Parking charge fine help plz :S????

GTO656

GTO656

GTO656

Soldato
Joined
29 Aug 2011
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UK
Hey guys, where to start this mess, ok so on tues 26th march this year. me and my dad went town for shopping. We parked in a different car park which is located outside, My dad went to pay at the ticket machine and came back to put the ticket for 2 hours below the windscreen and off we went. From 13:27 to 15:27, as we came back around 15:20 we found out. My Dad even told me that as he went to pay at the ticket machine, the ticket officer was glancing at him(so obviously he knows he paid).

The parking charge was issued at 13:34 which was only 7 minutes after, we came back and found it had fallen to the floor. He had put it in the right place but those tickets weren't sticky(unlike the car park we usually go which was full). So we suspected the wind might have blown it off.

We are furious and my Dad is not looking to pay the charge what so ever, we had email them with proof that we paid the ticket with it scanned in(and still in hand now obviously) and this is the reply from them today-

We have recently received your letter of appeal and have decided that this parking charge stands. We are willing to accept £75.00 as full settlement of the parking charge providing the payment is received no later than 14 days from the above date.



The reason for which your appeal has been refused is failing to display your purchased pay and display ticket visibly on the day in question. We are acting on behalf of our client, whom state that if a pay and display ticket is not displayed visibly then a parking contravention is being committed.



It is your responsibility to ensure your purchased ticket is displayed clearly within your vehicle windscreen once your vehicle is secured so any parking enforcement officer is able to authorize your stay on the said date. Signage does warn all drivers of contraventions that will leave you liable to receive a parking charge notice and you failed to adhere to those terms and conditions therefore we cannot waiver this charge notice.



Your appeal is refused for the reasons stated above. This decision is final there will be no further correspondence regarding this appeal.



You now have the following options:



1) Pay the parking charge at the reduced rate of £75.00 within 14 days. Please note that after this time the reduced rate will no longer apply and the parking charge notice will increase to £125.00. Please also note that there is a £4.50 surcharge (Inclusive of VAT) on all debit/card payments.



2) Make an appeal to POPLA – The independent Appeals Service by completing the accompanying form or by making your appeal online at www.popla.org.uk . Please be advised that if you opt for the independent arbitration of your case, the ability to pay the parking charge at the reduced rate of £75.00 will be at end. If you opt to pay the parking charge you will be unable to appeal to POPLA. If you wish to appeal to POPLA, you will lose the right to pay the charge at the reduced rate of £75.00. Should POPLA also deem your appeal unsuccessful you will be required to pay the full amount of £125.00



Your POPLA verification code is 2261013001



3) If you choose to do nothing, we will seek to recover the monies owed to us by our appointed debt recovery agent and may proceed with court action against you.
I think they are private company http://www.elitemanagementonline.co.uk/html/aboutus.php

They send us two pictures of our car that had no ticket displayed, can any1 offer any good help in what to do next?

Much appreciated
 
The "charge" will likely to be failure to display, so assuming its a private parking company (from the popla link) rather than council, etc. its probably going to be russian roulette whether they can be bothered to take it to court if you fail to pay.
 
Locky said:
If it wasn't a council charge, then I wouldn't pay it.
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Hes entered into correspondence and the appeals process - he might not have that "option" any more and it will then depend if they can be bothered to take it to court if he doesn't pay.
 
As far as I understand it you can appeal but popla probably won't discount on mitigating reasons such as the sticker falling.

Sadly, the appeals service says it has no power to allow an appeal simply because of mitigating circumstances . However, if this is only part of your appeal (not the main reason) it's still worth including these with your appeal in case it helps (though there's no guarantee).

Mitigating reasons may include:
• Getting a ticket while broken down
• Tending to an emergency or clearing an obstruction from the road
• Dropping an ill patient off at hospital
• You were too ill to move your car
• You’ve had a recent bereavement
• You were at a funeral (and needed to park to attend the funeral or were unable to move your car because you were attending the funeral)
• You were on holiday when the bay you were in became suspended and the warning was erected while you were away
• You bought a ticket/had a permit but it fell off the window or was not visible to the warden. Technically, it is your responsibility to display the ticket/permit correctly, so prepare for possible defeat, but it is still worth appealing.
• It is a first offence on that piece of land
• You are a law abiding citizen and you made an honest mistake and you are now fully aware of the parking restrictions.
 
The charge will have been for failure to display rather than for not having a ticket at all, so there's no way to argue against it.
If it wasn't a council issued ticket you can try the ignoring it route and hope they can't be bothered chasing you but as has already been said you might struggle with that one as you've already admitted liability by contacting them and trying to argue against the charge.
If it was a council issued ticket, pay it, move on and don't leave it somewhere it can fall off again.
 
Entering an appeal process, acknowledgement, can in no circumstances be solicited as an admission of liability unless you have expressly written so. Then in that circumstance, what the hell are you doing appealing?

Don't just pay council tickets, I've successfully appealed against the monstrosity that is City of Edinburgh councils CPZ and interpretation of 'reasonable maintenance'.
 
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Biohazard said:
Entering an appeal process, acknowledgement, can in no circumstances be solicited as an admission of liability unless you have expressly written so. Then in that circumstance, what the hell are you doing appealing?

Don't just pay council tickets, I've successfully appealed against the monstrosity that is City of Edinburgh councils CPZ and interpretation of 'reasonable maintenance'.
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Depends on the nature of his correspondence hence my may however as its failure to display and he doesn't seem to be disputing that factor they can probably use it against him now - but as always I am not a lawyer. Its better if its not a council one to just not contact them in the first place.
 
I'm not understanding this.

How can the wind blow something out of a locked car?

and

How can you not know whether something is sticky or not?
 
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It's a charge and not a fine, but as above you've opened communication with them so they might chase you if you ignore them.

Did you stick it to the outside of the vehicle? If so why?

GF had an incident with one of these 'charges' where she'd broken down in a car park and was ticketed whilst I was driving her back to her car to get it going. She also entered communications and they weren't interested in her excuses. She wrote a final letter saying why she isn't paying and ignored the further chasers, heard nothing since.
 
GTO656 said:
3) If you choose to do nothing, we will seek to recover the monies owed to us by our appointed debt recovery agent and may proceed with court action against you.
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They need to go through court before a debt recovery agent can be involved, love the scare tactics they use.:rolleyes:
 
Do the popla appeals process as it cost the private parking company money. If that fails then just ignore any further communication from them unless it's an actual court date. If it goes to court then you will win as you can produce a valid parking ticket.
 
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