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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to feel a little hard done by and think that they should at least give me refund on my parking?

26 replies

WoTmania · 02/12/2009 13:39

Recently I parked in a pay and display car park.
Paid for 4 hours parking and put the ticket onto dashboard. I then got DCs out of the car and into sling/pushchir/held hand and happily trundled off to meet a friend for lunch.
I got back to find a penalty charge notice. When I shut the door the ticket must have blown off the dash board.
Obviously I appealed. They wrote back and said it was rejected because the issue was that the P&D ticket wasn't displayed correctly not whether I had one or not.
So now I can either accept this and pay £25 or appeal again and if that one gets rejected pay £50.
So AIBU to a) think they should provide some way of sticking the ticket to the dashboard or where ever
and b)to feel a little hard done by that I still have to pay poxy fine despite having paid for a valid pay & display ticket.

(and that swines won't refund the p&d ticket)

OP posts:
paisleyleaf · 02/12/2009 13:41

Unfortunately I expect they've covered themselves with the 'displayed correctly' thing.

norfolkBRONZEturkey · 02/12/2009 13:43

do they have a photo to prove it wasn't because presumably you have the ticket?

Pikelit · 02/12/2009 13:45

Sounds like the Lewes parking scheme!

And yes, it does seem unreasonable to be penalised for not refunding the cost of a correctly paid-for ticket when there's no means of actually sticking it to the car.

Having got caught for an undisplayed ticket I now check the dashboard to ensure the ticket is still in place when I lock the car. Because it is horribly easy for the simple getting out of the car manoeuvres to dislodge the sodding thing.

I don't have a problem with parking schemes because I don't expect to pollute the environment and be rewarded by free parking. I do have a huge problem with the way that these schemes are administered though since almost all decisions are unreasonable.

maxpower · 02/12/2009 13:52

If you're in London, take your case to the parking appeals service (assuming you still have the P&D ticket?) I can almost guarantee that the council will write the ticket off before it gets that far and if it does go to appeal, request a personal hearing and present your case. They'll almost definitely let you off.
If you're not in London, find out from your local authority who you can appeal to.
Good luck

Original poster
WoTmania · 02/12/2009 13:54

Pikelit - I'm the same - I don't use the car unless I have to and usually would have checked it was still there. However DS1 was being a horror in a frisky mood and I was more concerned with trying to keep him safe.
NBT - yes, they have photo, I have ticket.

My main gripe is that I suspect they reject all appeals in the knowledge that if you have the choice of paying £25 or appealing again and possibly losing and paying £50 you're going to go for the lesser amount.

OP posts:
ajandjjmum · 02/12/2009 13:57

Exactly this happened to us on a very windy day in Cornwall.
We appealed but it was rejected.
Who said holidays in the UK were cheaper?!!!

Original poster
WoTmania · 02/12/2009 14:01

best bit is this same council fined my friend because she (windy day worried about this) stuck it in her passenger widow up in the seal. Quite visible but not on the dashboard.

OP posts:
smokinaces · 02/12/2009 14:03

I always keep a 2p in my car for this reason - weigh the ticket down. No worries about it flying off then.

Pikelit · 02/12/2009 14:05

Round here they've been issuing fines to drivers who have made the mistake of displaying their Blue Badges the wrong way round. Despite said information being perfectly legible. Appeals had fallen onto the usual stony ground until the local papers took up the story and suddenly, cases were "re-considered".

Original poster
WoTmania · 02/12/2009 14:05

THis lot would probably say that they couldn't see the ticket properly

OP posts:
DropKop · 02/12/2009 14:13

Something like this happened to me recently. Ds put the ticket in the window for me but upside down! Got back to the car to find we were fined .

Wrote to our council, admitted it was a mistake but also pointed out that I had more than an hour parking left and had never received a parking ticket before, attached the ticket for proof, and guess what, the appeal worked and I didn't have to pay the fine

thrifty · 02/12/2009 14:13

you have my sympathies. exactly the same thing happened to me when ds was a baby. i sent a long diatribe with photocopy of the ticket (which i subsequently found on in the passenger footwell). told them to look on their CCtv that i had actually bought a ticket and explained that if the ticket was sticky it wouldnt have happened.

