Ethical Parking Management Fine - HELP

londonerryan

Hi everyone.

I received a car parking ticket at college which was my fault as i'd forgotten to renew my term parking ticket at the start of term. It was inevitable this would happen as i had completely forgot.

It says that i must pay £40 now or risk having to pay more at later date - I could attach photos but seems like i can only attach from a website.

I spoke to the college and they told me to talk to/appeal to Ethical Parking Management as they can't do anything to help.

This is what the generic signs in the car park read:

WARNING
Parking Notice

By entering you agree not to breach the following conditions:

1. Parked without clearly displaying the required Car Park Permit and proof of payment.
2. Not parked wholly within a designated parking bay.

Failure to comply with any of these conditions you agree to pay the parking charge of £80.

Then at the bottom right hand corner is just name of college. No mention of any parking companies.

HOWEVER....

The plot thickens....

I hope this doesn't increase any workload for any of you.....

The next day i parked in college car park and immediately bought a day ticket and placed in my car (as i don't have a permit, as you know). Then, i went and bought a term permit. However, i took it to class with me without realising (or remembering) that it has to be INSIDE the car at ALL TIMES as stated on the signs in car park (i have updated initial post with more details; including what the signs in car park say).

So..... i received ANOTHER ticket!!!

I now have two tickets in two days.

I took the ticket to the place where you buy permits and two very unhelpful women told me there's nothing they could do, it doesn't matter etc etc. Anyway, i told them to email the company to say i had bought the permit at 9.10 am and put a ticket in my car at 8.57 am (i have ticket still). They said they would email the company immediately.

So, i have some new questions now...

1. Does having a SECOND ticket make things trickier for me?

2. I have mental health issues. I was actually agoraphobic for a long time (and still am, to an extent), and use my car entirely due to this. I wouldn't go out, and certainly wouldn't go to college, without it. Should i use this reasoning? It's a genuine reason, backed up by evidence. Or, do these companies just not care?

3. On the carpark signs it says what not to do, but there are no mention of the company's name. On another forum it was pointed out this could be an 'issue'. I didn't understand why. Is it an issue that the sign is a bit 'vague'?

4. For now, i presume i wait for the 'Notice to Keeper' letter and don't do anything? Or should i do something now already?

Thanks for all the answers, i know i come across as a complete parking thug.

Redx

depends on the region of the uk you are in

best read through this for a start https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4816822

Coupon-mad

Read the ''Newbies FAQs'' thread near top of the forum. Do that first.

Our normal approach is to say 'wait for the Notice to Keeper' which is what I would do I think - or the keeper could try a fairly new tactic and wait 3 weeks, then (if in England/Wales) appeal to the windscreen ticket without implying whether they were driving or not. It's an idea for small PPCs in order to avoid debt collector hassle and you'd still win at POPLA anyway.

londonerryan

Thanks for the info. I've been a bit busy this evening, but just read a few of the threads linked in the FAQ thread. I'll have a better read this weekend and get a clearer picture. It looks like for now i just wait for the Notice to Keeper letter to arrive.

Coupon-mad

Coupon-mad wrote: »

Read the ''Newbies FAQs'' thread near top of the forum. Do that first.

Our normal approach is to say 'wait for the Notice to Keeper' which is what I would do I think - or the keeper could try a fairly new tactic and wait 3 weeks, then (if in England/Wales) appeal to the windscreen ticket without implying whether they were driving or not. It's an idea for small PPCs in order to avoid debt collector hassle and you'd still win at POPLA anyway.

Like I said above - you have two choices. Both good as long as only the keeper appeals and no implying who was driving.

bod1467

Ethical Parking Management ... oxymoron of the year?

martmonk

When you say........

londonerryan wrote: »

PS My car and everything about it is in my father's name and he lives permanently in France. In the aforementioned case (PCM fine), this helped me in that i was told PCM have no chance of getting money off of him abroad. In this case though i am a full time student attending this college.

do you mean that the car is registered in France or is it registered to your father at a UK address but your father resides in France?

If the car is registered in France then the other option to ignore still exists as there will be no keeper liability and the PPC don't know who was driving on the day unless you tell them.

However your father would need to be prepared for several letters containing varying levels of threats over a prolonged period of time. That would make it a decision for you and he on which course to take - some would deal with it through appealing, some would ignore.

londonerryan

martmonk wrote: »

When you say........

do you mean that the car is registered in France or is it registered to your father at a UK address but your father resides in France?

If the car is registered in France then the other option to ignore still exists as there will be no keeper liability and the PPC don't know who was driving on the day unless you tell them.

However your father would need to be prepared for several letters containing varying levels of threats over a prolonged period of time. That would make it a decision for you and he on which course to take - some would deal with it through appealing, some would ignore.

