Britannia Parking Ticket

Vespatarian

Hi, new to this forum and forums in general so please be gentle..
I received a ticket through the post last week., the one with a picture of my Reg etc.
I had a half hour free ticket already in my window and went back after the free half hour to buy a ticket. The machine wouldn't take my card but gave me another half hour free.
I thought nothing of it and put it on my windscreen. Two weeks later I received my invoice. What is the best way to solve this.
I've read lots of your advice on here but not sure which way to go about it.
. Many thanks.

[Deleted User]

Others will advise on the appeals process. For now, if possible, you could do worse than to return to the site and take photographs of the signs. Those are the contract terms on which any later proceedings are likely to turn.

Fruitcake

Edit your post to remove information about who did what. Only ever refer to The Driver and The Keeper, who are two different people.

Then, read the Sticky thread for NEWBIES and send the template appeal letter from The Keeper to Britannia that you will find there.

Please also complain to your MP and Sir Greg Knight MP about this unregulated scam.

These are some of the comments made by the MPs in Parliament concerning the unregulated parking industry (Feb 2018):

https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2018-02-02/debates/CC84AF5E-AC6E-4E14-81B1-066E6A892807/Parking(CodeOfPractice)Bill

''Rip-offs from car park Cowboys must stop''; unfair treatment; signage deliberately confusing to ensure a PCN is issued; ''years of abuse by rogue parking companies''; bloodsuckers; ''the current system of regulation is hopeless, like putting Dracula in charge of the blood-bank''; extortionate fines; rogue operators; ''sense of injustice''; unfair charges and notices; wilfully misleading; signage is a deliberate act to deceive or mislead; ''confusing signs are often deliberate, to trap innocent drivers''; unreasonable; a curse; harassing; operating in a disgusting way; appeals service is no guarantee of a fair hearing; loathed; outrageous scam; dodgy practice; outrageous abuse; unscrupulous practices; ''the British Parking Association is as much use as a multi-storey car park in the Gobi desert''; and finally, by way of unanimous conclusion: ''we need to crack down on these rogue companies. They are an absolute disgrace to this country. Ordinary motorists and ordinary residents should not have to put up with this''.

These are the exact words used, so you should quote them to your MP in a complaint and ask him/her to contact Sir Greg Knight MP if he wants further information about this scam.

waamo

Brittania are usually easy to beat. At the top of this board is a post that tells Newbies to read it first. Post 1 of that thread has a template to use.

Brittania will often fold as soon as they see the template.

Vespatarian

So I shouldn't try to explain what happened? Just use the template provided?
Any reason to not just ignore the letters being sent?

Umkomaas

Any reason to not just ignore the letters being sent?

Because you then won't get the opportunity to appeal to POPLA where the charge can be killed off - dead!

As Britannia have 6 years to pursue you through the courts, unless you kill this now, you have 6 years of uncertainty ahead of you. No one can second-guess what Britannia might do that far in advance. It becomes more complicated and potentially dangerous if you change address in that period too.

waamo

Nearly half the posts on this board are from people who have ignored everything then end up having to defend a court claim.

Cutting and pasting a template is a whole lot easier than defending a court claim.

The_Deep

This is an entirely unregulated industry which is scamming the public with inflated claims for minor breaches of contracts for alleged parking offences, aided and abetted by a handful of low-rent solicitors.

Parking Eye, CPM, Smart, and another company have already been named and shamed, as has Gladstones Solicitors, and BW Legal, (these two law firms take hundreds of these cases to court each year). They lose most of them, and have been reported to the regulatory authority by an M.P. for unprofessional conduct

Hospital car parks and residential complex tickets have been especially mentioned.

The problem has become so rampant that MPs have agreed to enact a Bill to regulate these scammers. Watch the video of the Second Reading in the HofC recently.

http://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/2f0384f2-eba5-4fff-ab07-cf24b6a22918?in=12:49:41

and complain in the most robust terms to your MP. With a fair wind they will be out of business by Christmas.

Vespatarian

OK, will use the template provided.
Thanks for all advice given and will keep you updated.

Vespatarian

I've totally forgotten about this ticket and I'm over the 28 days given to appeal.
What can I do now?

fisherjim

See post 6.