To not pay parking fine

[DrMarkGreenesGlassescase]

My OH has just had a letter through the post from Britannia parking saying that we parked up at one of their sites and because we didn't sign in at reception we now owe them £100 (£60 if we get a move on and pay in 2 weeks). We did indeed park there (for 18 minutes according to their letter) because my 6 mo daughter was screaming on our way home and we stopped so I could breast feed her.
Anyone had a fine like this from Britannia before? It was dark so we didn't notice signs etc if there were any. To be honest she'd been screaming so long and so loudly I was just praying for a quick death and not on the lookout for info on fines etc. Seems mad when we weren't there 20 mins. I've looked today and the site has a bar, Premier Inn and a McDonalds on it. Any advice would be very welcome?

If it's a private parking company you don't need to pay it.

But you do have to keep your nerve. It's a scam...there's no point writing to them because they sell your details to debt collectors. They will chase you for a while and if they have no luck they will sell your details to the next debt collector. And so on. They don't have any authority. It won't affect your credit rating. They won't issue a CCJ although they might use all sorts of tactics to get you to think they will. But it costs them money and they won't do that for one ticket.

Cambridge University have a lovely money-making parking bay at Eddington with signs so high up that you'd need binoculars to read them.

We have a pub and a McDonald’s near us that makes a fortune doing this. They enforce it strongly.

They can, and do, issue CCJs. They’re not expensive at all and the court costs are recovered too. The advice to not pay is years old and dodgy now, since the parking company won the high court ruling.

@LittlePetitePsychopath really? Oh dear that's worrying that they can get away with it. I worked out that the university must be making a fortune from that parking bay because there were always cars coming and going as people parked there to pop into Sainsbury's. I did actually write to them a few times and they ignored me. It was so obvious that it was set up for maximum profit.

They do take you to court, and you lose. Your advice is old and no longer the advice given out.

OP, you need to pay it. You’ll lose the appeal and it will end up more expensive. You parked and didn’t use any of the facilities there so you get fined. We have a McDonald’s and beefeater nearby and you need to enter your license plate at a little kiosk when you go in or you get a ticket sent out. It’s pretty standard in a lot of places.

As there were two of you, why in 18 minutes didn't your partner check for the parking rules while you were busy feeding?

Perhaps an appeal will work, good luck to you, but you stayed on their land for a long time without checking their terms.

I would pay up. Very unlikely to cancel it in this situation.

Tbf they cannot just charge the cost of the parking! If that was the case, no one would pay for parking but just cough up if they actually got caught. A bit like trains used to be!

If you choose to fight it, it’s going to cost a fortune and why should they cancel it as you admit you did it, even unintentionally.

Is there any reason your DH couldn’t have checked?

There’s a good fbook group called challenge your private parking invoice. I recommend joining that group for advice.

I once got a fine from Britannia for going over on my parking at a supermarket. I’d been to the supermarket an because you get two hours free I went into town to get something. I couldn’t get back in time on my way back because there was torrential rain, then a shortcut I’d tried to use was closed and I had to go all the way round (took a picture of the closure) my toddler then had a meltdown and it took me ages to get them out of the push chair into the car. All in all I was 30 mins late, I emailed them to appeal with these reasons and thankfully they let me off.

Well I was really referencing cases like the OP where someone has used a car park for a short time. If someone uses a car park for several hours to avoid a charge elsewhere then they will have a very hard case arguing their case and they taken a calculated riskbut many of these invoices are for people over staying in free car parks for not much longer than the limit. Should people really have pay a company £60 because they over stayed 20 mins in a free supermarket car park?

Well yes they should. If you don’t want to pay a fine, don’t park somewhere you shouldn’t. Or if it’s time restricted, keep an eye so you get back in time.

This!
I ended up with a CCJ due to a parking fine that was sent to my old address.
Six years of absolute hassle - shows on your credit file and makes it hard to get loans or mortgage.
Constant letters from bailiffs. As much as it pains me to say this, just pay the £60!!

Don’t pay it without an appeal. Don’t name the driver.

And it’s not a fine, it’s an invoice for a parking charge notice. Only police and councils issue fines.

Woth respect, if your OH was driving and responsible for the parking, what has your breastfeeding got to do with it?

I can't see why he couldn't have gotten out of the car to check?

These parking charges are scandalous. I also got a fine for not registering my number plate - at a social club I was at for a close relative’s wake straight after their funeral. Got there late afternoon in the winter when it was dark, spoke with two staff members on my way in and neither of them mentioned registering. I only dropped in for 30 minutes before making the 4 hour drive home. There was no way to appeal it as the company had no phone number or email address, just an automated appeals process and my circumstances didn’t match any of their reasons to appeal. To add insult to injury the fine actually arrived in the post more than 2 weeks after the date on the letter, so had to pay £100. I’m still furious about it - it’s a lot of money to me and I was parked there legitimately - just didn’t know I had to register and it didn’t even cross my mind that a random social club in the middle of nowhere might have draconian parking rules. I feel your pain. I was tempted to refuse to pay it… but life is stressful at the moment and worrying about it was an extra bit of stress I didn’t need. If you can appeal, it’s probably worth a shot.

How long would you think is fair to allow before someone is charged? If I pay to park or the parking is free for a set amount of time the time allowed is what I expect. If I returned 20 minutes later and didn’t have a ticket I would think it was a result. Five minutes grace is more than generous. To return 20 minutes after your ticket expires and expect not to receive a penalty is wishful thinking but not unreasonable on the part of the landlord.

Use the money saving expert forum to find the name of the parking company and the process for appealing the invoice and follow the guidance on there exactly. It takes a while but it works.

I'm not sure what you get out of being rude to somebody you don't know. I'm not an inconsiderate person or an ass. It was a large, mostly empty car park outside a Premier Inn/pub. Not double yellows outside a hospital. I haven't insisted the company are arseholes, I haven't used my baby as an excuse- it IS why we stopped. I'm not claiming to be Nelson bloody Mandela, it's a fine and I'm asking what other people's experiences are. Do YOU check every sign wherever you park? If so congratulations on achieving perfection. If not perhaps you should think next time before you are so insulting to someone.

Well we don't have that defence sadly. I guess neither of us expected to pay when we weren't leaving the car. I've never seen this at any other car park. Have we just been lucky until now I wonder?

Literally every pay carpark or customer only license plate registration car park. That’s how car parks work.

Even if you don’t get out the car, you still need to pay for the parking. If you don’t use the services in a customer only car park then the fine is issued.

It’s their land. It isn’t public land or public highway. It’s private land and you can’t use it for free. And yes, most people check signs every time they drive into a car park because that’s how car parks work and have for decades so of course you check the terms. And pay.

This. The only way you can really get them to drop it if you were not actually there and can prove you were somewhere else. Pay it before it increases.

"I've never seen this at any other car park. Have we just been lucky until now I wonder?"

You have clearly been very lucky to date. Almost all, if not all car parks have signs with their terms. Are you actually an experienced driver or just a passenger?

The time begins when you enter in the vehicle, not when you get out of the vehicle. Otherwise, people could park for hours and not leave their car.

There is usually a 10 minute grace period from entry to allow you to find a space, park and purchase a ticket according to their displayed terms. If you disagree with the terms, it should be enough time to leave their property before you are obligated to pay.