Can you get off of a parking fine with a sob story?

Adz

Adz

Adz

Soldato
Joined
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Posts
10,277
Location
Berkshire
I was at the funeral directors today arranging my dad's funeral :( and had my car parked in a pay and display in Eastbourne town centre. Unfortunately it took far longer than anticipated, I'd lost track of time which I think is understandable and I overran by a mere 20 minutes. I returned to my car to find I'd been slapped in a £75 (!!!) penalty.

If I explained the circumstances, is there any chance of them taking pity or will I just be making a fool of myself by asking? If the latter, I'll just pay the fine and be done with it :p.

Thanks in advance :).

Edit: Council carpark, not private...
 
There was something like this with a funeral ceremony, only they said they didn't know that they were on a carpark(iirc) and all got fines. It made it to the news on tv.

I don't think they even got off.
 
Thought so :(. You do the crime, you do the time I guess... £75 for 20 minutes though, from the council when the carpark was far from full seems a little harsh.
 
isn't there a discount for paying quickly? and £75 seems pretty harsh, i got caught in brighton the other week for £60 which was halfed to 30 if payed in 14 days.

Thought about trying to contest it on a sob story (long one i don't want to go into here) but decided i'd just pay up and hope they used the money to fix the roads or something useful!
 
You lose nothing by writing to them mate. Even if you lose then it will be six months down the line by which time you'll have collected enough small change to pay the fine. In london for example i'm fighting a parking ticket due to a warden not seeing my residents permit.

1. Appeal the ticket by letter using the address on the ticket.
2. Wait a month for them to write back rejecting your appeal
3. Wait another 2 weeks for the 'Notice to Owner' to drop on your mat.
4. Wait 2 weeks (or whatever the allowed reply time is) then make a formal written appeal as detailed on the notice to owner.
5. Wait a month for the council to formerly reject your appeal.
6. Appeal to the parking service ombudsman and wait.

You'll probably win when it gets this far as they have a record of overturning the councils decision. Even if you lose you have delayed the fine and caused the council a load of hassle for the sake of a few letters. Councils rely on people not wanting the hassle and paying the fine. Just do what you are legally entitled to do in accordance with the details of the ticket. They want to take your money you should make them earn it. I'm on stage 4 btw, i'll keep you posted. :)
 
Koncordski said:
You lose nothing by writing to them mate. Even if you lose then it will be six months down the line by which time you'll have collected enough small change to pay the fine. In london for example i'm fighting a parking ticket due to a warden not seeing my residents permit.

1. Appeal the ticket by letter using the address on the ticket.
2. Wait a month for them to write back rejecting your appeal
3. Wait another 2 weeks for the 'Notice to Owner' to drop on your mat.
4. Wait 2 weeks (or whatever the allowed reply time is) then make a formal written appeal as detailed on the notice to owner.
5. Wait a month for the council to formerly reject your appeal.
6. Appeal to the parking service ombudsman and wait.

You'll probably win when it gets this far as they have a record of overturning the councils decision. Even if you lose you have delayed the fine and caused the council a load of hassle for the sake of a few letters. Councils rely on people not wanting the hassle and paying the fine. Just do what you are legally entitled to do in accordance with the details of the ticket. They want to take your money you should make them earn it. I'm on stage 4 btw, i'll keep you posted. :)
Click to expand...

Sounds like a bit too much effort to save £75 ;). Thanks anyway though :).

It just seems a bit harsh really, it's not as if the carpark was packed, it's not as if I hadn't paid, it's not as if I was causing an obstruction. I merely underestimated the time I needed to pay for.
 
Ok I'm an idiot! I didn't even read the ticket - it's not a parking ticket at all, they're fining me for not displaying a tax disc! Stupid thing fell off and I just shoved it in the glovebox and forgot about it.

Please close thread to save further embarassment ;).
 
Adz said:
Ok I'm an idiot! I didn't even read the ticket - it's not a parking ticket at all, they're fining me for not displaying a tax disc! Stupid thing fell off and I just shoved it in the glovebox and forgot about it.

Please close thread to save further embarassment ;).
Click to expand...

Whoops! I don't think the funeral story will get you outta that one.:p

I just wanted to highlight the embarrassing mistake before anyone misses this comedy gold

Burnsy
 
Adz said:
Ok I'm an idiot! I didn't even read the ticket - it's not a parking ticket at all, they're fining me for not displaying a tax disc! Stupid thing fell off and I just shoved it in the glovebox and forgot about it.

Please close thread to save further embarassment ;).
Click to expand...

thats a little rough, didn't know they could do you for this. Considering its all supposidly automated now you really shouldn't need one - just have it linked to your number plate.....

lucky i've finally got round to putting mine on the windscreen today :D
 
Well the offence is non displayment of tax disc.

In this case it's easy, you take along the tax disc and show them that it was in force when the penalty was given out and argue the toss with them that it was displayed. They have to prove that it wasn't, which they won't be able to do.
 
Guybrush said:
Well the offence is non displayment of tax disc.

In this case it's easy, you take along the tax disc and show them that it was in force when the penalty was given out and argue the toss with them that it was displayed. They have to prove that it wasn't, which they won't be able to do.
Click to expand...

unless they have a photo of windsheild, which is getting more and more common now to stop people contesting stuff....

but the comment about public roads is an interesting one, where was the car parked? I'd imagine a council run car park is considered public road i'm afraid thou
 
Siliconslave said:
unless they have a photo of windsheild, which is getting more and more common now to stop people contesting stuff....

but the comment about public roads is an interesting one, where was the car parked? I'd imagine a council run car park is considered public road i'm afraid thou
Click to expand...

Council run car park just off the road. I'm sure it would be considered a public road for tax purposes.

I'm going to write to them explaining that the car was actually taxed and that the tax disc holder had simply fallen off. Hopefully they'll be generous and let me off ;).
 
My Dad did this once.

Some crazy old woman drove into the side of our car as we were sat stationary in traffic :rolleyes: but when we got into town (only small amount of damage) he forgot to get a ticket and he got a fine.

He wrote to the council and told them the story and he was let off.

So it might work, try it! :)
 
Most wardens now carry digital camera's so you can't get out of the, but my disabled badge/tax was displayed tickets.
As your going to do best bet is write and ask nicely although knowing the hoops I have to go through to get off tickets when I do have my disabled badge displayed and the wardens are just dumb I doubt you'l have any luck.
 
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