parking fine

[neonlight]

AIBU to be upset to receive a parking fine of £100 (£60 if paid within 14 days) although as it was delivered on the 10th of November, and the £60 has to be paid by the 19th of November that is irrelevant. I apparently entered Epping Forest Retail Park at 14:38 and left again at 17:55, according to CCTV photos, extending the 3 hour free parking by 17 minutes. I assumed- wrongly it would seem that the 3 hours applies to the time actually parked. The car park on that day was extremely busy and it took me over 10 minutes to find a space, so I thought the 3 hours would start from the time I parked in an actual space. I was back before the 3 hours was up, and then spent another 10 minutes trying to leave the car park. I spent a lot of money in the shops on that day, and feel really annoyed that I have this fine, which I am appealing.

If they have signs up that says when time starts and ends for the free parking. Then you don’t have a chance really. But worth trying.

I get why it seems unfair, but if they are measuring time with number plate cameras at the entrance/exit there is no way for them to know when people actually park - you’d need a number plate camera on every space.

But I guess it’s always worth appealing, maybe make the point that on busy days they could have some leniency, or put clearer signs up specifying that the time is time of entry not of parking if there aren’t any already

Well when I was unexpectedly admitted to hospital because there was a problem with my unborn child and so could not move my car within the 3 hours, my appeal was denied. So good luck with that!

(I probably could have fought it harder, but was just worried about my baby so paid it to avoid the stress)

How would they have known what time you actually parked??

You could potentially argue the queue to leave but not enter, as if it took you 10mins to park you should have know you only had 2hrs 50 remqining, but how were you to know it would take you so long to exit

Be sure to never shop there again!

How would they record the time you parked? You overstayed so I doubt very much they will cancel the fine.

Was it Parking Eye? I had a ticket recently for a similar issue - overstayed because I was waiting for something to be fixed in one of the shops on the retail park. I appealed with a receipt to show I was there legitimately, and they cancelled the fine. Worth a try!

Write with copies of receipts showing how much you spent and tell them you won't provide any more business to any of those retailers again if they impose the fine and that you'll write to tell the retailers so too - worked for me with Parking Eye.

Also look up advice from Honest John about offering a reasonable payment equivalent to what they lost as a result of your 17 minute overstay - which based on the hourly parkingfee of £0 would be nothing but you'll offer what comparable local fees are - eg £1.20 for up to an hour plus £5-£10 to cover their admin. I believe legally they can't argue that because you've reimbursed their losses - but check Honest John for the correct wording.

We had one because I stopped in a car park to change my baby who had been sick everywhere in his car seat. We appealed and they declined even though they had us doing so on cctv which they mentioned in their letter.
I just paid it because there has been a few threads on here recently about court etc so I was too nervous not too

They will probably decline the appeal and when they do you can then appeal through POPLA. Look on moneysavingexpert forum for how to word the appeal. One of my appeal points was that I wasn't parked for the full 2 hours. Parking eye withdrew the fine.

It’s a private car park presumably, if so then appeal it. Tell them the charge (60) is not justifiable for overstaying 17 mins or whatever it is and explain the situation, traffic etc etc.
The ball is in their court to offer a smaller amount or quash it.

I did similar for overstaying about 20 mins in a supermarket car park and never heard from the parking people again.

Whatever you do, don’t ignore it, ...but I would appeal.

Definitely appeal, I received one in a similar situation so sent a letter explaining the situation with a copy of my receipts and invoice (not a fine) was cancelled.

They wouldn’t have any way of knowing when you got a space. Worth appealing just in case but I wouldn’t have high expectations!

Everyone saying 'they would have no way of knowing how long you had parked'. Are you serious? They can log your individual car's entrance and exit times with technology but you think they would have no way of figuring out how long you were parked? It's hardly beyond the wit of man. Cameras, monitoring traffic flow. It would be easy. They just chose not to.

So what, a camera at every parking bay? Expensive monitoring technology? What company is going to pay for that when it’s a million times more straightforward to just go entrance and exit times (I.e. one camera at each place). I’m sure the tech exists, but whose going to bother with it?

It's worth appealing. Nothing to lose. Grounds for appeal - queuing to leave, penalty disproportionate for number of minutes over stayed. Also include copies of receipts to show you were an actual customer. I would state number of minutes you queued to leave, as they may say this still takes you over, just tell them queuing to leave caused it as it's a lot of work for them to disprove that. They can tell from the cameras if traffic was very heavy, but to calculate which space you came from and how long exit took to complete should be a hassle they don't want.

*wouldnt state ^^

Appeal. Definitely appeal.

As a PP said the fine is disproportionate. Tell them you are appealing and tell them you'll take it to Popla. You don't have to give all the info straight away. Popla are good and look at all your evidence (your explanation and receipts).

Give it a whirl, you have nothing to lose.

I would appeal. You have nothing to lose

Is there a particular shop you made a bigger purchase / spent more? If so approach them with your receipts and see if they can get this fine cancelled - has worked for me. Also it would never occur to me to have to factor in time it takes to park and time queuing to leave (having taken 15 minutes queuing to get to a space and 45 minutes to get off gridlocked local retail park at the weekend!)

It’s not a fine, it’s a charge. An unreasonable one at that.

I have successfully argued with Parking Eye that I returned to my vehicle and exited the space in good time but was then in a traffic jam waiting to exit the retail park. 17 minutes in easily explicable in these circumstances. You have a reasonable chance of a successful appeal.

I've sucessfully appealed a Parking Eye that my car was not in the carkpark exceeding 3 hours as it was undergoing repairs in the garage accessed through the car park and sent the £££ receipt to prove it.

There's a local retail park that is notorious for parking/ exiting problems due to a terrible lay out and single access point that leads to gridlock very easily even though the carparks aren't full. A few years back I met DH there for lunch before toy shopping up the other end of the site. We travelled seperately as he worked a half day from a different part of town. I got home 45 minutes later than him from being parked in a different part of the car park!

They have since installed CCTV and a 3 hour limit. Apparently you couldn't possibly need to spend more than 3 hours shopping there... that leaves time rather tight to actually eat, browse furniture etc when it can take over an hour to escape. I loathe these systems, lazy, exploitative bastards.

had my parking fine cancelled after I appealed, so there is some decency out there!