Is my ticket valid?

Cathykjz

I recently went on a health centre car park which I knew to be a pay and display. I was biding time as I was early for an appointment nearby. I sat in my car for 19 minutes. At no time did I get out of the car. I did not pay anything and, after the 19 minutes I drove out of the car park.
I have been sent a parking fine through the post from a private company calling themselves, 'Parking Eye'. They claim to be members of the British Parking Association. I assume that they caught me on CCTV, though it does not state that anywhere in the letter, it only implies it in the name of the company.
The fine is for £60.00 to be paid on 29th August. I was away for five days last week, so it must have arrived between 15th and 19th August. The fine will go up to £90.00 after that and £120.00 if not paid by 13th September. There is no date of posting on the letter, but it does state the date and time I breached the parking rules along with my registration number and make of vehicle.
The letter is a photocopy. It has a black and white squared border, similar to police notices. It describes the letter as a PCN. It gives an address to appeal to, but not a list of grounds under which I could appeal.
Should I ignore it or write a letter to dispute it? If I dispute it, what grounds ought I to dispute it on?
If anyone could advise on this I would be grateful.

trisontana

Please ignore these scam artists. You don't owe them a penny. To clear up a few facts:- the PBA is just member's club for the parking "industry" and is not a regulator. This is not s "fine", it's an unenforceable invoice.

You are correct that they are trying to imitate official documents, with the black and white border and the carefully chosen initials "PCN" . In this instance it stands for "parking charge notice", but many people would mistake it for an official "penalty charge notice".

Jle756

Welcome to the ignoring-Parking-Eye-club.
Membership costs £120, reduced to £60 if paid by tomorrow.

That must smack as being a bit steep, indeed ridiculous. And I'm guessing there's no way you would pay me. And Parking Eye's claim for your cash is equally as ridiculous. So treat their charge in the the same way and ignore them, don't pay up. They'll go away in time.......

peter_the_piper

Don't bother to contact them, reply, appeal etc, let them dangle, it costs them more money. All appeals are rejected as a matter of course.

funkycoldribena

Cathykjz wrote: »

It has a black and white squared border, similar to police notices.

Guess why that is?

Kite2010

Parking Spy are useless, they will even try and charge you if you accidentally enter on of their car-parks and leave within a matter of seconds.

trisontana

Their so-called hi-tech "ANPR" system is a joke. Most of the time it doesn't know if it's last week or Pancake Tuesday.

Cathykjz

Thanks everyone so far. I shall take your advice and ignore.