They let me off! and that car park now has a sticky ticket machine.

nickelbabe · 02/12/2009 14:13

This happened to me once: i was devastated because it was the first time i'd gone to a town specifically to visit their independent bookshop and got a fine for it!

when i tried to appeal, they replied that a warden had seen the ticket but it was upside down and they couldn't see the time on it. they couldn't rescind it then, i had to wait till the 60 days were up and they sent another form through saying to pay now. and then i had to send that back with a photocopy of the ticket to show that it was really there and bought at the time i said. i had to tick the box that said i'm appealing because the offence didn't happen.

i got it cancelled.

Original poster
WoTmania · 02/12/2009 14:18

So do I re-appeal with a stern letter pointing out that I had a ticket (with no means of sticking) and had 3 children under 4 to deal with so not really thinking about checking that the sodding ticket was where I'd put it and hope for the best or shall I just pay the £25 and be done with it?
(could get the local paper to start a petition for adhesive tickets)

OP posts:
maxpower · 02/12/2009 14:19

Honestly, challenge the ticket and don't give up! The council will know they're onto a losing case if you pursue it and they will cancel the penalty as it'll cost them to contest it at appeal (which they know they will lose).

I'm assuming the £25 is the 14 day discounted rate. Under the RTA (unless it's changed) they don't actually have to consider mitigating circumstances until the notice to owner stage (after 28 days). Then the registered keeper can make representations. They may decide to withdraw the ticket at this stage but if they insist, take your case to appeal. I'd be amazed if you didn't get off - I've actually seen someone who was let off their ticket by the parking appeals service just because they were 'a credible witness' - the penalty they'd been issued was entirely valid!

Original poster
WoTmania · 02/12/2009 14:19

Nickelbabe - prob is that mine had blown onto car seat so wasn't visible in the window at all

OP posts:
nickelbabe · 02/12/2009 14:23

it's a tought one, but if you can prove that you had a valid ticket, they should be lenient.
especially if it's a first offence: they said to me, don't do it again!

LotsterShoveInYerStocking · 02/12/2009 14:31

Poor you! But erm, good luck! My ticket once fell on to the floor of the car and I was told it wasn't "correctly displayed" - even though I could prove I had it. I understand why, because you could easily just get a ticket from someone else every time you didn't pay and got a penalty IYSWIM?

OrmIrian · 02/12/2009 14:34

I got fined in exactly this way a few years back. Thankfully as I was able to provide the ticket as proof that I had paid and they let me off. But it was totally at their discretion as the fault was failing to display the ticket.

They don't always make them sticky because apparentlty some people complain about having stuff stuck on their windscreens

NorbertDentressangle · 02/12/2009 14:39

Exactly the same happened to me a couple of years ago -the ticket had blown off the dash whilst I was distracted by getting children/bags/pushchairs etc out of the car.

I wrote off to the city council car parks division enclosing a photocopy of the ticket and was told I had been excused and didn't have to pay the fine.

mejon · 02/12/2009 14:52

I had the same happen to me too. I did appeal and was let off. I'm assuming that unless they have a photograph of the offending upsidedown ticket its only their word against yours. I was able to send a copy of my ticket with my appeal letter and that seemingly was enough. I had telephoned the council first to explain and was told that I only needed to send proof that the ticket had been bought (I didn't actually have to explain that the wind had blown it upside-down). I had parked on a Sunday on a street that used to have free parking on at the weekend but had recently changed so I think I did well in realising I had to get a ticket in the first place.

FabIsVeryHappy · 02/12/2009 16:11

YABU

You should always check the ticket stays in place when you shut the door. Or keep a piece of blutack in the car to stick it onto the window.

I got a ticket in Tunbridge wells as my ticket had blown off but as soon as I showed I had bought a ticket they cancelled the fine.

HarlotOTara · 02/12/2009 16:45

This happened to me and I challenged it and won - I refused to pay the fine as it seems so unfair. I think I originally had to appeal within two weeks and lost that round. I then had to wait until the next letter when the fine went up and then appealed again with a photocopy of the ticket, at this point I was sent a letter saying I didn't have to pay. I was ridiculously pleased.

It really is an unfair system which won't change unless we fight it. The tickets are so light and fall off so easily. It is stupid and a stealth tax.

MummyDoIt · 02/12/2009 16:47

That's really bad luck. The same thing happened to me, I appealed and won. I had to send them a letter with the ticket. They did say, though, that I'd only be allowed to use that excuse once so, if it happens again, I have to pay the fine.

Besom · 02/12/2009 16:59

I was also let off when this happened to me. But the tone was begrudging and I was told to make sure it didn't happen again.

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