Parking fine: should I pay?

BroadArthur

Hello lovely forum-ers, I need your help!


I've been issued with a parking fine by a company that is IPC registered. Having read lots of posts, I don't know whether to pay it, appeal it, or ignore it.


It is a free car park but there are permit holders only signs clearly displayed. However, I - wrongly - thought that this wouldn't apply on a Sunday. I want to appeal the ticket on the grounds that the £60 (rising to £100) fine does not reflect the loss caused by my 10 minutes' parking. I've drafted a letter to send to the parking company reflecting this - see below.


So please, forumers, can you tell me:
a) If it's worth appealing, or if I should just pay it?
b) If I appeal it, do I do that before 21 days (when the fine rises to £100) or after?
c) Is the argument in my letter correct? How could I make it stronger?
d) Do I appeal to the parking company, a company who does it on my behalf or to the Independent Appeals Service?


My drafted letter:
I wish to appeal the parking charge notice that was issued on [date] on the grounds that the charge of £60 (rising to £100) is not a genuine representation of the loss suffered by the car park.

The car park is in the grounds of a college which is only open during weekdays and the car was, according to the ticket, only parked there for ten minutes. This means that:

• as the college is not a profit-making company, the car was not causing it to lose business
• as it was a Sunday, the college was closed so the car was not stopping its customers from parking there
• £60 (or £100) is not a realistic fee for 10 minutes’ parking
• Your parking charge notice does not state whether the amount you are demanding is for damages or a contractual sum. Assuming that it is for damages, your charge must be only for costs or expenses incurred as a result of the alleged breach of contract. You cannot charge for the salaries and other overheads of running or maintaining the car park. Nor can you claim for back office staff.

Please either demonstrate that your estimate of £60 (or £100) is a genuine estimate of your loss for 10 minutes’ parking, or remove the fine all together.

Many thanks forumers!

wiogs

"I've been issued with a parking fine by a company that is IPC registered"

No you haven't

Read the NEWBIES thread.

Al the info you need is there

Fruitcake

As above, it is not a fine. As for whether you should pay it, I would ask you why on earth would you consider doing such a thing?

If I sent you an invoice for driving a blue car instead of a red car, would you pay it ...?

Read the NEWBIES thread as already advised. It has all the information you need on how to deal with this.

bargepole

Coming on to this section of the forum and asking 'should I pay', is a bit like going on to a Jewish community forum and asking 'Going to a Bar Mitzvah tomorrow. Should I take a pork chop?'.

Fruitcake

bargepole wrote: »

Coming on to this section of the forum and asking 'should I pay', is a bit like going on to a Jewish community forum and asking 'Going to a Bar Mitzvah tomorrow. Should I take a pork chop?'.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

BroadArthur

Thanks everyone for your replies. The NEWBIES flowchart is great - thanks for the direction.


It's my first parking fine so knowing which posts are actually relevant to me is a minefield! I now know just to wait for the notice & appeal, appeal, appeal

pogofish

broadarthur wrote: »

it's my first parking fine

This is not a fine!