Parking fine advice
Discussion
Not sure if this is the correct forum for this, don't usually venture in here!
I was in England in September, and while in Leeds we parked our hire car in a Lidl car park. Did some shopping, wandered down the road and back then left.
A while after we returned to Perth in October I received an email from the car hire company saying we had incurred a parking fine for overstaying the limit by 11 minutes(!)
They charged my credit card a fee to transfer the liability to me (can't argue with that I guess)
I have now (mid-November) received the infringement notice (by mail!!) for £90(!!) which can be reduced to £45 if paid before 16/10(!!!)
1. I have never seen a shop car park with a time limit (They claim there is a notice, but how would I know I needed to look for one?
2. I'm prepared to pay the discounted fine (I know, ignorance of the law is no excuse) but no way will I accept the full amount given the delay way beyond my control.
The fine is from a company called "parkingeye". In Australia any fine cannot be punitive and only limited to loss of potential income, do similar rules apply in England?
Unpaid private parking fines here cannot be enforced other than restricting entry to their car parks in future (doesn't apply to council car parks, the government enforces them by cancelling your drivers licence!!)
Any advice gratefully received
I was in England in September, and while in Leeds we parked our hire car in a Lidl car park. Did some shopping, wandered down the road and back then left.
A while after we returned to Perth in October I received an email from the car hire company saying we had incurred a parking fine for overstaying the limit by 11 minutes(!)
They charged my credit card a fee to transfer the liability to me (can't argue with that I guess)
I have now (mid-November) received the infringement notice (by mail!!) for £90(!!) which can be reduced to £45 if paid before 16/10(!!!)
1. I have never seen a shop car park with a time limit (They claim there is a notice, but how would I know I needed to look for one?
2. I'm prepared to pay the discounted fine (I know, ignorance of the law is no excuse) but no way will I accept the full amount given the delay way beyond my control.
The fine is from a company called "parkingeye". In Australia any fine cannot be punitive and only limited to loss of potential income, do similar rules apply in England?
Unpaid private parking fines here cannot be enforced other than restricting entry to their car parks in future (doesn't apply to council car parks, the government enforces them by cancelling your drivers licence!!)
Any advice gratefully received
Bad news.
It is common for shop car parks in the UK to have time restrictions.
These are often enforced by companies such as parking eye using cameras.
The time limits and charges for overstaying have to be displayed on signs.
Unless you have photographic evidence that the signs were inadequate then you have little chance of getting the charge dropped.
Although you have missed the time for a reduced charge, you may be able to still have the charge reduced if you email them. Alternatively ignore the letter as I doubt parking eye will chase you through the Australian courts.
It is common for shop car parks in the UK to have time restrictions.
These are often enforced by companies such as parking eye using cameras.
The time limits and charges for overstaying have to be displayed on signs.
Unless you have photographic evidence that the signs were inadequate then you have little chance of getting the charge dropped.
Although you have missed the time for a reduced charge, you may be able to still have the charge reduced if you email them. Alternatively ignore the letter as I doubt parking eye will chase you through the Australian courts.
Scrump said:
Bad news.
It is common for shop car parks in the UK to have time restrictions.
These are often enforced by companies such as parking eye using cameras.
The time limits and charges for overstaying have to be displayed on signs.
Unless you have photographic evidence that the signs were inadequate then you have little chance of getting the charge dropped.
Although you have missed the time for a reduced charge, you may be able to still have the charge reduced if you email them. Alternatively ignore the letter as I doubt parking eye will chase you through the Australian courts.
Thanks, yeah I realise that not knowing about weird rules doesn't excuse me from them... in 2016 I parked in a beachside carpark in Morecombe bay, for about 15 minutes while I got a coffee, only to find a fine on my return... (beach carparks are free here)It is common for shop car parks in the UK to have time restrictions.
These are often enforced by companies such as parking eye using cameras.
The time limits and charges for overstaying have to be displayed on signs.
Unless you have photographic evidence that the signs were inadequate then you have little chance of getting the charge dropped.
Although you have missed the time for a reduced charge, you may be able to still have the charge reduced if you email them. Alternatively ignore the letter as I doubt parking eye will chase you through the Australian courts.