My father is a permanent resident in France (as of 20 years). He owns a British house that i rent from him. The car i drive (legally) is in his name, but registered at his British house (my residence).

For example, when i got the parking ticket from PCM last year, people on this forum and another basically said that in the worst case scenario when they threaten court action, if it DID go to court, there's nothing they can do as he is a French resident. He just happens to own a house here. So, i'm lucky in that case as i legally drive the car, but he actually owns it.

martmonk

the situation changed in October 2012 and as registered keeper he would be liable. I'm not clued up on how that might play out with residence being in France but would suggest you follow Coupon-Mad's earlier advice and wait for NtK and then appeal.

londonerryan

The plot thickens....

I hope this doesn't increase any workload for any of you.....

The next day i parked in college car park and immediately bought a day ticket and placed in my car (as i don't have a permit, as you know). Then, i went and bought a term permit. However, i took it to class with me without realising (or remembering) that it has to be INSIDE the car at ALL TIMES as stated on the signs in car park (i have updated initial post with more details; including what the signs in car park say).

So..... i received ANOTHER ticket!!!

I now have two tickets in two days.

I took the ticket to the place where you buy permits and two very unhelpful women told me there's nothing they could do, it doesn't matter etc etc. Anyway, i told them to email the company to say i had bought the permit at 9.10 am and put a ticket in my car at 8.57 am (i have ticket still). They said they would email the company immediately.

So, i have some new questions now...

1. Does having a SECOND ticket make things trickier for me?

2. I have mental health issues. I was actually agoraphobic for a long time (and still am, to an extent), and use my car entirely due to this. I wouldn't go out, and certainly wouldn't go to college, without it. Should i use this reasoning? It's a genuine reason, backed up by evidence. Or, do these companies just not care?

3. On the carpark signs it says what not to do, but there are no mention of the company's name. On another forum it was pointed out this could be an 'issue'. I didn't understand why. Is it an issue that the sign is a bit 'vague'?

4. For now, i presume i wait for the 'Notice to Keeper' letter and don't do anything? Or should i do something now already?

Thanks for all the answers, i know i come across as a complete parking thug.

martmonk

londonerryan wrote: »

The plot thickens....

I hope this doesn't increase any workload for any of you :A

Okay, today, i parked in college car park and immediately bought a day ticket and placed in my car (as i don't have a permit, as you know). Then, i went and bought a term permit. However, i took it to class with me without realising (or remembering) that it has to be INSIDE the car at ALL TIMES as stated on the signs in car park (i have updated initial post with more details; including what the signs in car park say).

So..... i received ANOTHER ticket!!!

I now have two tickets in two days.

I took the ticket to the place where you buy permits and two very unhelpful women told me there's nothing they could do, it doesn't matter etc etc. Anyway, i told them to email the company to say i had bought the permit at 9.10 am and put a ticket in my car at 8.57 am (i have ticket still). They said they would email the company immediately.

But did they?

So, i have some new questions now...

1. Does having a SECOND ticket make things trickier for me? (e.g. i look like some rebellious punk just breaking all the rules ).

Only in so far as you have two separate NtKs to look out for, the process for each is the same but you'll need to keep them separate.

2. My car belongs to my father, who resides permanently in France, but is registered at his British home where i happen to live and rent. Does the fact i attend this college every week (until June) make it important for me to sort this out through the proper process (e.g. POPLA) or the ticket inspectors might continuously see my car (i.e. is there such a thing as 'evil inspectors remembering cars and even clamping them for failure to pay tickets'? lol).

Anything is possible but clamping is illegal.

3. Following on from question 2, when i received my PCM ticket a year ago (still trying to get money from me), forums told me to continue ignoring (by the time i had written on forums i had ignored for months already), as my car is registered to my dad who resides in France. In other words, they have no chance of getting my dad to court. Would that still be a possibility here, or one i should avoid as i am actually a full time student at this college and perhaps shouldn't be ruffling carpark attendant feathers?

As I mentioned earlier, not sure on registered keeper address versus that registered keepers residential address.

4. I have mental health issues. I was actually agoraphobic for a long time (and still am, to an extent), and use my car entirely due to this. I wouldn't go out, and certainly wouldn't go to college, without it. Should i use this reasoning? It's a genuine reason, backed up by evidence. Or, do these companies just not care?

They don't care

5. On the carpark signs (see first post of mine, now updated) it says not do do 1 & 2 but there are no mention of the company's name. On another forum it was pointed out this could be an 'issue'. I didn't understand why. Is it an issue that the sign is a bit 'vague'?

Have you read the NEWBIES thread?

6. For now, i presume i wait for the 'Notice to Keeper' letter and don't do anything? Or should i do something now already?

Yes, wait for the two NtK's and deal with the appeals process then. Only thing you can do at this stage is complain to the college, which you have done.

Thanks for all the answers, i know i come across as a complete parking thug.

answers in red above