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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

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:
SaucyJack · 10/01/2018 10:32

I must just be an insensitive, robotic arse (potential new username?), because I'm certainly not a non-parent.

Or maybe I just think hospital visitors should pay for parking.

You can't not pay at our local children's A&E (which is yours too if my memory serves me correctly) so it wouldn't even be a consideration to try and skank on the parking charges.

RockinHippy · 10/01/2018 10:41

Jack, Grin

Then surely you can understand why parking charges are the last thing on the OPs mind when her dc is in a life threatening situation, even if they are with paramedics. I do get paying the actual parking charge though, whether I agree with hospital parking charges or not, but not the fine for, forgetting in an emergency.

Here our LA have more speed cameras on the main run up to our A&E than anywhere else in the city. It stinks as most people will just pay up & not challenge it.

CherryMaDeara · 10/01/2018 10:48

I don't think anyone is necessarily criticising the OP for forgetting to pay as obviously it isn't the first thing on your mind

isabella Yes people like ForBitFan and Rebeccaslicker have criticised OP for this. Rebecca called OP a cheap and pathetic tool for it.

CherryMaDeara · 10/01/2018 10:51

SaucyJack

Or maybe I just think hospital visitors should pay for parking.

He did paying for parking, as soon as the emergency was over.

Who in their right mind thinks 'I won't pay for parking, I'll deal with the irritating and laborious process for appealing a fine instead.'

It's clear her DH would have paid had they not been afraid for their child's life in an emergency.

Rebeccaslicker · 10/01/2018 10:57

Erm, no, cherry. I called her that for her rude and insulting post to ME when she didn't like being called out on the fact that nearly every poster on the thread has told her she is being U and she should pay for her mistake. Perhaps you didn't read that post in your desperate desire to defend the OP at all costs?

Rebeccaslicker · 10/01/2018 11:00

(You can't read it now as it seems HQ has deleted it!)

Dungeondragon15 · 10/01/2018 11:03

Erm, no, cherry. I called her that for her rude and insulting post to ME when she didn't like being called out on the fact that nearly every poster on the thread has told her she is being U and she should pay for her mistake.

Many have told her to appeal actually.

Rebeccaslicker · 10/01/2018 11:05

Go ahead and count them if you like. You'll find 99% of the YANBU posts are from you though Wink

CherryMaDeara · 10/01/2018 11:08

Erm, no, cherry. I called her that for her rude and insulting post to ME when she didn't like being called out on the fact that nearly every poster on the thread has told her she is being U and she should pay for her mistake. Perhaps you didn't read that post in your desperate desire to defend the OP at all costs?

OP wasn't rude to you.

You were fucking offensive though. Hence why your post was deleted.

Rebeccaslicker · 10/01/2018 11:11

Ah, of course, the OP is perfect in your eyes.

So why was her post deleted then, miss marple?

Dungeondragon15 · 10/01/2018 11:23

Go ahead and count them if you like. You'll find 99% of the YANBU posts are from you though

That's not correct at all. Initially not many people said OP should appeal as she/they didn't think there was enough time. Later quite a few posters suggested she appeal, particularly those who have done so before and won.

befbiund · 10/01/2018 11:24

Go and speak to the patient liaison people. They took my ticket and had it overturned immediately. Also, they will know if it's worth appealing or not even if they can't overturn it. I had bought a ticket but had overstayed after being admitted (I couldn't leave him to sort out the parking). My son has cancer though so is in and out of hospital and it maybe that they were more lenient with me because of that.

CherryMaDeara · 10/01/2018 11:25

Did she quote one of your vile posts, is that why she was deleted?

Refresh my memory.

TheDogHasEatenIt · 10/01/2018 11:26

Option B. Just had to do similar for my MIL, explained it was not usual visiting times, (middle of the night admission for FIL), and the hospital he usually attends has free parking. It also helped we had proof of parking tickets for subsequent visits, so could prove that she wasn't just chancing it, she was just not thinking about parking fees in the middle of the night when she was concerned about her DH. Fine was cancelled. As soon as you query the fine it's on hold, so as long as you query it within the 'cheaper' time to pay, it doesn't go 'up' until after they come back with a decision. You've got nothing to lose.

grannytomine · 10/01/2018 11:28

Is there something terribly special about people with cars? Why shouldn't they pay? If people go to the hospital on a bus they don't get a choice about paying the fare, the same if they need to get a train or a taxi.

Rebeccaslicker · 10/01/2018 11:30

Well no, cherry. if she posted something that was so unsuitable it got deleted, why would i want to repeat it, just to refresh your weirdly biased memory? It was right above the one of mine that you took such objection to, so one assumes you must have read it not less than 24 hours ago. It's most peculiar that you think I'm so "vile" that you want to quote me, but do feel free, it's an open forum.

The gist was, i have no life and must be a real drain at parties. A totally natural response to expecting someone who has just had a lot of free medical care to own up to a £40 mistake, I'm sure Smile

Imaweeble · 10/01/2018 11:31

Just caught up, thank you Cherry and Dragons for sticking up for me.

To clarify my post, it was late at night when my ds2 was taken in so the car park wasn't overrun, he also go taken straight into a room with doctors and nurses looking at him and sticking him with needles so he was very scared as he was only just 3 and wanted both his parents there. When he had settled my DH went and bought a ticket but this was about an hour and a half after we got there.

I don't promote not paying for parking or not paying fines (if they are just) but in certain circumstances then it doesn't hurt to write to the company and explain if they cancel it then fine, if not then of course it should be paid. It's everyone's right to contest a parking fine with good reason and why shouldn't they?

It seems to me that the last thing on the OPs mind was to pay for parking and all I said was that it won't hurt for her to write and explain.

Some posters on here really need to have a bit of compassion and be thankful that they have not been in this situation because I'm sure if they had then the last thing on their mind would be paying for parking!

Rebeccaslicker · 10/01/2018 11:31
  • less than 24 hours ago
StupidFine · 10/01/2018 12:02

This reply has been deleted

This post references a deleted post. Talk Guidelines.

CherryMaDeara · 10/01/2018 12:08

Rebecca you were being quite goady in your posts to OP. OP didn't say the fines don't apply to her because she is Scottish and that she wants to stick it to the man. You provoked a response and then lashed out.

She is right, the fine amount is arbitrary.
That's why you can challenge most private parking company charges by saying you will pay the amount that they should have reduced for parking (e.g. £1.50 ph) but not £40 because that is not the amount the parking company lost. It's a valid defence, not 'sticking it to the man'.

CherryMaDeara · 10/01/2018 12:08

*paid for parking not 'reduced'

Rebeccaslicker · 10/01/2018 12:22

I most certainly didn't report it to the moderators, OP. You can ask them; in fact, please do. They can tell you that I've never reported a post yet - I'm no precious snowflake. But perhaps you should ask yourself why yours was deleted, and why you had to ask for mine to be deleted? You lashed out at me because you didn't like hearing how your attitude to this comes across, that's all.

Cherry, if that's how you choose to justify it, that's up to you.

CherryMaDeara · 10/01/2018 12:24

OP you didn't deserve the goady posts you got. i am so surprised at some of the responses you have received here that have no empathy for a parent in an emergency.

Thankfully lots of sensible posters too.

MNHQ
LornaMumsnet · 10/01/2018 12:25

Ahem

The last thing we want to have to do is take this thread down so can we have a bit of peace and love, please?

IsabellaTruffle · 10/01/2018 12:27

Well no the original charge wasn't paid for later, he paid for the second time he parked after leaving the car park to go shopping and reparking. That isnt the same.

Its an honest mistake, one made when I'm sure the OPs husband was worried and stressed and that is understandable, but the fine is justified. If they let off everyone parked without paying on account of not thinking in a stressful situation that would let off probably 60/70% off the car park.

I've paid for a ticket before for a car park when there was two different machines, I got a ticket because I'd parked in a residents car park, next to the pay and display machine. The sign was up to say so but in my rush I hadn't noticed it. It was an honest mistake and I had paid for a ticket but it was my mistake so I paid the fine.

Really £40 isn't a lot in the grand scheme of things considering the care OPs child recieved.