Will I be hit with a double parking tickets?

sam1970

Last night I took my teenage son to a session in local Ice rink where he was meeting few of his friends. We have never been to this place before. I drove into the car park at about 8 pm and it was very dark. I dropped him off at the entrance and I drove off so I was in the car park for less than two minutes. When I went to pick him up at 10 pm, I sat in the car for about 20 minutes waiting for him and again the car park was very poorly lit. I saw a pay metre but did not think much of it as I thought that at this late time there will be no charge. Few minutes later I saw someone paying at the metre (clearly he was a regular as he has all is gear for skating on him) so I went to investigate and was horrified to find that charges apply 24/7 and that the car park is monitored by cameras at entrance and exit. The charge was not much (£1 for 3 hours) but the sign on the metre states that payment  should be made within 3 minutes of entering the car park. The fine was £100.
I had to use my mobile phone light to read the sign. Straightaway I paid a £1 into the machine (20 minutes after being the car park) but due to poor lighting, I entered the car reg. number incorrectly (Still using my phone light) so I paid again with the correct details. I ended paying for two tickets, for the same period (3 hours) although I left the car park immediately as my son came out (total stay 25 minutes). 
Should I be worried that I might receive two fines for £100 each for the two episodes? It will be really unfair.

Redx

It may well be unfair , but yes I think that one or possibly two PCN,s will arrive in the post

Which parking company ??

Le_Kirk

Was it ANPR cameras guarding the car park?  If so, you might be a victim of the so-called "double dip" phenomenon where the first entry and second exit are seen as one visit and receive a PCN for overstay or no ticket purchased.  Given that you say you had to enter your VRM, it seems like ANPR.  If you do receive the PCN (or you could do it now) read the NEWBIE sticky so you are prepared and ready to appeal.  When the appeal is rejected (normally is) then you go to POPLA (if it is a BPA operator) and you use badly lit signage as one of your points.

sam1970

Thank you guys. So at worst I will get two tickets for £200 total, and at best I should be happy to receive one penalty for a £100!. What about the two tickets I paid on the second visit? Will they help my case?

Redx

There is no penalty , no fine , just one or two parking charge notices if it's a private company

Only a judge can decide in court if the payments made were sufficient

We answered your questions , you didn't answer our questions , this isn't a one way street !!!

Name of the parking company ?? Again !!!

Also , which nation ?

sam1970

It is called Premier park and it has awful reviews on google. Iam in England.
On another note, I spoke to some of the parents of my son's friends and none of them was aware that they needed to pay for a drop off or a pick up especially at that time of night. They were upset about it. I guess the parking company is in for a feast as with nearly 8 of us, ticketed for two visits each, they will be having a laugh. 

Redx

There are 3 similar sounding parking companies with that name , so which address are they at ?

Le_Kirk

If you do receive a PCN and having read the NEWBIE sticky you will know that Plan A is a complaint to the Ice Rink.

sam1970

http://www.premierpark.co.uk/

D_P_Dance

If the sign was unlit It would be difficult for them to claim that it was readable. 

This neither a penalty nor a fine.  It is a claim for damages fo an alleged breach of a contract, a civil matter.  It is only payable if a judge so orders.  As Nine times out of ten these tickets are scams, consider complaining to your MP, sometimes it can lead to cancellation., 

Parliament is well aware of the MO of these private parking companies, many of whom are former clampers, and on 15th March 2019 a Bill was enacted to curb the excesses of these shysters. Codes of Practice are being drawn up, and darfts have beenopened for publc consulatation,

Just as the clampers were finally closed down, so hopefully will many of these companies, persistent offenders denied access to the DVLA database and unable to operate.

Hopefully life will become impossible for the worst of these scammers, under new legislation but until this is done you should still complain to your MP, citing the new legislation.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2019/8/contents/

Please also read these and have your say

https://standardsdevelopment.bsigroup.com/projects/2020-00193#/section

You do not need to register to comment on the enforcement framework which can be found here. It has a link on page 5 to make comments.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/913272/Code_Enforcement_Framework_consultation.pdfal

sam1970

Reading some of the shocking reviews of this company, apparently many victims never received the original PCN and the first time they heard about it is when they received a debt recovery letter. What a scam?