Private Parking Ticket - Apple Pay failed, paid flat 24 hour rate regardless, still being fined

tcon111

Hey, first time posting here so apologies if any issues.

I parked at a friend's house on New Year's Eve - his estate's car park is controlled by C*pital C*r P*rk C*ontrol. Went to pay, didn't clock that my Apple Pay / Face ID failed. When I noticed around an hour later, I went straight out and paid the flat £2 fee for a 24 hour stay.

As I went over the 20 minute grace period, I (as predicted), got a letter through the door issuing me with a £60 / £100 charge. I appealed, explained the situation, and this appeal has now been rejected (their wording below).

Is there anything I can do about this? I paid the flat £2 rate, and was there for under 24 hours - admittedly, for 50 minutes I wasn't 'registered' in the car park, but it was technical/human error, and they're not out of pocket for the fees I would've paid regardless.

First time appealing anything like this, so would appreciate any advice. Thanks.

***

Thank you for your appeal received on 13/01/2025 regarding the above Parking Charge Notice.

We have reviewed the case and considered the comments that you have made.

Having reviewed the appeal and evidence submitted in which it states " Hi, I parked here while visiting friends for New Year's Eve. I parked up and tried to make payment using the JustPark app and Apple Pay, but the payment did not go through due to a glitch with the phone. When I realised this error had occurred after I checked my banking app an hour later, I went straight back out to the car and paid the £2 flat rate for a 24 hour stay (JustPark booking ref #82073233). You can find the proof of payment and booking details from the JustPark app attached below. As my stay was well under 24 hours, even including the hour in which I did not realise my initial payment had gone through, I would appreciate if this charge could be waived ".

Thank you for your appeal. While we understand that technical issues with your phone may have prevented the initial payment from going through, unfortunately, we cannot take personal circumstances such as these into consideration when reviewing PCN appeals. We also noted that no evidence has been submitted to confirm any payment issues during the attempted transaction, so we are unable to take that into account.

From our records and your evidence, we can see that a JustPark payment was successfully made at 19:50 on the 31st December 2024, but the vehicle entered the car park at 18:40, as you acknowledged in your appeal. Please note that time is not transferable, meaning that the period before payment was made must be considered. While you did indeed pay for a 24 hour stay, the parking session did not cover the time your vehicle was in the car park prior to the successful payment. Therefore, the PCN stands, as the vehicle was parked without valid payment for that initial period.

To reaffirm, the parking requirements stipulate that a payment for parking is required, for the duration of your stay. The car park signs provide you a (20) minutes grace period to either pay for the parking duration or leave the car park in the case that you cannot comply with its terms.

Although you describe particular reasons for not making a payment for the duration of your stay, you may appreciate that the terms and conditions are clearly displayed around the car park area, giving transparency for all users of the parking area.

It is your responsibility to ensure before leaving the vehicle, basic checks are carried out and the parking requirements are checked in order to avoid enforcement action being taken in the first instance. When parking on the property, you contractually agree with the terms and conditions and by parking and staying on the property, you also agree that non-compliance will result in a parking charge being issued and a fee becoming payable.

This appeal therefore has been considered in conjunction with the date and time stamped photographic evidence gathered at the time of the parking event and our records show that the Parking Charge Notice was correctly issued as your vehicle was parked in breach of the displayed Terms and Conditions of Parking and therefore must decline your appeal.

In addition, please visit ******* and insert your registration number and Parking Charge Notice number to view the photographic evidence which supports our decision and are sure will reassure you in this regard.

We have provided you the necessary provisions to avoid you receiving any of the displayed charges, therefore falls into your responsibility to ensure you park your vehicle while following the displayed parking requirements and suggest not to park on the premises to avoid receiving a Parking Charge Notice.

Please now make payment of £60 to reach us by 06/03/2025 or £100 to reach us by 07/03/2025 for Parking Charge number ******. We must advise you that once the discounted settlement rate passes it will not be offered again.

Alternatively you can make an appeal to POPLA, The Independent Appeals Service (within 28 days from above date) by making your appeal online at www.popla.org.uk.

Please be advised that if you opt for independent arbitration of your case, the ability to pay the parking charge at the reduced rate of £60.00 will be at end.

If you opt to pay the parking charge you will be unable to appeal to POPLA. If you choose to do nothing, we will seek to recover the monies owed to us via our debt recovery procedures and may proceed with Court action against you which may include additional costs.

By law we are also required to inform you that Ombudsman Services www.ombudsman-services.org provides an alternative dispute resolution service that would be competent to deal with your appeal. However, we have not chosen to participate in their alternative dispute resolution service. As such should you wish to appeal then

you must do so to POPLA, as detailed above.

We are therefore unable to cancel the Parking Charge Notice as it was issued correctly. We have now extended the discounted payment period by 35 days to allow you time to pay the discounted settlement amount.

fisherjim

You are dealing with scammers no appeal would work they only want their bunce, private parking companies like these dilweeds offer their services free for the rake off they make in parking charges when people make mistakes it's the only way they make their profit, there is no profit in allowing appeals.

You paid the fee nothing was lost to the landowner, or who ever appointed these idiots, who you should make a complaint to that their contractor is trying to charge you a ridiculous add on fee for nothing, that's plan A.

