Page 9 | To ask for a contribution to a parking fine?

Zenana · 2023-05-20T09:11:58+00:00

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?

TeaParty4Me · 20/05/2023 17:11

I picked my brother up today and dropped him somewhere that had a carpark.
There was no pay and display machine and I couldn’t find any signs.

My brother said that it’s a free carpark and I can 100% park there with no issues as he’s done it many times.
As I couldn’t see it saying it otherwise then I took his word for it.

If I get a ticket I’m definitely going to put some of the blame on him and ask him to contribute as he’s the one who said I can park there.

Original poster

Zenana · 20/05/2023 17:22

TeaParty4Me · 20/05/2023 17:11

I picked my brother up today and dropped him somewhere that had a carpark.
There was no pay and display machine and I couldn’t find any signs.

My brother said that it’s a free carpark and I can 100% park there with no issues as he’s done it many times.
As I couldn’t see it saying it otherwise then I took his word for it.

If I get a ticket I’m definitely going to put some of the blame on him and ask him to contribute as he’s the one who said I can park there.

This was the situation I found myself in.

To those saying I didn't check that you needed to pay, it's a free car park. It's not a pay and display or pay in the pub.

OP posts:

ChocChipHandbag · 20/05/2023 17:26

To those saying I didn't check that you needed to pay, it's a free car park. It's not a pay and display or pay in the pub.

But there must have been signs up that said "Free parking for up to 2 hours".

They are pretty prominent. If they are not, that is grounds for appeal.

ChocChipHandbag · 20/05/2023 17:30

I mean, I do genuinely get that it's possible not to notice them. That's exactly what happened to me in my local supermarket. I'd driven there so many times and knew the parking was free. I was never close to the time limit so it just wasn't relevant to me in terms of making sure I was out within the free period. I think I thought the signs were saying something about "parking for customers only" and I never read them properly.

I only got stung because one day I spent much longer than normal doing my shopping.

CurlewKate · 20/05/2023 17:42

Not the point-but presumably only £100 if you don't pay within a specified time?

Shiningstar80 · 20/05/2023 17:56

shammalammadingdong · 20/05/2023 17:08

Sod off. You drive you car and park it, and get a fine, that is no business of mine.

I'm an excellent friend, I have excellent friends, I would not offer money in this instance and would never expect anyone else to offer me money. Nor would I take it if they did.

The cheeky fucker here is YOU expecting your friends to pay your fines for your poor choices and bad parking! The nerve of you.

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Totally agree! Those that say they would, I highly doubt actually would pay it

shammalammadingdong · 20/05/2023 17:58

Zenana · 20/05/2023 17:22

This was the situation I found myself in.

To those saying I didn't check that you needed to pay, it's a free car park. It's not a pay and display or pay in the pub.

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It's clearly not a free car park, or you wouldn;t have a fine right now.

Seems like you still aren't paying attention to how parking works.....

rookiemere · 20/05/2023 18:02

OP was only at the blinking pub because her friend chose it.

I wonder how many lifts OP has given friend over the year, and if you added up the cost of cabs instead how quickly you'd get to £50 ( half the fine).

Susan2 · 20/05/2023 18:11

We have a carpark around a pub, it looks like it is the pub's car park.
But it is Council run, and 24/7. Pub patrons login at the bar. It nearly caught us first time.

SmudgeButt · 20/05/2023 18:22

ChocChipHandbag · 20/05/2023 16:35

That advice is completely wrong. Follow that and you'll end up with a CCJ in your credit file OP. There was a Supreme Court case that held they were enforceable- Google Parking Eye.

The only bit that is potentially worth following is seeing if the pub can get the company to withdraw it as they know you were there the whole time.

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Parking eye is one of the scams. These companies don't want to go to court and pull the case before it gets that far.

And they're not fines. They're essentially invoices.

And yes I understand that businesses need to ensure people don't park and go elsewhere but what is happening is people start avoiding those businesses when they feel they have been caught out.

weirdoboelady · 20/05/2023 18:28

Zenana · 20/05/2023 17:22

This was the situation I found myself in.

To those saying I didn't check that you needed to pay, it's a free car park. It's not a pay and display or pay in the pub.

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pepipoo. Have you even looked? You are quite likely to find other posts about this very pub, if they are trying it on!

LadyJ2023 · 20/05/2023 19:04

Wether anyone told you it was free or not its the responsibility of the driver to determine if it was. You wouldn't pull out into a main busy road based on a friend telling you it's safe to go would you???

Shiningstar80 · 20/05/2023 19:42

rookiemere · 20/05/2023 18:02

OP was only at the blinking pub because her friend chose it.

I wonder how many lifts OP has given friend over the year, and if you added up the cost of cabs instead how quickly you'd get to £50 ( half the fine).

Well she may have chose it but clearly she was also at the pub as she wanted to
be there otherwise I’m guessing she wouldn’t have gone out

ChocChipHandbag · 20/05/2023 22:44

https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/uksc-2015-0116.html

Parking eye is one of the scams. These companies don't want to go to court and pull the case before it gets that far.

