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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To not want to pay this fine?

96 replies

Imamiddleclasstwat · 05/08/2017 18:22

My 8 ur old dd is in hospital with suspected appendicitis. I drove her to a and e and she was in agony, could barely stand and the nearest car park is about 3-400m from a and e. There's no way she could walk so I parked in the 20 min drop off slot and carried her in. She was then sent straight to the surgeons and spent the night on morphine and didn't want me to leave her to move the car (massive hospital, probably would have taken about 20-30 mins on total), she was in pain, unwell and scared. I didn't feel I could leave her in that state. First thing next morning I went to move the car and have received a £50 fine, the ticket was put on after an hour.
I'm going to have to pay it aren't I? Feels like there's no compassion. I saw a police car also with a ticket.

OP posts:
ivykaty44 · 05/08/2017 20:31

www.parkingcowboys.co.uk/hospital-parking-tickets/

These companies even fine people with blue badges having treatment

missiondecision · 05/08/2017 20:34

At the point you realised your dd was not having an imminent op, (she feel asleep??) You should have moved your car.
It's crap but it's the rules.
I hope she is better soon.

ivykaty44 · 05/08/2017 20:37

Just be aware if you appeal 99% of the time your first appeal will fail but then you appeal to Pola on any technical grounds eg timing of letters sent ( which the company often get wrong ) and you win the second appeal.

Most people give up after the first appeal ( which is pretty worthless anyway as it's to the company themselves) and the companies know this, so refuse appeal to get the nice juicy £50

Oh and don't think this is about stopping people park somewhere - they love it as it makes them more money

Sparklingbrook · 05/08/2017 20:40

This is what our local hospital says on it's website about those spaces...

There are several drop off spaces available for 20 minute drop offs outside the main entrances. Please ensure you do not overstay the time limit as you may be subject to penalties

Pebbles16 · 05/08/2017 20:45

I had to rush DH in once and I knew I'd parked somewhere I shouldn't (in terms of time) but I couldn't leave him and so had to suck up the fine. Shit happens. I hope your DD is felling better.

RainbowPastel · 05/08/2017 20:47

Your car would have been towed within 30 minutes at my hospital. You got off lightly.

sebanna · 05/08/2017 20:48

Have you contacted the hospital. I work in a hospital and they can cancel tickets if the car was parked in an emergency. However the hospital has to pay the parking ticket.

Serialweightwatcher · 05/08/2017 20:50

Is it a proper police parking ticket/official or one of those private firms who can't do anything if you don't pay? If the latter, don't pay it - if it's an official one then do try to appeal. I understand what you mean, but it is tricky

TheFirstMrsDV · 05/08/2017 20:50

I'd be amazed if the hospital waived it
I would be amazed if the hospital had anything to do with the parking
Much more likely to be a profit making private business.

jarhead123 · 05/08/2017 20:57

I'd pay it and just consider it a small price to pay for overnight parking/my daughters treatment.

Hope she is better soon

Mittens1969 · 05/08/2017 21:04

Sorry to hear about your DD, hope she makes a good recovery, sounds awful.

But you do have to pay the fine. You could certainly have left your DD for 20 minutes to find another parking space. Someone else could have needed that space. So, whilst I understand and really do empathise, YWBU.

Imamiddleclasstwat · 05/08/2017 21:13

Thankyou to @loloslover for the empathetic reply and those who wished dd well. She's still very poorly and on morphine and I'm exhausted and emotional.
I shouldn't have posted on AIBU really as I know I am and will pay the fine obviously.
When I went to move the car my daughter hadn't actually been to theatre yet but it was the first time she was stable enough for me to leave her for half an hour, I was just so tired and worried (and still am) the ticket felt like one thing too much.
I think I really was posting to have somewhere to vent as was feeling very overwhelmed, it wasn't really about the ticket.
It does seem a bit rubbish that even the police attending the hospital got a ticket too though.

OP posts:
AngeloftheSouth84 · 05/08/2017 21:22

You need to have a little patients though and not contact the company.

Hahahaha. She did have a little patient! Grin

Imamiddleclasstwat · 05/08/2017 21:28

That made me chuckle Angela!

OP posts:
ivykaty44 · 05/08/2017 22:20

If you do want any help though let me know

I wonder what the police do about the tickets? Which are invoices technicaly and no you can't ignore them ( you used to be able to but the law changed)

Glad you enjoyed the unintended pun 😃

londonrach · 05/08/2017 22:27

£50 sounds cheap for the care your daughter received. You should have taken your daughter in and then moved the car as some other mother and daughter in same situation might have needed the space too. I completely understand why you didnt. Pay for fine and i hope dd is better soon

NoFucksImAQueen · 05/08/2017 23:12

I don't think YABU and I'd have done the same. To be fair to the hospital though they aren't to know your personal circumstances so maybe it might be worth appealing? I know at our hospital the nurses say they are understanding.
About a month ago my daughter got a hold of a hot drink and scalded herself. I chucked her in the shower for 5 minutes but panicked when her skin started to peel off. I jumped in the car and raced her to a n e sobbing. Drop off and car park full and the other car park was at the opposite side of the hospital so I parked in the disabled car park and rushed her in. I would never dream of it usually but my daughter was in pain, her poor little skin.. let's just say I'm tearful just writing this.
I'd do it again without an ounce of guilt, it was an emergency.

BeepBeepMOVE · 05/08/2017 23:19

YABU, how selfish!

If everyone behaved as you then everyone in your position would HAVE to carry their DD from the car park.

Yes she is seriously ill but so are many many other people.

Mittens1969 · 05/08/2017 23:25

@BeepBeepMOVE, you could cut the OP some slack. She's said that she knows she was unreasonable and she will pay the fine.

Her DD is seriously ill and she's emotional.

eurochick · 05/08/2017 23:41

Think of it this way - 50 quid to spend the night with your sick daughter isn't really too bad. When my baby was in nicu, overnight parking was about 25 quid a night, and that was bloody miles away. We paid it to be near her.

redsquirrell · 06/08/2017 00:41

Appeal it. The same thing happened to me when I was in labour with my second baby, I literally couldn't walk so we just parked as close as we could. I wouldn't let my husband leave me to move the car, our daughter arrived 90 minutes later! We appealed the parking fine and they let us off. Good luck.

redsquirrell · 06/08/2017 00:43

PS hope your daughter is ok

FlyingFox95 · 06/08/2017 00:58

YABU, you easily could have gone to move your car when your daughter was with the nurses but you chose not to so the fine is justified.

Witchend · 06/08/2017 01:31

Perhaps if I put something from the other side.
I was talking to an elderly lady whose husband has a severe lung condition. One day last winter, his breathing alarmed her, and she phoned his consultant who said to bring him round straight away.

When he's in this state he cannot walk more than a couple of yards, so what she does is stops in the pick up slot. Goes in, gets a wheelchair and hospital porter who takes him in, then she moves the car to the car park.

On this occasion she arrived to find that all the 20 minute slots had been taken. So she ended up going into the hospital car park, which meant that she had to leave him for some time while she walked over as quickly as she could and fetch a hospital porter. This delay, and the fact he then had to spend some time in the open air, which is bad for his lungs, while being wheeled across the car park.
This delay was actually very serious for him.

Now she's a really lovely lady, and she said she knows these things happen. But what got her was out of the 5 waiting spaces, 3 of them were taken by people who left the car there for well over an hour. The consultant has now said that if he is in that state again to always get an ambulance.

Now do you see how it can effect people. Those three people may well have had as good an excuse as you.

Running in with her was fine. But you should have moved asap.

FlyingFox95 · 06/08/2017 02:14

^ Exactly, where's the compassion for other sick people who may have needed that spot?

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