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Original poster

To not pay hospital parking fine

478 replies

StupidFine · 09/01/2018 08:19

Last week Dd (8 months) suffered an allergic reaction and was taken to the hospital. DH followed in the car and parked without paying (we live on the border and our usual hospital is in Scotland where parking is free, but this is our first emergency and we were taken to the nearest hospital which is in England). Either way the last thing on DH mind was the bleeding parking.

Thankfully Dd was ok, but a week later DH and I are reflecting on what to do about the parking fine. Our options as we see them are:

A) pay the fine and draw a line under this incident (£40).
B) contest the fine as it was an emergency and we have a hospital note with time and reason for admission (if contest is denied fine will go up to £80 as takes 35 days to review).
C) don't pay and just ignore the fine. A colleague of mine said as we live in Scotland we don't need to tell the parking company who was driving (apparently this loophole was closed in England) and since they don't know who was driving it's very costly/time consuming and not worth the company's effort to raise a case to claim the fine.

My head says to go for option A) as I don't want things like this hanging over our head. But my heart says option C) as it's ridiculous anyone should need to pay for parking at a hospital and the fine is just an arbitrary number pulled out of the company's backside (not quite but you get the point).

WWYD?

OP posts:
CherryMaDeara · 09/01/2018 17:22

Maybe he didn't know she was stabilised?

Even if she was, he was worried about his child being in hospital. Any one can make mistakes in that scenario.

Once he was thinking straight, he bought a ticket.

It's difficult to suggest next steps without knowing what kind of car park this was (hospital owned, council owned, private car park).

OP is best off reading Money Savings Expert. The draft letters there are very useful for challenging fines/charges.

Hoppinggreen · 09/01/2018 17:25

pearl yes that does happen in Spain, very sensible

HisBetterHalf · 09/01/2018 17:25

Is paqrking run by a private company? As NewPapaGuinea pop onto the pepipoo site, they are brilliant and provide templates as to how to structure your defence

Scrumptiousbears · 09/01/2018 17:31

OP I think you are just making excuses and you need to pay it.

Plenty of people attend the hospital in stressful circumstances and manage to pay.

I was give the final call by the hospital for my Nan. I managed to pay.

memememum · 09/01/2018 17:37

stupidfine "B) contest the fine as it was an emergency and we have a hospital note with time and reason for admission (if contest is denied fine will go up to £80 as takes 35 days to review). "

Double check the terms and conditions. Often if you contest and it is disallowed then the period when you can pay the reduced amount starts again on their decision.

Dungeondragon15 · 09/01/2018 17:39

how is it an unfair charge? The charge is for parking and not paying - which is what happened

Yes, but I think in hospitals it would be unfair to penalise someone in circumstances where omitting to pay is understandable because of an emergency as in this case. In any case it is worth appealing and then going by the hospital decision.

arethereanyleftatall · 09/01/2018 17:40

The idea that someone who has just benefited enormously from the care from the NHS, would then do something to cost them money; is truly awful.

Dungeondragon15 · 09/01/2018 17:42

Nor do I advocate lying by omission or insinuation, which you apparently think is a good idea.

I don't think that it is lying by omission to not make a point that the child was not in the car as I don't think it matters. If the hospital thinks it is relevant they can ask.

Dungeondragon15 · 09/01/2018 17:43

The idea that someone who has just benefited enormously from the care from the NHS, would then do something to cost them money; is truly awful.

I think the fines are administered by an outside company so it would not cost the NHS.

CherryMaDeara · 09/01/2018 17:47

The idea that someone who has just benefited enormously from the care from the NHS, would then do something to cost them money; is truly awful.

The money is not theirs. Parking fines should penalise those who deliberately do not pay the fees. This isn't the case here.

arethereanyleftatall · 09/01/2018 17:51

Ah, is it dungeon, I missed that, sorry.
I think people have said sometimes the carpark is independent, and sometimes the money goes to the hospital. I would definitely find out. I'd pay it, I'd just consider it a donation, if it does go to the hospital.

arethereanyleftatall · 09/01/2018 17:52

Cherry - ignorance is never an excuse. Otherwise everyone would just say 'I didn't know that' to everything.

