Should I pay this fine or not ?

spudmk

I have read the newbie posts but still unsure of whether I should be posting this or not. I could not find any similar posts so here goes ..

This post may be somewhat unusual in that I am not disputing the cause of the parking fine itself. My wife and I did park in the (name withheld) car park for a period exceeding the three-hour time limit.

My annoyance comes from the refusal of the PPC to entertain our mitigating circumstances.

The reason that we visited the retail park in question was to buy a new bed. Sadly my wife has terminal cancer and was spending increasing amounts of time in bed and so the need to get a new one was essential.

We parked in a disabled bay (she has a disabled badge) and then spent the couple of hours or so looking at beds. This process was very slow due my wife's inability to be able to move around quickly. She became tired and so we drove to a restaurant on another part of the carpark for her to recuperate. After eating we returned to the bed shop to purchase a bed.

We stayed in the car park for around four hours, well over the three-hour limit. We were not aware of the limit to our stay but not sure if this would constitute a reasonable defence since I believe that the signs are well marked.

In due course we received a fine notification letter that was addressed to my wife, as the registered keeper of the car.

I naively appealed the fine to the PPC using their online facility, but received an email several weeks letter to indicate that they did not feel that my wife's condition was sufficient as a mitigating circumstance.

So my questions are :-

1. Would my wife's condition be likely to be deemed a mitigating circumstance by a court ?
2. Sadly my wife has been told that it is very unlikely that she will live beyond the end of the year. Would any fine be cancelled in the instance of the registered keeper passing away ?
3. If the car was sold would the new owner be liable in any way ? Could this cause any complications when trying to sell the car ?
4. Would I be better off writing to the Retail Park/council in which the car park is, in order to ask them to intervene ?
5. Should I just pay the fine and forget about it.

I am aware that some may wonder why I am bothering to spend time disputing a parking fine whilst my wife is dying, but I was very angered at the attitude and insensitivity of the PPC.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

MistyZ

Just how low can the parking companies get? This is an appalling tale but sadly it doesn't surprise me.

It would seem that mitigating circumstances are never taken into consideration in appeals to these companies, no matter how compelling.

Which PPC was this? There's no harm in revealing that here, nor in revealing the name of the retail park.

I'm not the best qualified to answer all your questions, but I would be very surprised if a complaint / request to cancel the PCN was not successful. Think about it, would a retail park want such outrageous callousness aired in the local papers? You need to find out who owns or manages the car park and to email them. Lay it all on the line and send it ASAP.

Incidentally this is not a fine, it's a charge. And as you know, nobody in that car did anything wrong whatsoever. I admire your fighting spirit, very best wishes to you and your wife.

Fruitcake

It is not a fine, it is an invoice.

Whilst the blue badge scheme does not apply on private and, the fact that it was displayed tells the PPC that an occupant of the car has protected characteristics in accordance with the EA 2010, and must therefore be allowed certain concessions by law.
Needing extra time is therefore quite reasonable.

As above, complain like mad to the retail outlet you visited.

Complain to your local MP about this outrageous scam using the info from post 1 of the NEWBIES.

Contact local and national press, possibly even local radio or TV.

For us to help you further, we really do need to know the name of the PPC.

Fruitcake

MistyZ wrote: »

Just how low can the parking companies get? This is an appalling tale but sadly it doesn't surprise me.

It would seem that mitigating circumstances are never taken into consideration in appeals to these companies, no matter how compelling.

Which PPC was this? There's no harm in revealing that here, nor in revealing the name of the retail park.

I'm not the best qualified to answer all your questions, but I would be very surprised if a complaint / request to cancel the PCN was not successful. Think about it, would a retail park want such outrageous callousness aired in the local papers? You need to find out who owns or manages the car park and to email them. Lay it all on the line and send it ASAP.

Incidentally this is not a fine, it's a charge. And as you know, nobody in that car did anything wrong whatsoever. I admire your fighting spirit, very best wishes to you and your wife.

Whilst you are a relative newcomer to fighting this scam, you are already a valuable contributor to this site. Please keep it up. We need more people like you.

Quentin

1) Possibly
2) It's not a "fine", but an invoice - if ordered to pay then it would have to be (like any other debt owed)
3) No
4) Yes
5) No

Fruitcake

So my questions are :-

1. Would my wife's condition be likely to be deemed a mitigating circumstance by a court ?


Yes, very much so. The Equality Act 2010 would cover this.

2. Sadly my wife has been told that it is very unlikely that she will live beyond the end of the year. Would any fine be cancelled in the instance of the registered keeper passing away ?

Not if she passes before a court case, the alleged debt cannot be transferred.

3. If the car was sold would the new owner be liable in any way ? Could this cause any complications when trying to sell the car ?

No.

4. Would I be better off writing to the Retail Park/council in which the car park is, in order to ask them to intervene ?

Retail manager (not customer services). It's unlikely to be a council car park, but it does sometimes happen that they get a PPC to mis-manage it, but different regulations apply which would be to your advantage.

5. Should I just pay the fine and forget about it.

Absolutely not. It is a scam and you owe nothing. We will help you with this.

The_Deep

The Daily Msil would love this, they are hot on the heels of these scammers.

It is not a fine, it is an invoice for an alleged breach of contract for alleged damages they allege you caused them by behaving so unsportingly.

They will ignore mitigating circumstance, but a judge certainly will not, so you encourage them to take you to court where a judge may well give them a very bloody nose, he/she might salso award you damages for their unreasonable behaviour.

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

Parking Eye, CPM, Smart, and others have already been named and shamed in the House of Commons as have Gladstones Solicitors, and BW Legal, (these two law firms take hundreds of these cases to court each week, hospital car parks and residential complex tickets have been especially mentioned. They lose most of them, and have been reported to the regulatory authority by an M.P. for unprofessional conduct

The problem has become so widespread that MPs have agreed to enact a Bill to regulate these scammers. It has even been suggested that some of these companies have links with organised crime.

Watch the video of the Second Reading and committee stage in the House of Commons recently. MPs have a very low opinion of this industry.

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

https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2018-07-19/debates/2b90805c-bff8-4707-8bdc-b0bfae5a7ad5/Parking(CodeOfPractice)Bill(FirstSitting)

and complain in the most robust terms to your MP. With a fair wind they will be out of business by in the not too distant future.

spudmk

Thank you everyone for your quick replies and messages of support.

The PPC is Euro Car parks and the car park in question was Roaring Meg Retail Park in Stevenage.

I just rang the company responsible for running the retail park, Workman, and the response was quite apologetic and I am hopeful that the matter will be resolved without any further action being required.

I did make the point that I would be contacting the local press etc if the matter was not resolved to my satisfaction.

The_Deep

I suspect if/when they read this, they will drop the charge like a hot brick.

spudmk

As predicted by several the charge has been dropped. Thanks again to everyone for their assistance and support!

Quentin

Good news


You do need to get this confirmed in writing by the PPC


So don't miss any appeal deadlines if that is not forthcoming