Don't consider paying the parking firm let them carry on their silly game if they want, if they issue court papers that's where a judge would decide under contract law if they had a case, if it got that far.

Coupon-mad

Ignore that.  They'd never win in court.

You paid for your time. There should be no possibility of PCN issuance if the motorist pays during the time car is parked (or retrospectively at sites where that is offered for a limited time after leaving).

Coupon-mad

tcon111 said:

Hey, first time posting here so apologies if any issues.

I parked at a friend's house on New Year's Eve - his estate's car park is controlled by C*pital C*r P*rk C*ontrol. Went to pay, didn't clock that my Apple Pay / Face ID failed. When I noticed around an hour later, I went straight out and paid the flat £2 fee for a 24 hour stay.

As I went over the 20 minute grace period, I (as predicted), got a letter through the door issuing me with a £60 / £100 charge. I appealed, explained the situation, and this appeal has now been rejected (their wording below).

Is there anything I can do about this? I paid the flat £2 rate, and was there for under 24 hours - admittedly, for 50 minutes I wasn't 'registered' in the car park, but it was technical/human error, and they're not out of pocket for the fees I would've paid regardless.

First time appealing anything like this, so would appreciate any advice. Thanks.

***

Thank you for your appeal received on 13/01/2025 regarding the above Parking Charge Notice.

We have reviewed the case and considered the comments that you have made.

Having reviewed the appeal and evidence submitted in which it states " Hi, I parked here while visiting friends for New Year's Eve. I parked up and tried to make payment using the JustPark app and Apple Pay, but the payment did not go through due to a glitch with the phone. When I realised this error had occurred after I checked my banking app an hour later, I went straight back out to the car and paid the £2 flat rate for a 24 hour stay (JustPark booking ref #82073233). You can find the proof of payment and booking details from the JustPark app attached below. As my stay was well under 24 hours, even including the hour in which I did not realise my initial payment had gone through, I would appreciate if this charge could be waived ".

Thank you for your appeal. While we understand that technical issues with your phone may have prevented the initial payment from going through, unfortunately, we cannot take personal circumstances such as these into consideration when reviewing PCN appeals. We also noted that no evidence has been submitted to confirm any payment issues during the attempted transaction, so we are unable to take that into account.

From our records and your evidence, we can see that a JustPark payment was successfully made at 19:50 on the 31st December 2024, but the vehicle entered the car park at 18:40, as you acknowledged in your appeal. Please note that time is not transferable, meaning that the period before payment was made must be considered. While you did indeed pay for a 24 hour stay, the parking session did not cover the time your vehicle was in the car park prior to the successful payment. Therefore, the PCN stands, as the vehicle was parked without valid payment for that initial period.

To reaffirm, the parking requirements stipulate that a payment for parking is required, for the duration of your stay. The car park signs provide you a (20) minutes grace period to either pay for the parking duration or leave the car park in the case that you cannot comply with its terms.

Although you describe particular reasons for not making a payment for the duration of your stay, you may appreciate that the terms and conditions are clearly displayed around the car park area, giving transparency for all users of the parking area.

It is your responsibility to ensure before leaving the vehicle, basic checks are carried out and the parking requirements are checked in order to avoid enforcement action being taken in the first instance. When parking on the property, you contractually agree with the terms and conditions and by parking and staying on the property, you also agree that non-compliance will result in a parking charge being issued and a fee becoming payable.

This appeal therefore has been considered in conjunction with the date and time stamped photographic evidence gathered at the time of the parking event and our records show that the Parking Charge Notice was correctly issued as your vehicle was parked in breach of the displayed Terms and Conditions of Parking and therefore must decline your appeal.

In addition, please visit ******* and insert your registration number and Parking Charge Notice number to view the photographic evidence which supports our decision and are sure will reassure you in this regard.

We have provided you the necessary provisions to avoid you receiving any of the displayed charges, therefore falls into your responsibility to ensure you park your vehicle while following the displayed parking requirements and suggest not to park on the premises to avoid receiving a Parking Charge Notice.

Please now make payment of £60 to reach us by 06/03/2025 or £100 to reach us by 07/03/2025 for Parking Charge number ******. We must advise you that once the discounted settlement rate passes it will not be offered again.

Alternatively you can make an appeal to POPLA, The Independent Appeals Service (within 28 days from above date) by making your appeal online at www.popla.org.uk.

Please be advised that if you opt for independent arbitration of your case, the ability to pay the parking charge at the reduced rate of £60.00 will be at end.

If you opt to pay the parking charge you will be unable to appeal to POPLA. If you choose to do nothing, we will seek to recover the monies owed to us via our debt recovery procedures and may proceed with Court action against you which may include additional costs.

By law we are also required to inform you that Ombudsman Services www.ombudsman-services.org provides an alternative dispute resolution service that would be competent to deal with your appeal. However, we have not chosen to participate in their alternative dispute resolution service. As such should you wish to appeal then

you must do so to POPLA, as detailed above.

We are therefore unable to cancel the Parking Charge Notice as it was issued correctly. We have now extended the discounted payment period by 35 days to allow you time to pay the discounted settlement amount.

Hope you didn't pay this?

The '5 minute rule' (paying too late) was officially banned last month:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6586172/news-on-the-5-minute-rule

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2025/02/private-parking-charges-five-minute-rule/