Parking ticket - Pay up? Fair cop?

[R D S]

A random act of kindness went bad recently when I parked the car and a lady said there was a hour left on the parking she had paid for so gave me the ticket.

I chucked it on the dashboard and thought little of it until I got a ticket for £60, Turns out you've to put your reg number in the meter and they have ANPR.

Given that parking is only a quid i'm stinging at the idea of tipping up 60.

Are these tickets legally enforceable? Would they really pursue it through the courts? Would an argument that it wasn't clearly stated that paid for parking was non-transferrable stand up?

Or shall I just pay the ####ing thing?

[Jim GM4DHJ ...]

[Marland]

Unless the signs were missing or defaced to be unreadable then they may well have you by the short and curlies. Such signs are usually close to the ticket machine where all the other various rules are listed such as no trailers, whether disabled badge users are reduced fee or free, times of operation and in your case probably that they are non transferable. Did you get close to the machine before you were given the ticket? They might argue that not by going to the meter and missing the sign while there was entirely your fault. That you could not read it from another part of the car park when you were expected to be a few feet away isn?t really ? not clear?

GH

[Steve Walker]

I think that there is very little chance of getting away with it, but it may be worth arguing that as someone gave you the ticket, you did not then go near the machines and signs and so cannot be deemed to have consented to terms that you would not have seen. That it is non-transferable is often printed on the tickets themselves though.

SteveW

[Dave Liquorice]

Your reg not close enough to be a typo? Though the reg number associated with the ticket may not be on it.

tipping

I know the feeling, forgot to display a parking disc when distracted by the lad when out shopping the other month. Only £25 for early payment but the parking would have been free.

parking

Does it say non-transferable on the ticket and/or have the reg number on it?

I think you'll just have to cough up but read the notice carefully there may well be a cheaper option if you pay within a couple of weeks. This is quite likely to be half hidden in small type on a second page or with the £60 in large and bold on the first...

And normally quite liberally spread through out the car park not just adjacent to the machines. These companies know all the possible wrangles people will try to use to avoid paying so the chances of being succesful in court are somewhat slim. Unless you are lucky enough to find a "technicality" they haven't spotted.

[John Rumm]

I have noticed that some of them do not specify in the signposted T&Cs that the reg number has to be entered or be correct. So might be worth checking. (only much use if they also forget to mention tickets are not transferable).

[Max Demian]

Tell them to pursue the "kind" lady. They must have her number, and their (made up) rules probably would equally forbid her from giving you her parking time.

[TimW]

When one of my sons was at home he collected a whole series of penalties for parking in Lidl. He said you never pay, never respond to anything and they go away. You have to just hold your nerve while they escalate the parking charge with legal costs and late penalties to a thousand pounds or so, send you letters from fake solicitors, final demands etc. but they will never, ever actually take you to court.

Reason being that they are not the police or the council, they are a private firm and they simply have no right to fine you or issue any kind of 'penalty'. They can charge you for parking on private land but if they don't bother actually collecting the money that's their problem. So they never go to court because they have no case.

Sometimes now years later demands arrive at the house because the 'debt' has been sold on to another dodgy collection company who think it's worth sending out letters again. As far as I know he has never paid a penny.

TW

[tabbypurr]

Read the displayed T&Cs then you'll know. Unles you can spot something missing or wrong with them, you won't get away with it.

Saying someone gave you the ticket would be an admission of nonpayment.

NT

[Robin]

You might stand a better chance of comments worth what you are paying for them if you were specific about (a) where you parked, (b) whether you got a penalty charge notice or a parking charge notice, and (c) what terms were displayed where - eg by the entry, on signs inside, and on the ticket given to you. And if you posted in uk.legal.moderated

[Robin]

That undoubtedly works for some. On the other hand some people found it didn't work for them. Eg:

and

There's also the minor little issue as to whether the OP was in a private car park rather than a local authority one.

[Andy Burns]

That sounds like it may be pre- ParkingEye vs Beavis?

[Brian Gaff]

I'd definitely ask the question if the signage is vague they may not actually realise.

Is this private land or is it the local authority? In the first case I doubt its very enforceable, but in the second you will find the red tape aspect almost as stressful as writing the cheque. Brian

[Brian Reay]

Or you could end up like the Cardiff Nurses, saddled with massive extra legal charges.

(No, I don?t think Nurses should pay to park at work etc. But that isn?t the matter at hand.)

[tabbypurr]

a high risk strategy!

[Pamela]

Even if the brazen hussey sold her car, it wouldn't cover the fine.

[Steve Walker]

Pedestrian exits, fine, but not relying upon ones at the vehicle entrances. How are you supposed to read all the text on them while driving in?

SteveW

[Robin]

You are generally allowed time to enter, read the T&Cs, decide you don't accept them and leave without charge.

I don't know of authority for that (in the form of a judgment which binds lower courts). But the BPA, for example, require "a driver who enters your car park but decides not to park, to leave the car park within a reasonable period without having their vehicle issued with a parking charge notice". Much like the way parking wardens were (and enforcement officers are) have to watch a car long enough to rule out that eg the driver is loading/unloading or buying a ticket from the P&D machine.

[Andy Burns]

Plus the tickets have historically said "non-transferable" on them, it's just that now they have the technology to make you enter your reg no, and back it up with ANPR ...

[T i m]

I assume that formally means 'between vehicles', even though say he drives the car in, parks and buys a ticket and she then drives it out.

If she is recorded driving out, outside the paid-for period, who would be responsible for paying the PCN? Registered keeper, the person parking the car (who would be the only one accepting the T&C's at the time the ticket was purchased) or the person not driving it out in time? ;-)

Cheers, T i m