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Parking In Shopping Centre. How Do I Fight £75 Fine

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cakelady | 00:12 Wed 20th Mar 2013 | Civil
15 Answers
I spent 4 hours 23 mins in a shopping centre by browsing, shopping and dining in Feb on a saturday.
Today I received a fine am told in tiny figures the fine is £75, £50 if I pay in 14 days, £125 if over 28days.
What happens if I dont pay? its a private firm employed by the centre.

Its a shopping centre, with loads of shops and cafes and a couple of larger eat in establishments. You could spend all day there.

surely they are trying to catch people parking for free then going elsewhere to shop or work.
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Read this link , what you have is the 2nd type A Parking CHARGE Notice not a PENALTY Charge notice. http://www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog/consumer_advice/parking_ticket_advice.shtml
00:24 Wed 20th Mar 2013
What are you being fined for?
are there any notices up in the car park stating the hours of free parking?
And are these signs obvious!
It is NOT a fine .
It is an invoice for parking charges made to look like a fine. The advice is just ignore it, they will send nasty letters but just bin them , they will not take you to court ( though in theory they could) .
There have been lots of questions on this recently on AB , but the advice is just bin the letters without even reading them.
Read this link , what you have is the 2nd type A Parking CHARGE Notice not a PENALTY Charge notice.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog/consumer_advice/parking_ticket_advice.shtml
Question Author
to Gavmacp and Baza, i was fined for staying over 4 hours. there are signs and when i went back to check I saw several. I have shopped there for about 30 years and never gave a thought to how long I spent there. the signs must be fairly recent. i dont see how its logical marketing to restrict shoppers.
Eddie51 your information is very useful and I am inclined to act on it. I am 67 and i feel bullied and threatened. Many thanks
if shops used 'pay as you go' as done at some hospitals,min. charge then so much extra after an hour or what ever
Question Author
Petal54
the parking is free
the signs are on poles dotted about in the parking area among the cars. smallish, and well above head height (certainly mine, at 5ft 2). I was shopping, browsing, then l had a late lunch before going home. In 30 years I have never felt I had to watch the clock. I spend a fortune there for food and presents.
Yes just bin them. I got 2 of these a while back , they sent letters that got more and more threatening but they just went in the bin. After a week or two they stopped and I have heard no more .
Another good trick is to post them an envelope full of junk like old fag ends , write on the envelope 'Important, Payment is enclosed' but, and this is the crucial bit DO NOT PUT A STAMP ON IT.
The postie will take them the letter but say he can't hand it over until the non payment charge is paid, £2 plus the normal postage. They will look at it see the 'Payment inside' and hand over the cash hoping to get £50 and end up with a load of smelly fag ends. Even better get a few of your friends to do the same as well. Obviously you don't put a name or address on it.
You have to beat these barstewards at their own game.
EDDIE I like it.
Whilst that may happen I'm sure they are wise to it and will refuse delivery. Royal Mail will then bin the letter.
the postman will put a card through informing them of a letter requiring postage ... they will not take the letter to their front door and refuse to hand it over ... they will not see the envelope until they go to the sorting office.
Have a look here http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?s=b7495c61550db659955cdea581f0771b&showforum=60

Do not throw the letters away. Keep them safe in a drawer in case things escalate, you may need them as evidence.
Most of the advice given is correct though I could not advocate taking some of the action suggested.
If the parking notice was issued by a private company and not a local authority the theory is that the driver of the vehicle, provided there are signs as to the maximum parking period, has entered into a contract and the driver has breached the contract, however the remedy for breach of contract is first court and, if successful, damages. It is very unlikely the parking company will take you to court.

If you received the notice as the registered keeper of the vehicle the parking company may ask you who was the driver of the vehicle, you are under no obligation to provide this information, if you refuse they may talk about a Norwich Pharmacal order, to force you to provide details of the driver (the origin of this case in 1974 has nothing to do with parking ), I have dealt with a number of these cases and have never known the parking company obtain this order as they must first go to court which they are unlikely to do. Remind the company of section 40 of The Administration of justice act 1970, which may make it an offence, under certain circumstances, to coerce payment by using means which may cause harm or distress.
I received one of these recently and the time that the parking misdemeanor actually happend to receiving the penalty notice in the post was 16 days.
I have read on a useful site that if you receive notice of a parking fine in the post ( anpr was used in the carpark, so no notice was stuck on the windscreen) then you need to have received the postal notice within 14 days.
The site I was looking at was quoting the freedom of information act with regard to time limits for serving notice to the keeper, however it was a bit confusing.
Anyone help out here?

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