parking ticket but not council car park

[Blondeshavemorefun]

I parked in a private car park today that was behind/linked to a shop, now closed. It is not a council car park. I paid £1 for an hour and was 7mins late.

I got a parking ticket via Smart Parking and says it is a PCN - on Martin Lewis website he says these are not legal, and you dont need to pay the fine and it is an invoice not a ticket.

£90 and if paid within 2 weeks then £45

bah humbug, merry christmas to me - NOT!!!!!

What do you think? Do I ignore and see if they do anything? Is it legal?

It is not a penalty charge notice. It is, as Martin Lewis says, an invoice. They are threatening to sue but offering to settle out of court. Following recent law changes it is a little easier for the parking company to win. They can now take action against you as the registered keeper without any need to prove that you were the driver. Also it is a little easier for them to get the courts to uphold the amount they want. It is however not guaranteed that they will win or that the courts will agree to the full amount claimed.

You have three choices. You could pay. Alternatively you could appeal if you think there are valid grounds for doing so - they should have provided information on how to appeal. Your final option is to ignore them. If you ignore them there is a good chance they will give up without taking the matter to court. However, if they do issue court proceedings it is time to stop ignoring them.

I got a similar notice in the summer. I wrote to them saying I would not be paying, quoted stuff from MSE and I've heard nothing since

I think I would be tempted to send them a cheque for £1 and some really involved sob story about why you were 7 minutes over the time but how you are really sorry and enclose payment for another full hour to make up for it. If they still decide to proceed to court then they can show no loss, in fact they will have made a profit out of it if you pay for an hour and were only there for 7 minutes of it. It infuriates me, wouldn't we all like to live in a world where things won't delay us and make us a few minutes late back to a car park. They should be made to have a time limit before they are allowed to send out a ticket, say 15 minutes over or even 30.

Get over onto the Pepipoo forums for good advice.

You can appeal and you will win but you need nerves of steel. Write back to them saying you dispute the amount. Legally they're only allowed to charge you for any money they're out of pocket, so offer them another £1. Tell them if they don't accept this offer you want a POPLA code.

They will dismiss your appeal and give you a code.

You then write to POPLA sayi g you're appealing due to the unfair amount charged. POPLA will find in your favour.

The forums on Pepipoo will help with wording letters.

You will get nasty letters coming from the parking firm talking aout Baliffs, court judgements, etc. some will look like they're from a solicitor, etc. its all bollocks.

And don't ignore. If you ignore and they take you to court the courts are now starting to find in their favour because you've ignored it all previously.

Whilst Pepipoo now advises appealing a number of leading experts in motoring law disagree with the advice in the last post. They continue to be of the view that you should ignore unless you receive a summons from court (and if you do receive a summons check that it is genuine before responding). If the company takes it to court you must put in a defence. If you fail to do so you will automatically lose the case.

Ok, must admit I've been taking Pepipoo as gospel. Am currently appealing my third ticket. Though the bastard firm have refused to give me a POPLA code so I'm not getting very far.

Ahhhhhhh

So do I invite or send a cheque for a £1

Thank you all for replying

Last time I got a ticket and was in council and was 15mins late so fair enough and warden been and gone but was £40 down to £20 if paid within 14 days

£90 to £45 is a lot esp before Xmas

My first ticket which I got before all the recent rule changes I ignored all the way. Bill went up to £900, loads of nasty letters saying the Baliffs were coming, etc but they gave up.

I'd invite them to accept £1 rather than send them a cheque. Do it all in writing and keep copies of letters. Don't email as they'll sell your email address to every spam list in the world.

3rd ticket dont you learn lol

I'd ignore until they actually take you to court. If they go that far (they very rarely do) then turn up to represent yourself and ask them to prove they are out of pocket by the amount they are claiming by you staying over by 7 minutes.