Hospital Parking Charge - AIBU to think this is outrageous?

[AgileLemonShark]

In January, I had driven DS (13) to a GP appointment and was told to take him straight to the hospital as an emergency as GP thought he had appendicitis.

There were no spaces when we got there as usual (I have a disabled badge and no disabled spaces either), so we drove around for 5-10 minutes waiting but no cars were moving so I decided to park on an access road to one of the car parks near the A&E entrance.

This access road has been used as ‘overflow’ parking for all years I’ve lived here (20). I had parked there many times before including a few weeks before for a routine clinic appointment. Other cars were parked along there but I noticed they’d put double yellow lines down which weren’t there before so they must have done it recently, but had to take a chance as needed to get my DS into the hospital and I was in a panic as DS has Type 1 diabetes and I was petrified of possible surgery and complications,

When we got in, I couldn’t leave him to go and try to move the car as didn’t know how long I’d be trying to find a space as hospital is a huge area with multiple car parks, and we might have been called. We were then waiting to be called for a scan, his blood sugars weren’t stable and I wasn’t going to leave him unsupervised. When my husband got to the hospital after work about two hours later I immediately went to move my car and it had a penalty ticket on it.

I appealed under extenuating circumstances when was refused, then went to the parking adjudicator who also refused it.

I enclosed my son’s admission sheet showing he was admitted that day and had surgery, and a copy of disabled badge.

I would have thought that would be classed as extenuating circumstances which is what I appealed on.

I then left it as was furious it had been refused and am now being chased by a debt collection agent for £170 with the threat of court action. Think the original penalty was £70.

What was I supposed to do, drive out of the hospital to a car park 10-15 mins walk away and then get my son to walk back to the hospital? It was an emergency! His blood sugars were high and he was in too much pain to walk!

Maybe I should have driven back home and called an ambulance?

There was no loss incurred as we were exempt from parking charges due to the disabled badge.

I don’t want to pay it also don’t want a CCJ and extra court costs. I could understand if I caused an obstruction but why should they profit from my son needing emergency medical treatment and not having enough parking spaces?

PALs will not help and I emailed the onsite parking company today again and they said I lost my appeal so tough.

I am just so furious about this and think it is outrageous to rinse people for money who are having to visit a hospital.

AIBU?

I got a parking ticket at my local hospital and appealed but lost and had to pay it. Then they introduced the machine where you put your registration in and I have received fines even though I have done it very carefully. I reckon they send out a ticket to everyone. Now I take a screenshot and a video of me entering the reg. Tbh I get a taxi now which is expensive but door to door and less stress.

but double yellows are there for a reason - at hospitals usually access for emergency vehicles. Those blocked aren't going to say "oh, blue badge, ok we'll sit here until they get back, no worries."

I agree it is awful for OP, but i would have paid the immediate fine and thought myself lucky i could afford that and that my DC had been seen, tbh.

That’s not true anymore. They won the legal case about it. They have the precedent.

How long were you parked there, OP?

You are usually let off if you moved the car within an hour for exceptional circumstances based on a medical issue.

I had a very similar situation with my husband when he had suspected appendicitis (later confirmed at A&E).

I called 111 from home but couldn't speak to anyone and had to request a call-back, so decided to drive him to our local A&E.

He was laid across the back of the car, vomiting into a bowl. When we arrived at the hospital, the only nearby parking was a multi-storey carpark. We drove in, all the way to the top; no spaces available at all, so then had to queue to leave the car park. Wasted 30 minutes and husband still in agony and vomiting.

In the end, I had to leave the car in a loading bay on the main road as there was literally no other option. My husband was too unwell to walk more than a few paces.

I was able to move the car around an hour later, but I just had to accept that if I'd received a ticket, or even been clamped, I would just have to pay the charge/release fee.

The priority was to get my husband into A&E. (His appendix was actually perforated by the time they took him into surgery, but that's another thread!).

I agree it's appalling that there are no options for parking when you're in an emergency situation like this. But I'm very grateful my husband could access emergency care when he needed it, and we would've just paid the parking penalty if necessary.

Medical emergency as an exemption generally means when the car has to be stopped and left where it is because theres a medical emergency in the vehicle (eg. Driver is taken unwell) rather than someone chosing to park somewhere as part of a patient transport arrangement. So you’re likelihood of a successful appeal is low.

Double yellow lines exist for good reasons, and as other posters have pointed out - particularly in hospital grounds.

As you’ve acknowledged, there were other options available to you which were possible. Totally understandably not your preferred approach, but were possible.

Your fine has been passed to debt collectors because you chose to sulk rather than deal with it. That’s another consequence of a choice you made.

Totally understand your frustration but don’t think that it’s fair to say it’s unreasonable that has got to where it has.

