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AIBU?

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Original poster

AIBU to think DS should just pay the parking charge?

52 replies

LarrytheCucumber · 21/01/2016 10:55

DS parked in a hotel car park when he was working overnight elsewhere.
Today he has had a demand from Parking Eye for £100 (£60 if paid within 14 working days).
He parked in the car park. He didn't buy a ticket. Surely he hasn't got an excuse.
He is adamant that he doesn't have to pay private 'charges' and has emailed them telling them he will pay the cost of the 4 hour stay.
We went down this route before with Napier Parking and they were just really unpleasant and we ended up paying anyway to avoid the stress (which is of course what they want).
This one is Parking Eye and they have shots of him going in and out.
He is convinced that these 'charges' don't have to be paid, but all I can find on the internet suggests that they do, and that pleading 'excessive charges' is unlikely to be successful, even though the charge is very high compared with the cost of buying a ticket in the first place.
He has very little money and the £60 wipes out everything he earnt that night. Forgot to mention that he has Aspergers and is very stubborn.
I know there have been threads about this before.
Anyone with accurate up to date knowledge?

OP posts:
noogsy · 22/01/2016 10:42

you dont have to pay this in scotland!!
we were caught out with this in a free car park in a disability space with my double amputee mother.she spent £600 in the supermarket then a few days later got a fine.we contacted the police and were told we dont have to pay in scotland.particularly as we were in a free car park in a blue badge space which is free in scotland.my mother that day also had a very nice lunch in waitrose stirling.....lol..total nightmare a i was her taxi.hiho live and learn.i am definatley not paying but apparently we will get pester letters till we move house....BRILL.

ReallyTired · 22/01/2016 10:55

England has POPLA and both parking companies and drivers are expected to use POPLA to sort out their disputes before going to court. The fact that plenty of motorists win their POPLA cases shows that parking companies are sometimes unfair. Generally if someone with common sense thinks a parking charge is unfair then there is a good chance of winning a case.

However a motorist does not have the right to park wherever like likes for as long as he likes. I think that a hotel can show commercial justification for reserving their car park for customers.

scarednoob · 22/01/2016 10:57

I am currently trying to get rid of a small claims court action for DF on exactly this point. Now it's got this far, they want £250. I've offered £100; they said fuck off. DF has some mitigating circs, but not really a defence.

Suck it up and avoid the hassle for £60 is my advice. If they charge £100 or more, and you have the time/inclination, you might choose to fight.

sellisx · 22/01/2016 11:07

If he lives in Scotland he doesn't have to pay it. Private car parks can't enforce shit. And in actual fact they have only taken a small percentage of people to court. Very small but I can't remember the exact number

Leelu6 · 22/01/2016 11:10

He should appeal the fine, but an email won't do it.

He needs to the follow the process on moneysavingsexpert (they also provide template letters).

I used the template for a fine from UKPC and won the appeal at POPLA.

(I don't think Parking Eye are a member of POPLA but do get him to read the MSE forum, it's very helpful)

If you let him do what he wants, will he learn from this mistake? Getting a small claims court summons (if appeal is unsuccessful and he doesn't pay the fine) may open his eyes.

cuntycowfacemonkey · 22/01/2016 11:23

I won an appeal against a private parking company with POPLA so it is doable BUT it takes more than a simple email. He needs to follow the process and do his research so agree the MSE forum is a good place to start.

He needs to follow the appeal process he can't just fire off one email and think that will work.

ReallyTired · 22/01/2016 12:01

There are four grounds for wining a POPLA appeal. The POPLA website and money saving website have more information. You have to research the chances of your appeal working. 50% of POPLA appeals fail, often because they are badly written.

weepat · 22/01/2016 18:49

Had fines too. Just ignored the letters. Put them in the bin. Didn't contact them in any way. Also noted the letters came in the wrong initials for anyone who lived in the house. If they get info from DVLA how can they get it wrong?
Should add I'm in Scotland. All the letters from parking eye in Birmingham advised English law decision & warned ccj could be issued. No such thing in Scotland.

Received 3 different letters for both fines which were issued in different car parks then nothing it has all stopped.
I can't imagine they will go through the expense of taking an individual action against me in court for 60 .
But who knows time will tell.
My advice . NEVER make contact.

Leelu6 · 22/01/2016 20:09

weepat, the advice in England is never ignore a private parking fine, but to challenge it.

GruntledOne · 23/01/2016 08:54

Why are people whittering on about Scotland? There's no indication OP lives there.

