To ask for a contribution to a parking fine?

[Zenana]

I met a friend for drinks a fortnight ago who suggested a pub I was unfamiliar with. There was a car park behind. I received a £100 demand for parking where apparently shouldn't. Admittedly I didn't look at signs but as my friend lived nearby I took their word for it.

I picked up the friend from home and drove them back too. What do you think?

Can you ask for evidence that you overstayed?

Or if there is no clear signage, request for evidence of the terms of parking?

Where do you live? If it's Scotland you have no legal duty to pay it, and the fine cannot be enforced, no matter how many letters they send. Anywhere else you need to just pay it and put it down to one of those things!

There is a fundamental difference between "not enforceable" and "potentially appealable".

Charging a fine for parking beyond a certain time period is legally enforceable provided that a number of preconditions were in place, such as clear signage, evidence that (on the balance of probabilities) the person did indeed stay in the car park beyond the free time. It is on the claimant parking company to prove these things and there will often be a defence if they have slipped up on signage, not taken a clear CCTV picture, or missed some other point of detail.

The Parking Eye Supreme Court case was looking at whether these fines are unenforceable because they are disproportionate and constitute a "penalty" not a fine. The Supreme Court rejected this and said that they were legally enforceable. The UKSC is the highest court in the UK and all lower courts are bound to follow its decisions. Only another UKSC case can overrule a previous one.

It is also always open to the parking company to choose not to pursue the case as a matter of goodwill, and they may have an agreement with the shop/venue to do that. That's what happened with my Tesco fine actually, I asked Tesco nicely and they instructed the parking company to drop it.

You don't have to pay until they get a court judgment against you, but you could end up paying all their costs on top of the fine if you make them push it all the way. They have teams of people who can get these things through court very easily using standardised documents, it's really no big deal for them to obtain a judgment.

There is probably a CCTV snap in the letter she received. Also, she knows she overstayed.

I don't think OP is in Scotland but, for the record, I also believe that you are incorrect. What's your source for saying this?

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/scotland/law-and-courts/parking-tickets/appealing-parking-tickets/parking-tickets-on-private-land-s/

Nope private parking companies have no legal jurisdiction in Scotland. Anyone smart and switched on has never paid one and never will. Sure they like to use language in their letters to scare people into paying, ie "could" and "may" result in court action etc, but in reality it is meaningless!

@Betterbear with respect, I asked for a source, not just you repeating the same thing?

Why would Cirizens' Advice Scotland give out incorrect guidance?

I quote:

A court may decide that you breached a contract with the parking operator and that you must pay the charges. You should remember that if it goes this far, you’ll probably face a higher charge than the one that was originally sent to you.

So you're saying they don't understand the law?

I need to look at all of this. No I'm not in Scotland I'm in Derbyshire.

They understand the law perfectly well and twist it to their advantage. As others have said they say "may" and "might" with the implication that it will definitely happen. They use threats and unreasonable escalations of their invoices to scare people into doing something that is unjustified.

As others have agreed with me - go to the Money Saving Expert website. Look on the motoring forum. There's the complete guide on how to deal with these scammers - these companies are headed by disgraced ex coppers and other discredited business types who are just using heavy arm tactics to give them profits. Ultimately it disadvantages the legitimate businesses that don't realised they are supporting protection rackets.

@Zenana have you called the pub yet? This might be easily resolved if you do.

They understand the law perfectly well and twist it to their advantage.

@SmudgeButt I wasn't asking @Betterbear whether she was saying that the parking companies don't understand the law. I was asking her whether she was saying that Citizens' Advice Scotland, whose advice is clear that these penalties CAN be upheld in court in Scotland, do not understand the law. Because I think that's pretty unlikely, what with them being a pro-consumer reputable source of advice.

As to the parking companies "twisting" the ale to their advantage, all they are doing is applying the law. As I've said until I am blue in the face, there are all sorts of ways to defend these claims and make sure that the parking companies have made out their case and supported it with the proper evidence, but it is plainly wrong to say that these fines are not enforceable as a matter of law.

You parked your car so responsibility lies with you.

Your responsibility to read the signs but sorry this has happened to you - I’m sure it won’t again!

Sorry but you as the driver are fully responsible!!

I think trust, but verify.

@Zenana have you contacted the pub directly to see if they have the ability to reverse the fine? I'd say it's fair to speak with your friend to pay half each.

I got a parking fine in very similar circumstances. I’d met a friend for lunch in a pub we were both unfamiliar with and both got parking tickets through the post a few days later.
We’d both paid for food on an App so could prove we’d eaten at the pub. I sent this to the ticket issuers (ParkingEye, Shawn of the devil 🤣) and we both had our tickets cancelled.
Perhaps you could give approaching the issuers a try?
Good luck x

Your car, you're the driver, you're responsible for where you park it.

@Zonder Going to do this tomorrow. I spoke to my friend today who offered to pay half. I didn't ask.

That's good. Hopefully when you call the pub nobody will need to pay anything.

I think £100 fines are outlawed ie it's extortion - check case law - is there a smaller fee to pay instead?

Also, could you appeal or ask the place you visited to get it squashed?

If I was the friend I'd contribute, but everyone is different. Ask by all means but don't expect anything.

Phew @Zenana . A normal nice person then. I thought this thread was, like many threads 😂, absolute batshit.

You're missing a fairly basic point here- you didn't park for over 2 hours

My point was that parking companies are fuckers.

Completely fine for friend to offer. It’s what any friend would do.

But entitled and lack of personal responsibility to expect or demand, which is what OP was doing.