£60 fine for 10 minutes early

keithy397

Hi, According to a letter I received this morning (to charge me £60) I parked in the Deiniol Centre, Bangor, Gwynedd on 30/12/2016 at ????am and left at ????am, which I don't dispute. During the Xmas and New Year period it was free parking from 10.30am. I didn't realise I was 10 mins early else I would have waited, it was after all free parking!
The letter I received was from VCP, Vehicle Control Services Ltd. I suppose I just want to know if they're being unfair in their application of the fine and if indeed I have any obligation to pay it to this Company at all. £60 is a lot of money for just 10 minutes don't you think?
I am disabled and have a Blue Badge and I suffer from severe PTSD from Military Service. At times my memory and concentration are atrocious.
Looking forward to any help you can offer...

Cheers,
Keith

pappa_golf

my my , VCS seem to have forgotten that a grace period (10 mins) is allowed at the start of parking to read and assess the signage

Fruitcake

It is not a fine.

Private parking charges are very rarely fair.

The Blue Badge scheme does not apply on private land, but the Equality Act 2010 does.

What happened when you complained to the retailers you visited?

Delete the times parked from your post as that can identify you to the parking scumpanies that monitor these fora.

Please read the Sticky tread for NEWBIES, then send the IPC template (in black) you will find there.

If the parking was free and you have proof of this, carefully add this to the template but do not reveal who was driving. So, use expressions like The Driver, not I parked.

Don't panic, but come back here f you need further help.

Fruitcake

It is not a fine.

Private parking charges are very rarely fair. You do not have to pay unless a judge tells you to. You are a very long way from that at the moment.

The Blue Badge scheme does not apply on private land, but the Equality Act 2010 does.

What happened when you complained to the retailers you visited?

Please read the Sticky tread for NEWBIES, then send the IPC template (in black) you will find there.

If the parking was free and you have proof of this, carefully add this to the template but do not reveal who was driving. So, use expressions like The Driver, not I parked.

Don't panic, but come back here if you need further help.

keithy397

Thanks for the advice Fruitcake. My mate has just informed me that the free parking stopped 3 days before I used the car park but I'll check this out myself.
If I am indeed in the wrong, £60 is an obscene amount of money for a parking infringement.

Fruitcake

keithy397 wrote: »

Thanks for the advice Fruitcake. My mate has just informed me that the free parking stopped on 3 days before I used the car park but I'll check this out myself.
If I am indeed in the wrong, £60 is an obscene amount of money for a parking infringement.

If you are wrong, then the signage was obviously inadequate.

The reason most of the regulars help out here is because these charges are obscene.

keithy397

Fruitcake wrote: »

If you are wrong, then the signage was obviously inadequate.

The reason most of the regulars help out here is because these charges are obscene.

I'm starting to read the sticky you pointed me to but I think I'll have to finish it tomorrow. I'll complain to the shopping centre manager when I can get hold of him/her.
Thanks again.

Umkomaas

Short of a landowner cancellation, getting an IPC operator off your back is nigh on impossible given that there is no sensible appeals process. So it's brace yourself for up to six years of hassle from VCS and/or their debt collectors. They may even chance a court case.

Harsh, but the reality of the situation. But it isn't a reason to meekly pay up. Fighting this can be undertaken by following the NEWBIES FAQ sticky, sending in an initial appeal (to show that you are at least following due process) which will be rejected. They will offer you the opportunity then to appeal to the IAS - but success there is as rare as hens' teeth and not thought worth the effort. Then it's ignore everything after other than court papers.

One thought - are you a natural Welsh speaker (or you know someone who is)? If so, why not conduct everything with VCS through the medium of the Welsh language, including appealing to the IAS (even though we advise against it, sending in an appeal in Welsh may really throw them)? There's nothing to lose and you might just prove yourself to be too much trouble to deal with and they might throw their hand in. Nothing guaranteed, but unless you try...........

Check out the Welsh Language legislation to determine if/how VCS has to deal with this in Welsh.

One further point, it was council run car parks in many parts of the country that offered free parking over Christmas - is the car park you used council owned?