People in Scotland anyway can't be sure they're safe. It's being said that this doesn't apply there simply because it's a different legal system. That doesn't meant that, if the same issue was tried in the Scottish courts, the decision wouldn't go the same way. After all, Mr Beavis thought he'd win his case against Parking Eye, and he was comprehensively and expensively proved wrong.

sellisx · 23/01/2016 08:56

OP said they are in Scotland. My mum is currently going through this, we took the letter to the police who said to bin it as they won't do more than that.

tobysmum77 · 23/01/2016 09:00

I think arfanarf is spot on. It's his problem let him deal with it

Eminado · 23/01/2016 09:03

Why didn't he take a ticket OP?

PinkPjamas · 23/01/2016 09:05

Hang on, I was of the understanding that private companies cannot enforce a parking fine, that the only 'people' allowed to do that, were the government or the council. Have things changed recently?

(Not relevant to me now, but I did ignore a parking fine some time ago from when I parked in a local shop car park, was there for five mins and had apparently put my tyre over a disabled spot. It was 1030pm, dark and I just parked in the closest spot to the shop for safety reasons).

Nothing came of it-so, have things changed, now?

sooperdooper · 23/01/2016 10:07

Why didn't he just buy a ticket?

I'm all for not paying unnecessary fines, but if he parked somewhere overnight where there was clearly a ticket machine and charge payable then it's his own fault he got a ticket and he should pay the fine and put it down to experience

Whether it's a private company or not is irrelevant. How can he appeal it when there's no mitigating circumstances to him not paying for a ticket in the first place?

ComposHatComesBack · 23/01/2016 10:44

Gruntled the law is different in Scotland. There is no keeper liability in Scotland. The parking company would have to proove who was driving.

GreenLips · 23/01/2016 10:48

I've also won a Popla appeal. I parked in the large carpark of a retail park, and then decided to pop to Tesco's across the road. They saw me leave the car park and issued a fine even though I was only gone about fifteen minutes tops!(I might have understood if I'd been gone for hours) I argued this was unfair and got the charges dropped.

Fines from private companies did used to be unenforceable but the law has now changed and some companies are very bloody minded and will pursue it all the way. A lot of people don't know that the rules have changed thiugh, a colleague had a county court summons for ignoring a fine last year. So it does happen.

SexDrugsAndSausageRoll · 23/01/2016 11:37

Tbf to parking eye I got a ticket in genuine error. Health centre car park got them, still free but you had to enter your car reg at reception. As I was there to see a midwife I didn't go to or walk past reception so didn't see the sign or machine. They cancelled the fine when I emailed them with a photo of my appt letter.

Whilst I hate the companies heavy handed approach it's not wise to wilfully flout the signs. I'd pay if I had no defence

SexDrugsAndSausageRoll · 23/01/2016 11:45

My sister is autistic, trying to think how is handle it...
Probably I'd pay it to protect her but then show her how it had affected me missing something. She'd sulk I had, believe she was right and moan, but she wouldn't do it again to avoid harm to me even though I'd annoy her... Would that work with him? Id have to lay it on thick, like getting the kids to pretend they were missing a treat.
Luckily dsis will never drive, but I've ah to deal with bus companies when she forgot her freedom pass and won't budge she shouldn't pay as she's disabled. Luckily local station know her ...

Cabrinha · 23/01/2016 11:52

When you say "we" went down the route of paying before, you mean he previously flouted the rules on someone else's private property and you bailed him out?

Time for to grow up, obviously didn't learn from that. Pay / don't pay - his decision, and him that needs to be posting on the internet to check his position.

GruntledOne · 23/01/2016 12:05

OP said they are in Scotland

Where?

Leelu6 · 23/01/2016 22:31

Can't see where OP said she is Scotland either.

I don't think Napier Parking operate in Scotland.

ComposHatComesBack · 24/01/2016 07:51

Without wishing to paint my face blue and yell 'freeeedom'. There's no indication that the op is in England either. But then that didn't stop people assuming that this was the case and quoting English and Welsh law without clarification or even inquiry

It is one of the most irritating things about mumsnet, it is the case on property threads, school threads, legal threads. People merrily type away without ever thinking that the poster might be in one of the other three constituent parts of the UK.

Leelu6 · 24/01/2016 08:35

Compos - the reason I think OP is in England is that she said she had been looking online and thinks the charges have to be paid, that pleading 'excessive charges' is unlikely to be successful. I'm assuming if OP was in Scotland, she would have seen that she can ignore the charges.

comingintomyown · 24/01/2016 09:23

I had this and emailed the hotel manger appealing for clemency and he agreed to accept £10 which is what the the stay my DS made would have cost.