Yanbu

I got a parking ticket for being over my 3 hours on a double yellow (no 'no loading' sign) - parked right outside of the hospital

It makes me sick

Can you go to the press?

xx

Agree YABU. I appreciate this was a scary episode, but as others have said the majority of people in A&E are in a similar situation and if you were able to queue for reception for some time and your husband didn’t come until after he finished work 2 hours later it wasn’t acutely life threatening. I would have paid the fine initially as in comparison to being worried about DC it would pale into insignificance.

My hospital is always jam packed, they created a new parking area underground which is brilliant except when my baby had a hospital appt, I went parked up, but the bays are super close together and every other bay has a pillar, the only spot o could find was between two car and a pillar. I could just about squeeze out, but couldn’t open the door even half way to take my baby out. I then realised when I take the pram out of the car, I will not be able to actually get out as the pillar is blocking me and all the cars are squashed together, not enough room to carry a pram out and besides can’t get my child out.
i ended up going home nd told the hospital im not attending as I can’t get my child out

I had no choice but to wait 30 minutes in Reception! DS was actually laying across some chairs in agony. Receptionist and nurses didn’t gaf. They couldn’t find the message the GP sent to expect him either for about another 15 minutes.

DH’s job means he travels around the UK. I meant that he’d got back into our town. He left as soon as I told him we’d been sent to hospital.

It was life threatening actually as is his other condition which made matters worse.

Gosh, people like to jump to conclusions just to try to put the boot in on here. So nasty.

I’d have parked exactly as you did op but I’d have paid the £70 fine immediately so it didn’t increase. You saw the double yellows and knew you shouldn’t park there so just accept the fine, pay it quick and be done with the stress.

You asked if you were being unreasonable and I gave my answer based on the information you gave, that is hardly putting the boot in! I have also been in a frustrating situation with hospital parking (having to pay a full new charge every 3 hours when I left to feed a 5 month old EBF baby at home whilst also being with a dying parent in the hospital). That would have totalled more than £70. I paid it and moved on as I had more important things to focus on.

You chanced it and it didn't work out OP. You weren't allowed to park there. Those are the rules. You did and got caught. Just pay it and move on, this won't end well for you and will cause unnecessary stress. It sucks, but be grateful your son is ok and if a similar thing happens next time, arrange alternative transport. You could order a taxi to your home as you are leaving the GP, with it arriving by the time you get there or shortly after.

Gosh, people like to jump to conclusions just to try to put the boot in on here. So nasty.

Not agreeing with you doesn't make people nasty.

Not following rules does not make you hard done by.

Agree you absolutely did the right thing as a mother - a child with diabetes and appendicitis is an emergency. Well done you for using common sense. Sorry you lost your appeal

Ok calm down stop frothing! 🤣 (or did your finger get stuck on the '?'.

You see this kind of thing on the local news sites all the time. I'm sure you would happily watch your child writhing in agony for 40 minutes while you wait for a space to become available. Or perhaps drive to another carpark, which is a 20 minute walk away. OP wasn't 'taking a chance' she was doing the only thing she could.

There is clearly a huge problem with hospital car parking which needs to be highlighted.

Oh calm down yourself
The only thing I agree with you is that there’s huge issues with parking at hospitals - However that doesn’t take away from the fact that the OP parked illegally and got a ticket. The issue is she didn’t pay her fine so she can either pay what’s now owed or take it further but according to the poll the majority of people think she’s being unreasonable.

Im still baffled as to why you’d even think of contacting her local paper to solve her problem as going by a lot of replies on this thread she’d only be opening herself up for more criticism.

You assumed (nasty assumption) incorrectly that I’d HAPPILY watch my child writhing for 40 minutes whilst waiting for a parking space. No I’d probably have paid in the same area but would have paid the fine in the first place.

I'd pay it to get rid of the stress of it hanging over you and then message your local paper and see if they will cover it. They are usually pretty keen on these type of stories.

I didn’t need to pay for a ticket. The fine was for parking safely without causing an obstruction in an area where it had been recently decided to put double yellow lines.

Do you think this fine is fair and reasonable?

Why should I be fined for parking safely without causing an obstruction or inconvenience to anybody so I could get my kid into A&E as an emergency?

Why are people thinking this was proportionate and private parking companies can get away with this?

I didn’t have a choice but to park there.

I agree. I hope none of these people ever serve on a jury.

If it was truly safe to park there then there wouldn’t be double yellow lines.

I think you have to ask yourself;
Are there any things I can do to escalate this further beyond the appeal stage? If the answer is no you pay the fine.

if you want to try and then get that money returned to you I would suggest you post on one of those parking forums where they discuss loopholes and private companies. They might have an idea you haven’t though if. As it is though they will continue to push this higher and higher until you get a CCJ and damage your credit rating and I don’t want that for you.

No. You can’t park on double yellow lines at all.

Infuriating, particularly as 'there are double yellows' is not a reason you, as a blue badge holder, can't park there. YOu can, for a short period - as long as its not causing an obstruction, and clearly you weren't as if you were they'd have cited that.

You can park on double yellows (as long as there is no further restriction sign) for up to 3 hours in England and Wales as long as you're not causing an obstruction.