Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Legal matters

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you have any legal concerns we suggest you consult a solicitor.

Original poster

Parking ticket from a private company - Pay it?

15 replies

RainbowJack · 22/11/2016 19:17

Are they still not legal? What's the likelihood that they'll take me to court? Will how much I have to pay go up if they do?

OP posts:
BobbieDog · 22/11/2016 19:21

I personally would pay it if you was in the wrong.

I know many people may say you dont have to pay it but i wouldnt want the stress of the letters etc for a small amount of money. If it was given and you had not done anything wrong then of course i would challenge it but if it was given and you were in the wrong then really you should pay it

prh47bridge · 22/11/2016 19:31

The law was changed recently. The parking company can enforce their fines, although they would have to go to court to do so if your refuse to pay. It is much easier for them to win if they do go to court. So if they do you will probably end up paying the fine plus their court fees. You could ignore them and hope they take no further action but that could end up costing you more than paying up immediately. Your other option is to appeal if you think the ticket was incorrect, the signage was inadequate or you have some other good reason why you should not have to pay the fine.

Unless you have grounds to appeal the safest route is to pay.

FaithAscending · 22/11/2016 19:33

Always appeal! The best thing is to say that the fine is unreasonable in comparison to the loss for the company. I've challenge 3 of these and had the fine waived for all of them. This this template from Martin Lewis' money saving expert website.

Musiclife · 22/11/2016 19:37

I just appealed on mine (for a genuine reason) and they have cancelled the charge.

Chloeneedshelp · 22/11/2016 19:47

We got one once from a private company. Not council owned. They never put a ticket on the car with the reduced 1 week rate offer. So when they finally wrote to us the payment had already doubled. The fact there was no ticket displayed, I phoned and said I would pay the reduced rate only but they wouldn't accept it and I refused to pay the higher rate. They sent a few letters. Then a letter from a debt collectors that I googled and they were owned by the same people as the car park company, just different letterhead to look threatening, so again I ignored it. They eventually gave up so got nothing out of me in the end. What company is it? Have you googled them to see what others have done?

Original poster
RainbowJack · 22/11/2016 19:49

85 pounds seems a lot for a 30 min overstay.

FaithAscending Do you appeal to parking company or the trade body?

OP posts:
Original poster
RainbowJack · 22/11/2016 19:50

ParkingEye. I know some people ignore it but I'm concerned I'll be the few they take to court.

OP posts:
Chloeneedshelp · 22/11/2016 20:00

Is there no reduced rate within a week?

Original poster
RainbowJack · 22/11/2016 20:10

It ended up in the junk mail pile. Date has passed now.

They spelt my first and last name wrong Confused

OP posts:
Unicornsarelovely · 22/11/2016 20:43

That advice from parking eye is out of date and now badly wrong. Beavis v parking eye was decided in the Supreme Court last year and the court said the fine was enforceable.

The fines can still be appealed, but if you ignore them parking companies are much more likely to take you to court now following the Supreme Court decision.

prh47bridge · 22/11/2016 21:20

The best thing is to say that the fine is unreasonable in comparison to the loss for the company

In the case mentioned by Unicornsarelovely, ParkingEye wanted to charge Beavis £85 for overstaying in a free car park. As it was a fee car park they clearly suffered no loss at all. The Supreme Court upheld the charge. So the argument that the fine is unreasonable in comparison to the loss will no longer work.

The advice linked to by Chloeneedshelp is also out of date and badly wrong. The first two points on that link state that you don't owe them anything and that the charges are mostly unenforceable. The truth is that, unless you have grounds for appeal, you do owe them exactly what they say and they can enforce the charge.

Unicornsarelovely · 22/11/2016 21:41

Sorry yes, I meant the link and got carried away. Thanks prh.

Princesspond · 22/11/2016 22:00

I've just successfully won an appeal to private company Smile. It was a member of Popla (one of the trade bodies). In the first instance I appealed to the company (Indigo I think, was a train station car park). (unsurprisingly) they rejected it. But I then appealed to POPLA and the company agreed to drop it. The next step would have meant them taking me to small claims court. Maybe they could tell from my photos and page-long rant that I was not going to drop it! It wasn't an over stay though, but parking in wrong place.

Read MSE www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/private-parking-tickets

They used to say ignore but IF they are a member of one of the trade bodies there is now different advice as they can go to the dvla for registered owners details.

CQ · 22/11/2016 22:03

This is useful info to read from Citizens Advice

New posts on this thread. Refresh page