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Parking fine dilema

Hi

Whilst on holiday I parked at Tintagel in Cornwall, paid for 3 hours parking. When I got home I had a parking notice which I only had 1 day before cost went up due to the length of my holiday. I quickly wrote an appeal stating that we paid to park and the details of the machine we used. Unfortunately after 18 days on holiday we had a door full of parking tickets n threw them all away whilst cleaning the car for return journey so I had no proof of parking.

They have responded today saying they agree we did pay to park but entered the vehicle registration incorrectly. They go on to say the signage states the correct registration number must be entered but as a gesture of goodwill they have reduced it to £20 if paid within 14 days and if we don't pay the appeal may be rejected and a popla code issued.

My head says just to pay it but my principles says that I should'nt as I have paid for parking and it was just human error which should not incur a penelty. The problem I have is I don't know what typing error I made and I am a 6 hour drive from the car park so cannot see the signs and how well they are presented. Please can you give me some advice. Thank you

Comments

  • Quentin
    Quentin Posts: 40,405 Forumite
    edited 8 September 2017 at 9:49PM
    Everyone is politely asked to read the newbies FAQ thread near the top of the forum before starting a new thread

    Go there now to understand the game you are involved in and decide whether the work and time involved is worth iI compared to the £20. As well as the hassle of ignoring debt collectors and waiting for the 6 years they have to start legal action

    Depending on your view of the value you put on your time make the decision.

    If you decide to fight them the newbies FAQ guides you through the process from popla right through to defending a Court claim if it goes that far
  • Redx
    Redx Posts: 38,084 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    which parking company is it ?
  • beamerguy
    beamerguy Posts: 17,587 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Alijgibson wrote: »
    Hi

    Whilst on holiday I parked at Tintagel in Cornwall, paid for 3 hours parking. When I got home I had a parking notice which I only had 1 day before cost went up due to the length of my holiday. I quickly wrote an appeal stating that we paid to park and the details of the machine we used. Unfortunately after 18 days on holiday we had a door full of parking tickets n threw them all away whilst cleaning the car for return journey so I had no proof of parking.

    They have responded today saying they agree we did pay to park but entered the vehicle registration incorrectly. They go on to say the signage states the correct registration number must be entered but as a gesture of goodwill they have reduced it to £20 if paid within 14 days and if we don't pay the appeal may be rejected and a popla code issued.

    My head says just to pay it but my principles says that I should'nt as I have paid for parking and it was just human error which should not incur a penelty. The problem I have is I don't know what typing error I made and I am a 6 hour drive from the car park so cannot see the signs and how well they are presented. Please can you give me some advice. Thank you

    Only scammers would admit they agreed you paid yet
    still want £20

    Right now POPLA have inherited a scammers mind so they
    will probably not see it your way.

    You face the writing of the appeal, waiting for a response
    and if POPLA agree with the scammer, then you either pay
    the full amount or let it maybe go to court.

    Hate to say this but if this was me, I would pay the £20
    in full and final settlement and that is the end of it
  • I'm sorry for starting new thread but I tried to find the answers faq and couldn't see it.
  • This is very defensible.

    1. You paid;
    2. They checked and know you paid;
    3. The fact they checked means they don't need your reg. to know you paid;
    4. A mere two transposed digits/letters are not such that the vehicle was not identifiable in any event;
    5. There is no financial loss (you paid); and
    6. There is no commercial loss (as a paying parker you did not unreasonably obstruct others parking).

    It's up to you, but it will mean time and effort if they do pursue a technical breach of contract. In time cost, you may consider that it's easier to pay and be done with it.

    Personally I'd probably give them an "exhortation to leave" - see the reply in Arkell v Pressdram.

    The courts will likely be unsympathetic to a claim by a PPC for £200 because of a mere typo. It's not what the courts are for.
  • Redx
    Redx Posts: 38,084 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Alijgibson wrote: »
    I'm sorry for starting new thread but I tried to find the answers faq and couldn't see it.

    its the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread, near the top of this forum

    who is the PPC who sent the pcn ?
  • It's parking eye
  • Coupon-mad
    Coupon-mad Posts: 155,685 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    http://parking-prankster.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/parkingeye-lose-in-court-unsolved.html

    http://parking-prankster.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/excel-ignore-judge-case-struck-out-by.html

    ''Ms X filed a defence on four points

    1. Keeper liability did not apply
    2. The claimant has accepted new terms. By accepting monies when the claimant knew, or could reasonably be expected to know, the registration entered did not belong to a car in the car park, the claimant has by its action accepted by performance a revised contract. This is the car park equivalent of the ‘battle of the forms’ Butler Machine Tool Co Ltd v Ex-Cell-O Corporation (England) Ltd [1979] 1 WLR 401, Court of Appeal
    3. Correctly applying the case law from ParkingEye v Beavis, the charge is a penalty and unfair consumer charge
    4. The additional charges claimed had no basis''



    Having shown you those, they are both court hearings won by consumers, not POPLA stage. Here, where people actually get a claim (and ParkingEye are litigious) we win 99% of cases where posters stick around to get a decent defence and witness statement together.

    But yours is at appeal stage and will be POPLA, and POPLA do not allow appeals based on a typo in the VRN, they think it's tough and the contract was clear. They don't consider fairness.

    By contrast, a court has to consider fairness in a contract and as Johnersh says, this is not. Also, the typo could be due to a machine fault, not fat fingers, or due to the keypad numbers/letters being sun-faded or illegible in the sunlight glare on metal keys which are not set out as a Qwerty keyboard and are consumer-unfriendly.

    So, are you wanting to pay £20 to make it go away (worth considering, I hate to say it) or await the rejection letter and try POPLA based on the templates in post #3 of the NEWBIES thread. We will help and if that fails, then we will also help with resolving the dispute once and for all at a hearing at YOUR local county court, where the above issued would be properly explored if you raised them.
    PRIVATE 'PCN'? DON'T PAY BUT DON'T IGNORE IT (except N.Ireland).
    CLICK at the top or bottom of any page where it says:
    Home»Motoring»Parking Tickets Fines & Parking - read the NEWBIES THREAD
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