Parking ticket - is it worth the headache fighting?

Ku7uk

I got a ticket today from a sip pay and display car-park for reason: not in a marked bay.

I parked and purchased a ticket at the machine, put it on display and walked away. The car was parked at the end space at the back of the car park and could barely fit, but did so with one back wheel just over the line in the next bay. But the car in that bay could easily have gotten in and out. My wheel was over the white line which i now know was wrong.

The lack of space in the car park would have made straightening up extremly difficult, but with enough time, not totally impossible.

I returned to my car an hour later to see a ticket was issued six minutes after i had walked away for the above reason.

I took photographs but it was dark and they are not realy usable.

Is it worth fighting it? Or should i just pay the £50 fine now (within 24 hours or receiveing the ticket) before it goes up?
I know i might be able to fight it, i know i could try ignoring all the letters due to follow. But is it worth the headaches and threats i will get from it?

Do i have a leg to stand on in this fight? And is the fight really worth the stress that comes with it? I know many people of here argue that they are not government approved and cant take everyone to court. But is living in fear that your the one they go after worth taking the chance by not paying?

My main concern is that it goes up to £60 in 24 hours, so i need to know now if its worth risking the fine increase by sending a challenge letter that may get ignored, but the fine will deffienetly go up.

What should i do?

Coupon-mad

Well certainly don't pay!!!!!!!!!!! :eek:

On the ticket is it like the one on this thread where the firm is shown as 'Stop Illegal Parking' even though there is no such AOS member?

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=77072

The website linked to the AOS members list call them 'Simple Intelligent Parking' - see post #18 there by me posting as SchoolRunMum.

Even if you were going to appeal it later on we would say WAIT to see if they write to you first, as long as the DVLA have you as the registered keeper so the letter will come to you and not to a lease firm or anything. Sometimes these chancers never follow it up in writing at all and if they do then you can come back and decide whether to appeal or to ignore (there is no 'pay' option when it comes to a PPC. What is this 'pay' of which you speak?!).

So please grow a pair, wait, and tell us if they ever write to you. That OP on that pepipoo thread ignored the scammers.

The_Slithy_Tove

DO NOT PAY! It's NOT a fine, you are under no obligation to part with your money. If you get stressed by obvious scams, then there are deeper issues at play.

Who is the PPC, i.e. who issued the ticket? Sounds completely dodgy, only giving 24 hours to pay a lower rate. Totally contrary to the BPA Code of Practice. Sounds like they may not be BPA AOS members. If that's the case, they can't find out who you are, and you'll not hear anything further, and there'll be no fight to fight.

Guys_Dad

Totally agree. 24 hours is way outside BPA guidelines and this all smells fishy to me.

If you are worried about headaches, Boots own paracetamol is cheaper than £50.

rew37

It's not a fine!!!! By the sounds of it, this one is quite easily defendable or ignorable without too much effort on your part.

bondy_lad

its not a fine, simply a SCAM,,even if ur the richest geezer in the world,its still a SCAM.

Ku7uk

I appreciate all your advice and understand that its a scam. I understand the possibility is that I will get four threatening letters but they will do nothing in the end.

But, there are cases when they do take things to the next level. I had no idea that my wheel over the white line of the parking bay was somehow worthy of a fine.

But I've been searching a lot and i haven't found much in the way that this particular faux par is fought about. I don't want the stress that comes with worrying and waiting to find out if the whole thing just goes away or not. It sounds like it drags on for months, if not years and im still not sure if just paying £50 now will be better than the months of unneeded stress waiting to find out.

Ive appealed tickets before for car parking over the time limit by two minutes, as the ink was not aligned in the boxes and won. I could try apealing this case within the two week bracket but chances are i will get an automatic responce back saying no, and the fine will have gone up.

It does feel threatening and unlawful to issue a 24 hour reduced time offer. It goes up to £60 after 24 hours, then £75 after 14 days. But that tiny timeframe to make the reduced fee feels very dodgy.

Still, my back wheel was over the white line which i now know is reason enough for them to fine me. If they took photos and if it gets to court, would i even stand a chance?

Umkomaas

You still haven't said who the Parking Company was - as requested above. If you can tell us that, then maybe you might just get a pretty firm reassurance from the forum about what might happen next.

If they're not on the BPA's AOS, then it's virtually game over for the PPC as they won't be able to access your details. If they are BPA members then the 24 hours to pay is off the Richter scale in terms of contravention of the Code of Practice and will not stand the POPLA test - on that alone - plus there will no doubt be many other potential points of 'failure'.

So, once again, please confirm who the PPC is.

Ku7uk

SIP Car Parks

nigelbb

That 24 hours only for reduced payment makes me very suspicious that this may even be a total scam just like these cases:-

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2112229/Conman-fake-parking-tickets-home-tried-convince-150-motorists-send-payment-him.html
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/local-news/man-charged-after-fake-parking-873203
http://tyneandwear.sky.com/news/article/54078/disabled-parking-fines-scam-gang-forced-to-pay-back-thousands

bondy_lad

omg,,its not a FINE,wake up its a,,,,,,,,,.S.C.A.M.the end/full stop/finito.sip car park eh,,,should read,,,(sips),,Simple (oh yes we are),,. (not)Inteligent,, Parking SCAM,,there you go jobs a belter,,,or is it ,,perky time???????? by paying £50-00 now will be better than months of unneeded stress,you really are avin a laugh.