No email address on the notice but I'll go hunting for one. I'm back in England regularly (next visit March 25), can they blacklist me with hire car companies?
They’re not fines - only a Court can fine you - they’re penalties. And there’s no law involved, it’s a commercial agreement that you enter into when you use the car park.
Drives everyone mad here, but to be fair, without it many car parks would just be jammed full of cars all day and there’d be nowhere for the shops own customers to park.
Must admit I thought hire companies just paid these penalties and recharged their customer.
Drives everyone mad here, but to be fair, without it many car parks would just be jammed full of cars all day and there’d be nowhere for the shops own customers to park.
Must admit I thought hire companies just paid these penalties and recharged their customer.
Tony1963 said:
OP,
Brits don’t see these penalties as weird at all. Gradually everyone is getting used to looking for signs before leaving their car anywhere, not just car parks. Even motorway service areas have time limits for their car parks.
Yes, and as I intend (hope!) to be spending far more time in England in the coming years, I guess I need to get used to that! Brits don’t see these penalties as weird at all. Gradually everyone is getting used to looking for signs before leaving their car anywhere, not just car parks. Even motorway service areas have time limits for their car parks.
Happy (ish) with the outcome now, I mainly objected to paying a "late payment" penalty for something I didn't know existed until after the due date!
Tony1963 said:
OP,
Brits don’t see these penalties as weird at all. Gradually everyone is getting used to looking for signs before leaving their car anywhere, not just car parks. Even motorway service areas have time limits for their car parks.
Yes that's quite new. Only been the case since 1979Brits don’t see these penalties as weird at all. Gradually everyone is getting used to looking for signs before leaving their car anywhere, not just car parks. Even motorway service areas have time limits for their car parks.
The Lidl in my town shares a carpark with another discount supermarket, and the savvy shoppers enter their reg in the other supermarket first then go into town-about a 5 minute walk to do some shopping/banking etc, and return to buy something in Lidl, either a normal shopping session or just one small item, and register by the till receipt and manage to get 3 hours parking for a minimal price, as the council car parks are for about 2 pounds per hour for first two hours of usage.
So always look for the dos and don't that are posted in the carpark and the shops using it.
So always look for the dos and don't that are posted in the carpark and the shops using it.
A few years back my son was griping about getting a ticket in a car park for parking in the middle of two marked bays, white line under the centre of his mini.
I said “tough” initially, then got drawn into getting him off. The signage was from a different company than had written to him, name and address obtained from DVLA.
By requesting his details but not being connected to the car park they had used DVLA under false pretences. I suggested they drop the fine and pay my son £250. They agreed. We split the money.
If you get a ticket, check the signage if you can.
I said “tough” initially, then got drawn into getting him off. The signage was from a different company than had written to him, name and address obtained from DVLA.
By requesting his details but not being connected to the car park they had used DVLA under false pretences. I suggested they drop the fine and pay my son £250. They agreed. We split the money.
If you get a ticket, check the signage if you can.
Simpo Two said:
Tony1963 said:
Brits don’t see these penalties as weird at all.
Over the last 20-30 years we have grown accustomed to being filmed and penalised for everything. Much of it is just money-grubbing enabled by technology.
)All these penalties are easy enough to avoid with a little care. In 50 years of driving I've never had a parking fine/penalty. (Blimey...that's tempting fate!
)James6112 said:
Terminator X said:
Never pay parking eye anything. There is standard wording online that will get you off every single time.
TX.
As seen on ‘Can’t Pay, we’ll take it away!’TX.
Was good to just pay the £45 & the problem goes away. Good work.
J
TX.
119 said:
Simpo Two said:
Tony1963 said:
Brits don’t see these penalties as weird at all.
Much of it is just money-grubbing enabled by technology.Simpo Two said:
Not always. Recently I turned left at a roundabout. Only then can you see 'Bus Lane' written in the road. No warning before you turn. Want to stop and back out? Bad luck, there's a camera only 20 yards down to get you after a car length. £35 ker-ching.
There are strict requirements for the signage and the penalty can’t be enforced if the signage doesn’t comply.You’ll have missed signs earlier on.
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