Parking fine - what to do?

[parkingmoan]

My sister went out with a group of friends - 5 of them in two cars - a few weeks ago and parked in a car park where they thought they had 3 hours free. Turns out the car park had changed it's policy since they had last been there and they only got 2 hours free. Both cars have received parking "fines" - invoices from a parking company. My sister (passenger) has offered to split the fines 5 ways as none of them knew it was only 2 hours. The drivers are saying that they trusted their friends telling them it was 3 hours and so didn't check the signs - haven't said in so many words but we think are trying to get out of paying. Who is right?

Obviously they should all chip in, if noone saw the signs.

Split it 5 ways. EVERYONE should have checked.

The PASSENGER is offering to split, and the DRIVER is insisting they don't pay at all? Blimey, that's not what I was expecting you to say - normally these arguments happen the other way round, with cheeky passengers saying "you were driving, it's your responsibility".

Yes, they should all pay equally!

the nice thing to do is for everyone to share. Drivers are responsible for their own cars, and should check, if only for their own benefit

Split it 5 ways. I cant imagine what kind of friend would try and get their passengers to pay the full amount, they are lucky your sister has offered to pay anything at all.

IMO it’s primarily the driver’s responsibility to check these things.

So the drivers should be grateful that the passengers are willing to chip in towards the fine, not trying to wriggle out of it altogether.

Equal split is fare.

I think if your sister specifically had said 'you can definitely park here for 3 hours' I would expect her to pay since she was the one sharing the wrong info. But if it was just a general decision among them all (or if there were signs which showed the rules in the car park and everyone had the same opportunity to see them) then a five way split is fair.

Who are these people who do these weird unfriendly things?

Before paying take a look at the moneysavingexpert website. There is a (slight) chance they might be able to avoid paying the fines at all.

If the fines are legit, they should split it five ways, otherwise I’m not sure who would be paying and who wouldn’t.

Got to say though, if I was the driver and someone had assured me parking was free for three hours I would probably have taken their word for it. It’s a bit rough on them to do the driving AND get stung for a parking fine.

Thanks everyone :-)