It's hilarious how wrong you are @SmudgeButt. Look at the link, they took it all the way to the Supreme Court and won.

SmudgeButt · 20/05/2023 22:45

ChocChipHandbag · 20/05/2023 22:44

https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/uksc-2015-0116.html

Parking eye is one of the scams. These companies don't want to go to court and pull the case before it gets that far.

It's hilarious how wrong you are @SmudgeButt. Look at the link, they took it all the way to the Supreme Court and won.

A lot has changed in nearly 10 years and the case no longer applies.

ChocChipHandbag · 20/05/2023 22:49

Oh really? Do explain how it was overruled @SmudgeButt KC.

Soapyspuds · 20/05/2023 23:03

If this is from a private company than it is called an invoice not a parking fine. You should be more fussed about checking if you need to pay it at all rather than if your friend owes you.

Was there clear signage? Have they suffered financial loss from you parking there?

Soapyspuds · 20/05/2023 23:08

Parking eye is one of the scams. These companies don't want to go to court and pull the case before it gets that far

Parking are are total shitehawks. They once tried to bill me for overstaying a 2 hour maximum stay car park. I went once in the morning for ten minutes and then again for another ten minutes in the evening of the same day. They took the photo of me adriving in on the morning visit and combined that with the photo of me driving out from the evening visit and tried to bill me for staying 10 hours. They refused to accept my appeal and only gave up when I made it clear I was not paying unless they got a court judgement in their favour. Arseholes.

TimesRwo · 20/05/2023 23:42

SmudgeButt · 20/05/2023 16:06

Chances are it's not a fine but a parking charge notice. Normally they say £60 and then up it to £100 if not paid within X days. Basically it's a scam run by scums who are after easy money. Don't fall for it. First off ask the pub to get it cancelled explaining you didn't realise. If that doesn't work submit a notice to the PCN company to tell them that you don't admit liability and don't think they have a legal claim against you. They'll likely reject that and possibly up the ££ they want. And then you wait for it to be sent to court by a collection agency who will lose in court.

All the details you need to get it sorted are available on the MSE motoring forum.

This is so unbelievably wrong.

Please ignore this OP. These fines / PCNs / invoices can be enforceable and successfully claimed in court.

Theoldwoman · 20/05/2023 23:57

It’s the drivers responsibility.

Soapyspuds · 21/05/2023 00:16

This is so unbelievably wrong. Please ignore this OP. These fines / PCNs / invoices can be enforceable and successfully claimed in court

No, Smudgebutt is correct but they have not explained the all ins and outs. Anybody simply paying up a parking charge without investigating a defence is a fool.

There are various route to appeal private land parking invoices. There will first be the internal appeals process through the parking company who will invariably refuse your appeal (they always do). Then next there is the POPLA appeal process which is an independant group who decide if the parking companies charge should be upheld. Note that this is free for the person who got the parking charge but the company who issued the charge have to pay if they are taken to POPLA.

Finally you may wish to still refuse to pay if you lose both appeals. You then decide if you want to defend your position in court, potentially gambling that the parking company will carry through or withdraw the day before. Then if they do show up the outcome resides with the judges decision.

However @OP please do not use mumsnet for advice on this. Seek out Moneysaving expert or the PePIPoo forums for this sort of thing.

Original poster

Zenana · 21/05/2023 08:20

Soapyspuds · 20/05/2023 23:03

If this is from a private company than it is called an invoice not a parking fine. You should be more fussed about checking if you need to pay it at all rather than if your friend owes you.

Was there clear signage? Have they suffered financial loss from you parking there?

No clear signage. There may have been signage but I'd have had to go looking for it ie it wasn't obvious.

No they've not suffered financial losses.

There was plenty of space so I wasn't preventing anyone else from parking there.

OP posts:

Ladykryptonite · 21/05/2023 08:23

Curlewkate, yes I wondered if the fee was actually 100 straight away

ChocChipHandbag · 21/05/2023 09:53

Soapyspuds · 20/05/2023 23:08

Parking eye is one of the scams. These companies don't want to go to court and pull the case before it gets that far

Parking are are total shitehawks. They once tried to bill me for overstaying a 2 hour maximum stay car park. I went once in the morning for ten minutes and then again for another ten minutes in the evening of the same day. They took the photo of me adriving in on the morning visit and combined that with the photo of me driving out from the evening visit and tried to bill me for staying 10 hours. They refused to accept my appeal and only gave up when I made it clear I was not paying unless they got a court judgement in their favour. Arseholes.

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

OP did.

UthredofBattenberg · 21/05/2023 10:04

Well I'm clearly too trusting of my friends then.

If a friend of mine was familiar with an area and told me that I could park in a certain park car, I'd take their word for it.

I might check the signs, I might not, but I certainly wouldn't give it the attention I would any other time.

I'd be pissed off if I got charged £100 after following my friend's advice.

If I was the friend, I'd be mortified my friend had been charged £100 for following my incorrect advice and offer to pay half.