Paid Ticket but still got parking charge notice

Loadsofchildren123

OP, I have just read this thread. Please let me introduce myself, and please indulge my little rant. I am a regular contributor to this forum. I have seen off many tickets for posters. I come on here during my working day when I have a spare few minutes, and sometimes in the evening if I am not otherwise engaged. I think I am generally accepted as a valuable contributor as I am a solicitor. I work full time and I am a single parent of 4 with no input from the other parent. I don't say these things to extract any sympathy, but so that you understand how valuable my time is to me.


When I defended my first ticket, I used to post walls of text and, like you, I was asked to separate posts into paragraphs to make my posts easier for people to read. I did what I was asked. The request is not made with the intention of belittling you or criticising your grammar, it's a genuine request aimed at making it easier to help you. Sometimes some of us can be a bit blunt - we just lose a bit of patience every now and again. So I understand that you took offence, but please don't because offence was not intended.


It's just not on, however, to criticise the information and assistance given in the newbies threads. You may well have a point, but there are volunteers on here who have spent many, many hours drafting the newbies information/threads and continue to add to them and amend them. And all the advice and resources are given for free. I haven't read them myself for a long, long time, but I know they are regularly updated. It is difficult to make such a large amount of information more user friendly, particularly because this is all done by volunteers in their spare time.


I will post some suggestions for you in a minute, I just wanted to get this off my chest.

Loadsofchildren123

I later managed to get through to the parking company who confirmed that my car had been parked with the ticket face down and thus I would receive a ticket but not to worry as I could then appeal the process.


I think this is quite important. Rely on it as an acceptance from the PPC that the ticket had been wrongly given.


This photo showed the serial number on the back of the ticket which matches the one on the front of the ticket and thus I was able to prove that a ticket had been bought and was valid at the time and was visible although face down. I had acted in good faith


Again, rely on this. I would say that the reason a serial number is printed on the rear of the ticket is precisely because of the risk that the ticket will flip over, unknown to the driver. The flimsy ticket without a sticky backing is clearly unfit for purpose and the term of the contract that it must be validly displayed (ie face up) has been made impossible to perform (and in council ticket scenarios this argument is accepted as valid), plus you acted in good faith as you say, plus the PPC has suffered no loss.


There are quite a few "fluttering ticket" threads on here, do a forum search. I've just commented on one (you can search my username for recent posts).


If you fight and lose you will NOT end up paying £400+ in court costs. The small claims limits costs to £50 unless there has been unreasonable behaviour by the losing party. What will be claimed will be the initial charge (the undiscounted one) plus they tend to add on £50-odd in undefined "extra charges" plus a small amount of interest, the £25 issue fee, £25 hearing fee and the £50 solicitors fees. The global amount usually claimed is in the region of £250. Your worst case scenario, provide you behave reasonably and comply with the court orders, is that you will lose and have to pay £250. But you have valid defences and if you use this forum correctly and do all your homework you should win.


It does require a lot of work, the more research you do the greater your chances of winning, and it can become quite addictive. Read the Parking Prankster's blog as well as other threads and the newbies info. Keep yourself abreast of developments and when and if the time comes we will help you draft your defence and evidence - the more you help yourself by showing willing to do your own homework, the more you will find that the regular contributors with the greatest knowledge will help you back.

KeithP

OP, you won't like this, as I too am going to suggest you edit your original post.

It is unwise to give any clues as to who was driving.

E.g. the start of your second sentence should be "The driver parked his car in a private car park in Brighton...".
The next sentence should start "What he didn't know is that when he shut his car door...".
Adjust the rest of your post accordingly.

Also, is your forum username your real name?
If so, you would be wise to get MSE to change it to something more anonymous.
To do that, hit the 'report' button on your original post and make your request to the forum team.

Forgive me for mentioning these things but the PPCs do trawl forums looking for ways to trip people up.

nosferatu1001

Given the OP has appealed twice, I would suggest that ship has long sailed.

