Parking Charge Help!

[mike9009]

We have just received a parking charge notice from Horizon Parking. It was dated 24 Dec and received today in the post - so the 14 day period has gone - that's not the main bone of contention though.

The Parking Charge was issued for 'unauthorised parking' on a smallish industrial estate. We were collecting our daughter from one of the units which is run as a dance school at 20:30 on a Friday evening (20th December). Almost all other businesses are shut at this time. (except a weird Friday Night Cocktail Club run from another unit which was in full swing at the time, being just before xmas!)

As a patron of the dance school business on the industrial estate we 'assumed' we would be authorised to park for 5 minutes to collect our daughter. There are only two spaces outside the dance studio, so we do need to park elsewhere as the dance classes have about two dozen kids in.....

The car park is very poorly lit, and my wife obviously does not fancy parking outside the industrial estate to walk past a load of drunks to collect our daughter to then walk past with our teenage daughter in dance gear past the revellers again...... Feels very uncomfortable. (this is perhaps irrelevant but provides some context).

Do we have a possibility to appeal - and if so how do we go about it? Can we simply get a letter from the dance school to say we are authorised - or an invoice from them?

Thank in advance.

[Sebring440]

mike9009 said:

Can we simply get a letter from the dance school to say we are authorised -

The dance school cannot "authorise" you to park in other businesses' spaces.

That's the very reason that business employ parking companies, to stop customers of other businesses using their spaces.

Edited by Sebring440 on Wednesday 8th January 22:24

[E-bmw]

mike9009 said:

The Parking Charge was issued for 'unauthorised parking' on a smallish industrial estate.

Parking on a smallish industrial estate could mean lots of things, more detail required.

Double yellows
Access to other unit
Other unit parking
etc

mike9009 said:

As a patron of the dance school business on the industrial estate we 'assumed' we would be authorised to park for 5 minutes to collect our daughter.

Never assume anything without checking first.

[megaphone]

Have you checked the signage to see what it states re parking, and if it is clear and obvious?

Have you spoken to the dance school about this?

Edited by megaphone on Thursday 9th January 08:27

Edited by megaphone on Thursday 9th January 08:29

[Alex_225]

megaphone said:

Have you checked the signage to see what it states re parking, and if it is clear and obvious?

Have you spoken to the dance school about this?

Those would be my two thoughts as well. Go check if there is signage and if it is clear and if the "offence" is explained as rule within the terms of the car park.

Also worth a chat with the dance school as they may be able to have it cancelled.

Very frustrating you had no opportunity to contest it before the charge went up through no fault of your own. I had one last year, I appealed it and a week later got a letter saying the charge had gone up, completely ignored my appeal.

[Tommo87]

If your daughter was a regular student, they will surmise that you have probably been there in daylight hours, so any signage will need to be unclear in general and not just dark on the day.

A friend of mine recently got caught at a 24/7 gym when he randomly decided to visit very late at night. He hadn’t noticed that the car park set a charge for a 1 hr period ever night to discourage people parking for free long term. The gym manager is currently trying to get it cancelled for him.
The difference to your scenario is that the car park is for all businesses, unfortunately.

[Mrr T]

First question is do you want to fight it? It takes time and effort compared to a small fee if your inside the discount period.

If you do want to fight it then as you say it's outside the 14 day period for keeper liability so if you communicate with the PC do so as keeper do not admit who was driving.

Have a look at the relevant web site, one on MSE, and pepipoo, now renamed. Cannot see the new name but sure others can help.

As other have said first gather the facts. I assume the invoice is based on CCTV so you can see where the driver stopped. So check the signs next time your there and take pictures and make a plan. Based on this you can make a decision as to how to proceed.

A couple of points.
1 A sign must be clearly visible, and clearly apply to where the driver stopped. A sign attached to another business premises would not likely be sufficient.
2 Check what the sign says. Many will just say no parking with a fine. A no parking sign does not offer parking, so no contract no invoice.

Post when you have more.