'Parking Fines. You can reclaim them...' blog discussion

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  • Just thought I'd add my story to the parking fines thread as it might help some people get their money back.

    I live in southampton and as a student I get permits for parking on the street where I live. I have a drive and usually use that but on this occasion my friend was staying and I decided to use a guest permit (the one day jobbies)

    You have to scratch off the date and write in your reg and display clearly, all of which I did. The signs up said permit parking only, which was also fine. Yet I still got a ticket...

    I rang up the council and the bloke said to write a letter, send off the permit and contest, and he put the fine on hold at the reduced rate of £25

    I then looked at my permit and realised I hadn't scratched the year off.... which, as it was tucked away at the bottom of the permit inbetween the other dates and months, was an easy mistake to make.

    So I wrote to the council, admitting my error, but also admitting that the permit wasn't clear and I had never used one before. I also caused no obstruction, was outside my home and had had the best of intentions in displaying the permit....

    They waived the fine, with a slap on the wrists and a free permit holder so I could ensure I displayed my permit correctly (even though that wasn't the problem!!)

    Anyway, moral is, even if you are wrong, have a go at contesting, especially if it is an honest mistake. I was polite and courteous in my letter and I think it paid off...

    My friend also did a similar thing and because she is dislexic, she got hers waived too (which is fair enough, if you knew what these permits looked like you'd understand why its hard to notice the year nestled inbetween NOV and 31!)
    SPC5 #1651 total so far: £78.59
  • cocodude
    cocodude Posts: 32
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    I've managed to overturn two out of three parking fines that I have received.

    The first was similarly crazy to Martin's original fine - I was given a ticket on a weekend where the restrictions were clearly weekdays only. I was parked next to my mate's car and managed to get my fine overturned OK. His, however, took at least 4 letters each way before it was overturned, with them claiming that cancelling my PCN was a mistake. The situation was so clear cut it hurt.

    The second was a little more justified. I was helping a friend move house, and believe you can park on a single or double yellow, or parking bay to load/unload, as long as there are no loading restrictions. I was in a parking bay and, with large items to load in the car, saw it get a ticket. I got the parking attendant to take photos of me by the car with my luggage, and took photos myself. I submitted my photos and managed to get the fine reversed.

    The only one I didn't manage to get reversed was when I accidentally parked in an unclearly marked disabled bay. I tried to argue my case once but it got rejected. I didn't have time to take this further because of time pressures (exams) so paid them £28.50 (£30 minus the £1.50 parking fee I'd already paid). I guess they wrote the £1.50 off and that was the end.

    Don't let yourself be pressured by these letters!
  • Arrived at a small pay n display car park nr Croydon, and just checked the meter which read "Sundays and Bank Holidays are free". Thinking this was ok, as it was Good Friday, went about my business of looking at all the empty stores on the hight street.
    Anyway, upon my return I found that I had received a parking ticket! Well not only me, but most of the cars in the car park!!
    I phoned the local council, and ....eventually.... :mad: I was told that Good Friday is not a Bank Holiday and that it was a 'national holiday' / 'holy day'.

    Anyway, thought I would pass this on - did anyone else get caught out?
  • Have you ever come across this before... I park in a road in Bromley, pay the ticket, display it. And a month later receive a letter from Bromley Council demanding £120 because I was served a notice (and I most certainly was not) for not paying and displaying. Unless you keep every single ticket, exactly how can you disprove this? Fortunately, the ticket was still languishing in my car, by chance, so I've sent it off and am awaiting their response...
  • MKB
    MKB Posts: 71
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Post
    Forumite
    Try Birmingham where there are no signs by single yellow lines. The whole central area is a controlled zone, and you are supposed to see and assimilate all of the parking time information as you whizz past at 40mph on entry to the zone half a mile or more outside the city centre. Even now, as a local, I'm not sure whether parking is allowed in the evening after 6pm or 6.30pm.

    What makes this worse is that, a few years ago, Birmingham sneakily changed the parking times to prohibit single yellow parking during the daytime on Sundays. This catches out many non-locals.

    On a Sunday morning and afternoon, you can see Traffic Wardens (or whatever they're called these days) going around the near deserted nightclub and theatre district off Hurst Street, slapping tickets on vehicles parked on single yellows.

    So anyone who parked legally on a single yellow during the very busy and heavily congested Saturday night period, and then, sensibly, decided to leave their car overnight having opted for a few drinks, finds themselves unwittingly punished.

    If the city councillors had any moral scruples, they would realise it is only fair that the parking times should be displayed next to every single yellow line.
  • Buzby
    Buzby Posts: 8,275 Forumite
    rtimmorris wrote: »
    Help !

    I parked in a loading bay, went into the chemist, came back, and there's the ticket. ok., I was a bit longer than I should have been. I read somewhere that the loading bay must be at least 2.7mtrs wide (some 2002 Act), and sent in a letter asking for my money back. They said loading bays can be 2.2 - 2.7mtrs wide (some 2007 Act). Anyone got a confirmation for me?????? thanks

    One you won't like - it is a LOADING bay - not a 'shopping' bay. Nipping into the chemists isn't a legitimate use of such a bay, so querying the size of said bay might be an interesting diversion, using it for the purposes you described won't result in cancellation!
  • I was fined earlier in the year for exteding my stay in Tring. It seemed natural to me to put a few more coins in the meter as we fancied a dessert at the restaurant - but when we got back bang! there was a fine. I complained to them about it (by email which was an option mentioned on the ticket). A week later they cancelled the fine but said they would not cancel it again. So writing a letter is well worth it and saved me £30. Plus there is nothing to lose as you get an extension on the deadline for both the cheap payment and the full payment. Yes I did break the rules, but the rules defy common sense! No one knows exactly how long they'll be so why charge for meter feeding. They could have an option for "extra hour extension" on the machine that would be a good idea.
    :j
  • Don't Bank Holidays count as Sundays? e.g. if it says no parking Monday - Friday and it is Bank Holiday Monday...
    :heart2: Give blood. :female: Use a mooncup.
    But ensure the two are not connected!
  • On a related subject to your parking fine thread - last September I parked on a street in Wapping to help my daughter move into her new flat. The only parking meter visible would not take our money so we went looking for another meter that did work. We followed the arrow shown above the meter but despite our best efforts, couldn't find one. We even tried phoning the telephone number on the meter but despite three attempts there was no answer. Eventually I put a note in the windscreen of my car and left it. When I went to retrieve my car it had vanished! There followed several anxious telephone calls to see if it had been stolen or towed away, and eventually tracked my poor car down to the Poplar Pound. It cost me £270 to retrieve it, plus taxi to the pound (about 5 miles away) and a lot of worry and stress. I decided to appeal the fine as looking on Wapping Council's website, I saw that the various locations of the meters were all in the opposite direction to where the arrow pointed on the out-of-order meter. I sent a photo of the meter, a printout of the website showing the meters and a copy of our phone bill to show we tried to phone the authority. All of which resulted in the council, eventually, refunding my money and the sign about the parking meter has now vanished! I would say it is always worth a little effort to try and appeal these fines - many of which are wholly unjustified!
  • Thomask
    Thomask Posts: 557 Forumite
    Well.. I'm happy! :beer:

    Just got off 3 fines.. each for £120.00.. and each for the same offense!

    It pays to object!

    http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1363773&highlight=
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