Parking fine - worth an appeal?
Discussion
Parking on our street is controlled. There are a few residents/visitors spots. Residents are issued with a couple of permits each year. One I sitck on the window of my wife's car. The other I put on a piece of card that I keep in my car. If I park on the road I put it on the dashboard. If we have a visitor I lend them the card. I took my wife's car to the garage yesterday (which was a waste of time in any case because I had to rebook the appointment owing to a mistake they had made). When I got home my wife had left my car on a visitor's spot and forgotten to move the permit from the little tray in front of the gear stick to the dashboard. Predictably she had of course picked up a parking ticket.
I took photos and the parking permit is visible from outside the car if you look through the side windows. However it is not as obviously visible as if it were on the dashboard.
As with all these fines if we pay now it is £60, if we appeal but lose it is £100.
Anyone with experience of a similar situation? Chance of success if appealed?
I took photos and the parking permit is visible from outside the car if you look through the side windows. However it is not as obviously visible as if it were on the dashboard.
As with all these fines if we pay now it is £60, if we appeal but lose it is £100.
Anyone with experience of a similar situation? Chance of success if appealed?
PurpleMoonlight said:
I thought that if you appeal within the reduced payment window you still only have to pay the reduced fine is you lose.
I had a quick of the ticket yesterday and it seemed to say the opposite. Also said you couldn't appeal the pay as paying invalidated the appeal. I'd just pay it, not much chance of them cancelling it going off my experience. My wife took the kids swimming and got the free parking ticket from reception. Unfortunately the wind blew the light paper ticket off the dash onto the car seat and she got a fine. Despite it being a council parking fine, a council pool, a free parking ticket and we could prove we were there and still had the ticket they wouldn't rescind it.
Your council may be better but in this day and age revenue seems to override everything.
Your council may be better but in this day and age revenue seems to override everything.
cb31 said:
I'd just pay it, not much chance of them cancelling it going off my experience. My wife took the kids swimming and got the free parking ticket from reception. Unfortunately the wind blew the light paper ticket off the dash onto the car seat and she got a fine. Despite it being a council parking fine, a council pool, a free parking ticket and we could prove we were there and still had the ticket they wouldn't rescind it.
Your council may be better but in this day and age revenue seems to override everything.
Although it was a simple mistake it did mean some work was created for at least two people.Your council may be better but in this day and age revenue seems to override everything.
cb31 said:
I'd just pay it, not much chance of them cancelling it going off my experience. My wife took the kids swimming and got the free parking ticket from reception. Unfortunately the wind blew the light paper ticket off the dash onto the car seat and she got a fine. Despite it being a council parking fine, a council pool, a free parking ticket and we could prove we were there and still had the ticket they wouldn't rescind it.
Your council may be better but in this day and age revenue seems to override everything.
I would never have paid that. Council's ALWAYS refuse to rescind tickets but you have disputed it or invited them to sue you. Seriously you need to stand up for yourself sometimes.Your council may be better but in this day and age revenue seems to override everything.
Esceptico said:
Thanks for that.
One point I should make is that our roads have not (as far as I know) been adopted by the council so the parking company is operating on behalf of the management company that runs our estate (which makes it even more galling).
That actually makes it a lot better for you. I should write back to them and simply reiterate why you are not going to pay and inviting them to sue you (very unlikely). Or you could go for a POPLA appeal.One point I should make is that our roads have not (as far as I know) been adopted by the council so the parking company is operating on behalf of the management company that runs our estate (which makes it even more galling).
DON'T PAY.
Private parking makes things a lot easier. Post on Pepipoo and they'll help you out.
http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showforum=60
It's a bit of a game. You have to use the right wording e.t.c. to beat it which the helpful guys on Pepipoo will help you with.
http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showforum=60
It's a bit of a game. You have to use the right wording e.t.c. to beat it which the helpful guys on Pepipoo will help you with.
Sounds like a private parking ticket rather than a council/statutory one - if you appeal the council tickets within the first 28 days it stays at £30 ish.
Who is the parking company that has issued it, and what does your lease agreement state about parking?
It's no longer possible to ignore these with impunity, however a few letters and the problem will go away. It's incredibly rare to find that these resident permit tickets are legally valid in every aspect - I've yet to be issued one that I've not been able to challenge on behalf the fleet I manage.
Invariably these private parking companies have a contract with management agent, not the landowner, and if your lease does not specifically state the need for a permit then you are under no obligation to display one. The idea behind parking controls is to stop unauthorised users, however as most of the PPC offer a free to set up with bounty/commission per ticket based model, it usually ends up that they have to recoup costs from genuine users and residents, rather than "trespassers".
Who is the parking company that has issued it, and what does your lease agreement state about parking?
It's no longer possible to ignore these with impunity, however a few letters and the problem will go away. It's incredibly rare to find that these resident permit tickets are legally valid in every aspect - I've yet to be issued one that I've not been able to challenge on behalf the fleet I manage.
Invariably these private parking companies have a contract with management agent, not the landowner, and if your lease does not specifically state the need for a permit then you are under no obligation to display one. The idea behind parking controls is to stop unauthorised users, however as most of the PPC offer a free to set up with bounty/commission per ticket based model, it usually ends up that they have to recoup costs from genuine users and residents, rather than "trespassers".
bad company said:
cb31 said:
I'd just pay it, not much chance of them cancelling it going off my experience. My wife took the kids swimming and got the free parking ticket from reception. Unfortunately the wind blew the light paper ticket off the dash onto the car seat and she got a fine. Despite it being a council parking fine, a council pool, a free parking ticket and we could prove we were there and still had the ticket they wouldn't rescind it.
Your council may be better but in this day and age revenue seems to override everything.
I would never have paid that. Council's ALWAYS refuse to rescind tickets but you have disputed it or invited them to sue you. Seriously you need to stand up for yourself sometimes.Your council may be better but in this day and age revenue seems to override everything.
I've had that happen once and queried why their parking tickets in a windy coastal area didn't have 'sticky bits' on to prevent that happening similar to other parking areas and asked how far they would like to take it.Fine was rescinded with a snotty letter back.
Thermobaric said:
I wouldn't hold your breath. In general, these people don't tend to play nice with perfectly reasonable requests but always worth it as a first shot. In my experience, they'll come back with 'Well the permit wasn't displayed as per Ts&Cs in a clear place'. Could get lucky though.
Very true BUT in the unlikely event of the matter getting to Court its good to be able to show that you tried to be reasonable. Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff