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How To Avoid Getting A "Parking Fine"

Yes, we all know that we can run rings around parking companies just by applying the law, we can all get our "tickets" cancelled. But would it not make life a lot easier not to get them in the first place?

It is a common defence to say that they didn't see the signs because they were pointed at very slightly the wrong angle or were a couple of millimetres too high from the ground or only measured 1m x 1m instead of the minimum 1.1m. It is a common defence to say that they weren't aware that they weren't allowed to leave the site because the parking is for shoppers at the nearby shops only.

There is an adage that says:
If it seems too good to be true then it probably is.

Funny how no one seems to remember this adage when it comes to parking isn't it?

If there is a free carpark with loads of empty spaces but a pay and display nextdoor which is nearly full, which carpark would someone who likes an easy life park in? I'll give you a clue, it's not the free one.

Yes, we can fight tickets but I'd personally rather pay £2.00 per hour (or part thereof) to park than have the hassle of having to write appeals, dealing with debt collectors and going to court. This is all going to cost me far, far more than the few quid I spend on parking.

As a general rule of thumb, unless I actually have legitimate business parking in that particular carpark then I will park elsewhere and this is why I have never yet got a "parking fine".
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Comments

  • ManxRed
    ManxRed Posts: 3,530 Forumite
    How long have you been reading this forum?

    What about people who get overstay tickets for one long visit when they've actually visited twice?

    What about people who entered, didn't agree with the terms, left, and still got a ticket?

    What about people who get tickets for overstays of a few minutes, when in actual fact the 'extra' minutes were taken up entering, finding a space, and leaving, rather than the actual time parked up?

    What about people who were genuinely bamboozled by meaningless signs, or where signs were hidden or non-existent?

    What about people who were invited onto the premises by the landowner for a purpose (e.g. tradesman), who still got a ticket when they were clearly there at the invitation of the landowner?

    What about the people who were delayed in store by queues or salesmen, who were genuine customers but still got a ticket?

    What about people who get tickets for parking in their own spaces?

    NONE of the people above will have broken any rules. A lot do still receive stupid fake parking tickets for it though.

    I'm bored now, but before you start spouting self-righteous claptrap and displaying a holier-than-thou attitude to people who give up their free time on here to help others, have a bloody good read of some of the threads.
    Je Suis Cecil.
  • Herzlos
    Herzlos Posts: 14,649
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    That's fair enough if the parking company are being honest, but there's no benefit to them in doing that.

    Free, unrestricted parking has been the norm outside supermarkets and retail parks for at least at long as I can remember (20 years, give or take). The only ones you paid for were council ones or multi-storeys.

    Now a lot of them are sneaking up signs (7+ft off the ground and unreadable to anyone that doesn't go for a closer look) or changing the terms with the aim of entrapment. The majority of people we see on here getting tickets aren't chancers, just normal people who've been caught out by having an invoice issued for fabricated infractions, or people with mobility or medial issues causing them to go over time.

    I've seen loads of signs at car parks recently that are completely deficient going by the BPA and goverment standards. Normally all you can read is "customer parking only" or "1 hour free parking". But how is a customer defined, and what happens after an hour?

    The PPC's aren't there to manage parking or deter infringements, but are there to raise money from those infringements.

    Also, what about the regular posters from people getting tickets for using their own parking space?
  • bazster
    bazster Posts: 7,436
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    I responded to your other snarky thread, I'll not be responding to any more.
    Je suis Charlie.
  • ampersand
    ampersand Posts: 9,553
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    edited 16 April 2015 at 10:47AM
    Ditto bazster - I think the '£40 for 3 days' parking' has stuck in op's craw.

    Trust harping on about same didn't spoil what should have been happy visit with daughter. Suspect otherwise.
    #
    Op - if you wish to protest about 'parking fines', pepipoo's the forum for you.

    mse's is for fake invoices, scam invoices, unenforceable invoices issued by private parking scumpanies. [They do not issue 'fines' as you well know.]
    CAP[UK]for FREE EXPERT DEBT &BUDGET HELP:
    01274 760721, freephone0800 328 0006
    'People don't want much. They want: "Someone to love, somewhere to live, somewhere to work and something to hope for."
    Norman Kirk, NZLP- Prime Minister, 1972
    ***JE SUIS CHARLIE***
    'It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere' François-Marie AROUET


  • Dr._Shoe
    Dr._Shoe Posts: 563 Forumite
    I do agree with the idea that getting tickets for overstaying by a few minutes, using the carpark to turn round in, dropping someone off or collecting them or going back later (and getting a ticket for overstaying) is wrong. I'd even go as far as to say that parking in a carpark and leaving the site should be allowed too within reason but it's when people park in a private carpark knowing full well that they can fight a ticket that I think is wrong, especially when people with legitimate business to park there for can't find a space.

    Well, why put yourself through all the hassle of having to deal with a ticket when it would probably only cost you a couple of quid to park closer to your destination anyway?

    The problem is that the more we fight these things the more these companies find new and interesting ways to fleece us. We managed to get clamping on private land banned, we managed to get unrestricted access to DVLA records banned only to be replaced with organisations such as the BPA and, worse still, the IPC.

    We fight these £100 tickets and what happens? The price goes up to £150 because they know that for every person that knows enough to fight it there are three that don't and pay up.

    Yes, I think that I agree with the fact that £100, even £50 is extortion and that these crooks should be driven out of business but what I'm saying is is that we're not doing it.

    In another thread we see that ANPR has been ousted from the BPA (hooray!) but all that will happen is that there will be another firm to replace them. These people don't give up their golden geese so quickly.

    My point is that the best way to win the game is by not playing it.
  • Dr._Shoe
    Dr._Shoe Posts: 563 Forumite
    ampersand wrote: »
    Ditto bazster - I think the '£40 for 3 days' parking' has stuck in op's craw.

    Trust harping on about same didn't spoil what should have been happy visit with daughter. Suspect otherwise.
    #
    Op - if you wish to protest about 'parking fines', pepipoo's the forum for you.

    mse's is for fake invoices, scam invoices, unenforceable invoices issued by private parking scumpanies. [They do not issue 'fines' as you well know.]

    Yes I know and that's why I'd help people wherever I can.

    Yes you're right it did stick in my craw a bit especially when I know how hard I have to work for that £40 when I could have parked for only £7.50! I look after horses for a living and anyone who has ever worked with livestock will testify that it is not the easiest way to earn £6.50 a hour. I don't do it for the money but that doesn't mean I like to just toss it away.
  • neil.net
    neil.net Posts: 175 Forumite
    edited 16 April 2015 at 11:12AM
    Dr._Shoe wrote: »
    ...especially when people with legitimate business to park there for can't find a space.
    What about those who have genuine rights to park there and get stung anyway because the PPC believe they have a right to charge?
    The problem is that the more we fight these things the more these companies find new and interesting ways to fleece us. We managed to get clamping on private land banned...
    Well clamping got banned, maybe rip-off PPCs will be too.
    My point is that the best way to win the game is by not playing it.
    So just bend over and give them room to?

    Yes you're right it did stick in my craw a bit especially when I know how hard I have to work for that £40 when I could have parked for only £7.50!
    Then you appreciate how I feel being potentially held to a £60/£100 charge for parking on land I have paid for and pay to maintain.


    There is a halfway house that could be achieved, but the PPCs don't want to because it won't make them any money. If they were genuine in obtaining what is in effect damages for breach of contract, they wouldn't even cover their costs and certainly wouldn't make a profit.
  • ManxRed
    ManxRed Posts: 3,530 Forumite
    Dr._Shoe wrote: »
    ...but it's when people park in a private carpark knowing full well that they can fight a ticket that I think is wrong, especially when people with legitimate business to park there for can't find a space.

    The reason that some people know full well that they can fight a ticket is because the PPCs set parking charges at levels which cannot ever be legally enforceable (although I may have to revise that sentence if the Beavis Appeal comes out all wrong). If PPCs charged £15 or £20, then they wouldn't be able to easily fight them, and they would probably think twice about doing it on a regular basis.

    Don't lay all the blame on people who deliberately exploit a situation purely of the PPC's making.
    Je Suis Cecil.
  • ampersand
    ampersand Posts: 9,553
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    Dr S - physician heal thyself, which you will do more constructively[and receive thanks], by now posting advice for anxious newbies and others struggling with their fake invoices.

    Or pester your local council, as suggested elsewhere.
    CAP[UK]for FREE EXPERT DEBT &BUDGET HELP:
    01274 760721, freephone0800 328 0006
    'People don't want much. They want: "Someone to love, somewhere to live, somewhere to work and something to hope for."
    Norman Kirk, NZLP- Prime Minister, 1972
    ***JE SUIS CHARLIE***
    'It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere' François-Marie AROUET


  • Herzlos
    Herzlos Posts: 14,649
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    Forumite
    Dr._Shoe wrote: »
    My point is that the best way to win the game is by not playing it.

    Definitely the best way to win the game is not use PPC controlled car parks, or shops that employ PPCs, and tell the shops why.

    Unfortunately, that doesn't leave you many options for buying food.
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