Private resident isssued with parking ticket

eddie296

I live in private block of flats which has private parking attached to it, each resident has his own parking area and there are visitors spaces. To park in your space or when visitors attend you must display a permit. I was recently allowed to test drive a car, I left my own car at the garage and took the test car home with me that evening palnning on returning to bring it back to the garage the next day.
I arrived home around 9.30 pm, parked the car in a visitors bay and went into the block. Realised that I didn't have my permit so went into the flat to collect my spare one. Don't know what I did but I took about 30 mins finding it and doing other jobs.
I went back out to the car and discovered that I had been issued a parking ticket. The car park is run by link management, I contacted them explaining what had happened and that I lived there and had just brought a car home as I was testing it out, I did have a permit and as a resident was entitled to park there.
They refused to back down insisting that I pay the £100 fine and that there were signs over the area telling people of the need to display a permit. I hadn't complied with it. I thought this was ridiculous.
Decided to appeal to the IAS thinking they will see reason however they turned down my appeal on the grounds that I had taken too long whilst in the flat to get and put my ticket on, 30 minutes?
I was not impressed with them and just thought that they side with the car park operators.
Should I pay the fine or wait till they take me to court?
Eddie

Coupon-mad

I was not impressed with them and just thought that they side with the car park operators.

We agree, that's our impression too and we would have advised you not to bother with IAS. We have other posters who have lost an IAS appeal about Link as well, trouble is you can't very well search this forum for the word 'link' as that word crops up every day!!!

But you could Google it 'Link Parking IAS lost' or something, would find the cases I am thinking of for you to read.

Keep all letters and if you get a small claim we can help you defend it. Small claims seems fairer than the IAS and is no biggie, no 'auto CCJ' or anything even if you lose. very defendable and nothing to worry about now. Link read these threads so if you get a silly pm about it, delete the idiot.