Karsiyaka_Boy

fisherjim wrote: »

Andrew, what hassle are you expecting apart from a few silly letters did you not look at this:/QUOTE]

Yes, I did see that. However, I wasn't sure whether it is up to date.( I hope that it is)

Karsiyaka_Boy

Loads of Children. Thanks for your post. I did actually edit my post yesterday and hope that it is now considered acceptable.
I wasn't trying to belittle the advice given in the Newbies posting, I was merely trying to say that I had looked at the post but found it very difficult to wade through. It does use a lot of acronyms which mean nothing to the uninitiated.
I appreciate your time is given fro free and am of course most grateful.
I will have a look at the other post that you have recently helped with on a similar subject. I am pleased to hear that the £400 figure is incorrect. Although an additional £250 is still quite a lot to pay on top of the £100.
Your comment that it is a lot of work to get this sorted does somewhat make me wonder if I should perhaps just take it on the chin as I also have a lot of claims on my time as my wife is seriously ill and needs my full time support as well as a couple of days each week away from home on the babysitting front.

Redx

the acronyms are explained in post #9 (yes it needs crabman to tidy it up but his pm box is full)

there are several reasons why walls of text are frowned upon

1) because some people use mobile smart phones to read the posts

2) because some people use Tablets and Ipads to read the posts

3) because it can be difficult to keep track of the sentences on a laptop

4) because some forum users (like myself) have disabilities including dyslexia and word blindness and splitting it into easy to read paragraphs means people are more likely to read and respond

5) its easier to quote sections when they are in paragraphs in any replies

6) it shows respect for other forum users who are expected to read , digest and reply (free of charge I might add)

yes that NEWBIES thread needs tidying and no coupon-mad is not perfect (although we may think so) and yes it may be better if it was structured differently

so nobody here would object to anyone that wishes to put a few days effort into helping make suggestions on rewriting it

if the NEWBIES thread was absent then I believe that 99% of people would find it even more difficult to get the advice they need so at the moment its the best free advice in the whole of the UK, contained in about 5 posts , which are separated according to the procedures and the advice being given

at no time were my comments personal, EVERYONE that creates walls of text (even solicitors , lol) are told to edit their posts , remove certain details from those posts and generally to learn to write in a manner that wont hinder themselves in court (yes it has happened and does still happen - walls have ears and the enemy IS listening)

my take on it is that if you cannot stand the mild criticism so far, you wont like the major criticism given when your posts are about the court case , where a judge is going to read your writings and statements

parking companies and their legal representatives are shysters and bullies and that is why we give our advice and time free of charge , but only to their victims and only to those who will accept all that is offered , including criticism

ps:- I can assure you that this is the first of many , because these PPC companies are infesting too many of the places we visit , including supermarkets , hospitals, retail parks , doctors and vet surgeries , health clinics , major attractions , airports , railway stations , tram stations and ports etc

so I would suggest you and your family acquaint yourselves with the advice and be careful when you park on private property from now on , studying the signage very , very carefully and following the onsite rules to the letter

Coupon-mad

The acronyms used to be explained in a higher post but some aggressive saboteur wrecked the NEWBIES thread a couple of months ago, such that posts were lost and had to be re-arranged and reinserted wherever I could.

Idiots - small minded sad gits, sabotaging the NEWBIES thread. It may or may not have been a BPA or IPC member who is upset at the success of this forum.

The BMPA advice is up to date, and some of us here do know who keeps it on track (not me, but I'm a founder member of the BMPA and in touch with the person who does maintain the data & advice there).

Seriously, you don't need to worry.

Karsiyaka_Boy

Thank you RedX for your posting. I think that we just got off on the wrong foot and perhaps I reacted a bit strong to your initial post(s) I am not normally given to over reaction but I guess that I was just so flipping annoyed about my appeal being rejected. Please accept my apologies if I caused offence.

I am not too worried about court appearances as I have made numerous court appearances in a previous life (never as a defendant )

However, I have just had a look through another posting with regard to a fluttering ticket and am concerned about the amount of time that I may have to invest in defending a £100 ticket. Is there some form of template that can be used should I ever have cause to respond to a court case?

Redx

its all changing on 01 oct 2017 so even is there were any templates they would be out of date and they need rewriting (as discussed in other recent threads on here and on pepipoo)

each court case is bespoke anyway, so any general templates may not be good enough , although any reaction letters like a defence can use previous cases as a basis for your own unique defence and witness statements etc

so no , not really as each case could be unique and usually is

post #2 of that NEWBIES sticky thread is up to date and updated regularly, with examples of defences and witness statements and links to suitable threads from this year (usually as anything older may be out of date)

perhaps read the lamilad threads about his court cases, plus anything posted by johnnersh , bargepole and loadsofchildren123