NCP Ticketless parking problem.

geoblackpool

Hi I'm new to this forum but have searched for anything relevant to my situation, without success.
I parked in an NCP car park in Liverpool, and opted to pay online, unfortunately I forgot to pay and missed the 24 hour deadline.
I did email NCP and request a way to pay the charge as it was an honest mistake by me.
NCP replied that it was too late and a PCN has been issued.
As far as I can see the PCN is an invoice and most companies offer 30 day payment for these.
Would it be a defence to say that NCP is wrong to only give a 24 hour period to pay?
It seems unreasonable not to give a longer period to pay .
Thanks in advance

KeithP

Yes, a PCN is an invoice and most parking companies allow the victim twenty-eight days to pay the charge - beit £80 or £100. They even offer an incentive for early payment. So much like any other invoice.

You now need to be reading the first post of the NEWBIES thread to understand how to challenge this.

Redx

Non payment is non payment , unless it's advertised that way on the signs

It may seem reasonable to offer a grace period to pay the parking fee , but it's not mandatory

If a PCN has been issued , the payment fee grace period has expired

D_P_Dance

Despite what Red says, imo they would be likely to struggle to win this in court. Have you complained to your MP.  

Umkomaas

D_P_Dance said:

Despite what Red says, imo they would be likely to struggle to win this in court. Have you complained to your MP.  

Do you mean that 'bilking' the on-the-day parking charge is likely to be overlooked by a Judge?  A bilker is one of the kind of parkers you always seem to be critical of. 

Redx

I don't see anything wrong with what I said

If you buy something from a seller and your payment fails but you received the service , the seller has the right to pursue the buyer

If the buyer used a credit card that was revoked or PayPal and the payment fails , it's not the fault of the seller

I believe a judge would come to the conclusion that the buyer is at fault for not ensuring payment was successful by the 3rd party payment method

If you are given a grace period to pay the fee , no problem , but it has to be a part of the contract you entered into , the sign forms the contract

So if you try to pay promptly , it's a goodwill gesture if they allow it , otherwise it's bilking

Coupon-mad

geoblackpool said:

Hi I'm new to this forum but have searched for anything relevant to my situation, without success.
I parked in an NCP car park in Liverpool, and opted to pay online, unfortunately I forgot to pay and missed the 24 hour deadline.
I did email NCP and request a way to pay the charge as it was an honest mistake by me.
NCP replied that it was too late and a PCN has been issued.
As far as I can see the PCN is an invoice and most companies offer 30 day payment for these.
Would it be a defence to say that NCP is wrong to only give a 24 hour period to pay?

No, that's not a defence.  You will lose this at POPLA and NCP sometimes sue. 

I can't see a defence because you've also told them who was driving, in your email.  We take it you didn't come here first because no-one would have told you to email and blab about being the driver and offering to pay the tariff late (which you can't).

geoblackpool

Thank you for all the replies.
I didn't think of researching  before sending my email to NCP, simply because I thought admitting a mistake, an honest one, (I had no intention of trying to avoid the charge). and offering to pay seemed a reasonable thing to do. I suppose I was thinking that NCP would have a mechanism to allow late payment (only 24 hours over the time limit), but i guess these companies aren't in the business of being reasonable.
I think I will just pay the fine and pay on exit in future!
Thanks again to everyone who found time time to post.

D_P_Dance

Do you mean that 'bilking' the on-the-day parking charge is likely to be overlooked by a Judge? 

iT IS CERTAINLY POSSIBLE.   Ae must not also not overlook unfair T&C, contracts in wrong names, expired contracts, dishonesty  by the PPC, .documentation served out of time etc.  In this case I would not say that OP bilked, simply that he/she forgot to pay.

MistyZ

I agree with you D_P_Dance.

One of the issues with parking is that there are so many different payment methods, it's confusing.  That's one of the many reasons why very clear signage is vital.  

The OP may not have a very strong case, but only they can reflect on the genuine reasons for forgetting to pay and if, on reflection, signage failed to prompt compliance then perhaps they should persevere.  

OP, if you can get back to that car park or view it clearly on Google Street View, try to take an objective look at the set-up and signage, that may help you to decide. 

Umkomaas

In this case I would not say that OP bilked, simply that he/she forgot to pay.

I'll try that with my next Tesco trolley load - sorry officer, I simply forgot to pay.