself included until I got a ticket) do not realise that private parking firms have no power to issue fines.

skaen · 06/02/2013 13:30

The law on parking has changed recently following the adoption of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2012/9/contents. You cannot be clamped or towed away by anyone other than the council.

Private (i.e. non Council parking enforcement) can issue tickets and a fine will be upheld by the court if there are notices up at the entrance and around the car park setting out the terms on which you are allowed to park there. If you do not comply with those terms, the parking enforcement people can get your details from the DVLA and the owner of the car will be liable for hte ticket.

The moneysavingexpert site has been updated to rfelect this but you might not get the right advice if you look at the forums.

maisiejoe123 · 06/02/2013 13:32

I parked at the local tube station and brought my ticket, sadly I didnt notice that I had put it upside down and when I returned from work I had a ticket from NCP for £75!

I have written to them with a photocopy of the ticket and and a covering letter saying that I have proof of purchase (I didnt say it was upside down!)

I understand most are saying ignore but I would rather not have stroppy letters and potentially a court judgement against me!

They do say I can appeal to Parking on Private Land Appeals should they refuse to cancel.

And £75!!!!

ginnybag · 06/02/2013 13:33

Private clamping firms are now pretty much illegal.

OP, if the details on the ticket are wrong for your car, it's nonsense anyway. They have to be correct in all particulars to prove that the ticket was issued to a car that was genuinely seen and genuinely doing something wrong. As pale mink to black is a drastic difference, there would be a strong case for you saying, 'you may have my reg, but you can't have seen the car.... and if you can mistake mink for black, what other glaringly obvious things did you miss?'

So, you'd have grounds for a legitimate protest, but with a private firm, I'd do as others have suggested and ignore.

What I would do is write a stiff letter to the hospital trust about the parking situation and the 'upset and stress' the ticket has caused you,including most of what you said in your OP, and pointing out that you have more than enough to worry about right now without cowboys like this adding to it.

Hobbitation · 06/02/2013 13:38

Thanks skaen.

Original poster

Baffledandbewildered · 06/02/2013 18:28

I emailed the hospital boston pilgrim in Lincolnshire and received a reply stating " it's nothing to do with us !" So no accountability there then . I guess this company just decided to take over car parking at the hospital then !!!!!! I did discover the reason the car park was closed was one of the barriers wasn't working so instead of removing it they close it !!! I also found out loads of people were ticketed that day

OP posts:

TarkaTheOtter · 06/02/2013 19:13

Local newspaper?

lemonandlimes · 06/02/2013 20:26

Post up on forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showforum=60 and you'll get the right advice, which is to ignore it. And the following letters.
I wouldn't bother with the moneysavingexpert site, they appear to have lost the plot a bit recently, most threads seem to be about insulting and trying to annoy parking companies, rather than good advice for the poster that has the ticket.

Sokmonsta · 06/02/2013 20:40

Ignore. I was ten minutes over my ticket, waiting for Ds to be discharged. The guy had literally just ticketed my car and was really nice. He told me the hospital committee sits once a month to listen to the appeals. I wrote off to appeal my ticket and got a letter back a few weeks later saying it had been cancelled.

At the same hospital, same Ds different occasion, dh got a ticket for not parking within marked boundaries. His response was to write asking for evidence after several threatening letters. They provided a photo with a completely different time stamp to our ticket. So he told them unless they could prove he was there at the time they say he was on the ticket, he would cheerfully see them in court. Needless to say we got random letters for about a year and haven't heard anything since.

You really aren't obliged to pay it. But they give them names which sound like they are official - County Parking I'm talking about you! Very confusing but nothing to worry about.

holidaysarenice · 07/02/2013 03:06

I've had lots from hospitals, never pay them!!! You might occasionally get and 'official' letter...bollocks are they official! Money making scam!

MSE has an excellent thread about them.

MidniteScribbler · 07/02/2013 07:26

They may not be enforceable unfortunately, but that shouldn't mean that people can park where ever and when ever they like.

If there's no car park available, then find somewhere that there is one. Leave earlier to allow yourself time to park. Take public transport. You are no more or less important than anyone else. I'm sure you would have been furious if someone had knocked or damaged your car because of your lazy parking.

HollyBerryBush · 07/02/2013 07:37

Also just seen it states car colour is black when my car is a light mink ( yuck) colour

Dispute it on those grounds alone - the car description is incorrect - I've had a ticket revoked on that.

I decided to park my car at the end of the disabled row displaying my badge.

So you parked out of a bay? on those grounds you deserve a ticket IMHO, but if you use the colour thing, you will have it revoked.

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