Another parking ticket thread...

[Tom _M]

I parked in a NCP pay and display car park where the machines are the type where you enter the reg number. Was a bit absent-minded when I did so however, and put in the reg of one of my previous cars. Didn’t think much at the time when I realised later in the day, but just had a letter through from NCP asking for £100 (£60 if paid sooner) as their camera shows me going in and out, with obviously no record of me having got a matching ticket on their machine.

I still have the ticket I brought (car cleaning not my strong point thankfully), so am going to appeal. I guess my argument will be I brought a ticket and had the correct intent, just put the wrong reg in. Obviously their cameras will not show a car with that reg anyway. Parking companies being notorious bds however I don’t know how this one might pan out. Anyone had any experience of this sort of thing or any tips? Another factor against me is I ended up overstaying 27 minutes anyway, so are they likely to just try and screw me on that instead?

Ta

[Centurion07]

So you put the wrong reg in AND overstayed your ticket by half an hour?

I'm amazed you bothered to even ask the question TBH.

[kiethton]

Just file the letter they sent in the bin - most likely non-compliant in some way

[Sebring440]

kiethton said:

Just file the letter they sent in the bin - most likely non-compliant in some way

Yeah. do that OP.

Then get back to us with how it all panned out for you.

[Pica-Pica]

Yeah the 27 minutes overstay does not matter a toss. In fact, that is a good trick to play at: dentists, school plays, interviews, train times.

[Mrr T]

kiethton said:

Just file the letter they sent in the bin - most likely non-compliant in some way

Unless you live in Scotland this is the most stupid advise you will ever get.

MSE and pepipoo are the places to get advice.

[sospan]

kiethton said:

Just file the letter they sent in the bin - most likely non-compliant in some way

I bet keithton works for NCP!

[kiethton]

Never had an issue following the same advice myself tbh - only one I wouldn’t do it with is parking eye as they’re just about the only company that follow them up, although they’re pretty easy to get around

[anonymous-user]

If you overstayed and you knew it, why did you simply not temporarily cover your numberplate on the way out of the car park so that the ANPR camera had no record of what time you left, removing any covring once off private land and just before going back onto the public highway?

[MB140]

Centurion07 said:

So you put the wrong reg in AND overstayed your ticket by half an hour?

I'm amazed you bothered to even ask the question TBH.

+1. WTF,

I could understand your argument with the wrong number plate. I once put my plate no in to one of these machines but was driving my wife’s car. Private plates with only one character different but never heard anything.

But overstaying 27 minuted then your bang to rights to be fined in my book.

Even so there maybe some technical reason to get out of paying. You will have to do your research and go through the appeals process.

[anonymous-user]

MB140 said:

But overstaying 27 minuted then your bang to rights to be fined in my book.

Its not a fine - it's simply an invoice based on an alleged contract. Only the Council and Police can issue fines.

OP since you have a PCN, just go to MoneySavingExpert forum and follow the information on there to either get it cancelled or to pretty much guarantee a win in court in the unlikely event the private parking company wish to waste their time and money harassing you further.

[speedking31]

Andy20vt said:

... removing any covering once off private land and just before going back onto the public highway?

What do you call the bit where the OP should stop between the private land and the public highway?

[Green1man]

I had a similar instance where I just put the last three characters in rather than the full plate. I wrote back explaining and they reduced the charge to a £10 admin fee. (But I didn’t outstay the ticket)

[dave_s13]

You deserve to be fined if only for the misuse of the word "brought". You muppet.

[Ruskie]

If you overstayed then why would you not just accept you made a mistake and pay the fine?

[Tom _M]

Thanks for the helpful and not entirely unjustified mockery of my idiocy 🙂

I had presumed it was more of the old-school pay and display setup where you got a ticket and someone comes round and physically checks the ticket. Would have been a bit more tight with the timekeeping had I realised had entry and exit cameras syncing with the payment machine, and thought there would have been a little leeway with overstay anyway.

[Sebring440]

Tom _M said:

and thought there would have been a little leeway with overstay anyway.

Umm, 27 minutes "little leeway"....?

[funkyrobot]

OP, are you the RK if the vehicle and did they send you the notice within 14 days of the issue?

Reason I ask is because I just got a notice from NCP cancelled. Took them nearly 3 months to issue the notice. They have 14 days if you are the RK of the car and they didn't put a ticket on your windscreen.

[anonymous-user]

Ruskie said:

If you overstayed then why would you not just accept you made a mistake and pay the fine?

Because it's not a fine, it's an invoice.

[MB140]

Andy20vt said:

Ruskie said:

If you overstayed then why would you not just accept you made a mistake and pay the fine?

Because it's not a fine, it's an invoice.

Give up with the bloody fine/invoice st. It’s getting a bit repetitive. We all know the difference. The simple fact is that even if he had put the correct registration number in to the machine he still overstayed by more than a little bit and should cough up.