Dungeondragon15 · 09/01/2018 17:54

But it isn’t an emergency though not for him. That is where for me the challenge fails. If he had his DD with him and was racing to get her to the hospital yes I think the fine should be challenged because it was an emergency.

DH got let off a parking fine because he was in hospital with me as I was giving birth. It was an emergency when we arrived (quick birth) but arguably once I was there he could have left me and the midwife to it as his presence wasn't actually going to save my life. Common sense applied though we didn't have to pay a fine.

Dungeondragon15 · 09/01/2018 17:55

I think people have said sometimes the carpark is independent, and sometimes the money goes to the hospital.

I think that the parking fees often go to the hospital but the fines usually administered by a private company.

youarenotkiddingme · 09/01/2018 18:00

Write to them and say you are from Scotland where parking is free and offer to pay the parking rate you should have paid as a close to the matter.

CherryMaDeara · 09/01/2018 18:00

Cherry - ignorance is never an excuse. Otherwise everyone would just say 'I didn't know that' to everything.

It's not ignorance, it was an emergency.

See Dungeon's post above. The parking company should make allowance for an emergency like this and if they don't, I would appeal to the tribunal/POPLA.

arethereanyleftatall · 09/01/2018 18:09

He was visiting a patient. That isn't an emeRegency.

FitBitFanClub · 09/01/2018 18:23

When my dd had a serious anaphylaxis attack and was taken to hospital by ambulance, the first thing I thought of, whilst packing a bag with things she (and I) might need, was money for the car park. I mean, it's not rocket-science, is it?
In the event, there was a phone-in option, although it was bloody hard to read all the relevant numbers on the sign at 2 in the morning with the street lamp above the machine out of action. I was faffing about trying to shine the torch on the mobile phone I was using to make the bloody call onto the notice board. Cost a fortune too, as I had no idea how long we were going to be there for, so had to plump for the long option.
Wouldn't have occurred to me to enter A&E without paying first. Dd had been stabilised before going in the ambulance, and in your case, your dd had you with her, so it wasn't as if she was unattended (as mine was). Your dh had less reason to rush.

So yes, pay up, like the rest of us do. A huge number of people attending hospital are doing so under stressful circumstances.

Dungeondragon15 · 09/01/2018 18:26

The mean-spirited pedantic attitude by some posters on this thread is incredible. Most people in RL wouldn't begrudge someone being let off a parking fine because of these circumstances but apparently, that is an outrageous suggestion for some.

PigletWasPoohsFriend · 09/01/2018 18:31

The mean-spirited pedantic attitude by some posters on this thread is incredible. Most people in RL wouldn't begrudge someone being let off a parking fine because of these circumstances but apparently, that is an outrageous suggestion for some.

It's not being 'mean spirited'.

Although discussing it is pointless as it seems anyone that doesnt agree with you is apparently unsympathetic, pedantic or mean spirited. Which is emotive twoddle. Especially as others have explained situations where they have paid.

Dungeondragon15 · 09/01/2018 18:32

FitBitFanClub I thought you were being sarcastic until the end of your post. It is quite odd that money for parking was your "first thought" when your DD had a serious anaphylaxis shock.

FitBitFanClub · 09/01/2018 18:32

because of these circumstances

What, you mean the kind of circumstances that a huge proportion of people visiting hospitals are in every day?

Sirzy · 09/01/2018 18:34

“Circumstances” many people have been in and still managed to pay!

No matter what you think about hospital parking charges they are there so you have to pay. If you forget to pay then if your caught you have to suck it up.

FitBitFanClub · 09/01/2018 18:35

Then read my post more carefully, dungeon. I said my first thought when packing the bag of things dd might need was to include coins for the carpark. She'd been stabilised by paramedics at home for some time at that point, whilst we waited for the ambulance.
Don't you DARE insinuate that I was unconcerned about her condition! I've had a lifetime of hospital attendances with my daughter and I don't need a pious lecture from you, thank you very much.

Dungeondragon15 · 09/01/2018 18:36

Although discussing it is pointless as it seems anyone that doesnt agree with you is apparently unsympathetic, pedantic or mean spirited. Which is emotive twoddle.

Not in general but on this thread-yes.

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