General topics » Take care when parking in Out of Town Shopping Areas

B2F1AF05-F6A8-44A4-B1E2-7B8EFB7B6CCD.jpeg - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)I dropped into Broughton Park yesterday to nip into the EE shop for a minute and I purposely packed in a small hatched area as I didn’t want to take up a whole parking space and risk being moaned at by a car driver and also bikes are quite vulnerable in big car spaces as people can’t always see them when backing in to them, so I thought I was trying to be considerate
When I was in the shop my wife told me that 5 mins after I left the bike a parking office dashed over and slapped a parking ticket in the bike - when she tried to remonstrate with him with regards to the reasons above we had parked there but he wasn’t having any of it - £100 - £60 if paid early

Is this a fixed penalty or a Parking Charge?
Was this a public road or a private car park?
Looks like the latter to me which is nothing more than an invoice demanding payment.

It’s a private shopping park
I just don’t know what happens if you don’t pay, I don’t know if they can take you to court or something like that

You have three choices-
1. Pay up - they go away happy.
2. Appeal through their system. Then either pay up or tell them to F**k off. They have to take you to civil court to get an order for the money they have demanded. This does not apply to a 'Fixed Penalty Ticket'. They are legally enforceable.
3. Ignore it. They will send you letter after letter including threats of debt recovery, court, etc. Eventually they MAY take you to court. IMPORTANT - if they do go that far do not ignore it!

I had one and followed path 3. They eventually gave up and went away. There is no guarantee they will do it for you.

There is loads of info on the internet. Make your own mind up.

Thanks Malcolm
I have appealed for what it’s worth

Do not pay unless it is a Council or Police enforced ticket, ie parked outside a school or hospital where its council run. If it is a privately run company you can ignore it, throw it in the bin, you will get endless letters, then you will get a letter from a so called law firm saying debt has gone to them, ignore, they cannot legally do you for anything. In all the tickets ever sent out only one private firm has ever won in court and that was a perpetual parker that refused to play ball and had ove r30000 of tickets. It will cause you grief if you let it and for an easy life pay it but I never have. Look it up on the web, they are pretty powerless, they have to prove that you have caused them monetary loss, ie parked your bike in a prime spot at bank holiday where no-one could enter the shopping centre etc.
I have had 5 over the last 4 years where places I used to park safely have been taken over by these bandits, I have never paid one of them and I am not in Barlinnie Prison!!!

NB, for anyone reading this, if it is Council or Authority issued, you MUST pay it if enforced after appeal. Private, nope, ya dont.

Some useful info and advice on this matter here:
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclai...arking-tickets/

The trouble with playing hardball as suggested by Stevie is that you really need to hold your nerve, as the amount of the original fine will escalate out of all proportion as it gets passed from one debt collection agency to another, court costs get added etc. You really need to be damned sure now that you'll never, ever have to pay it, and not be stressed out by the years (really) of mither that you'll experience as a result of not doing so!

Freddy, your right that you have to hold your nerve, they will bombard you with mail but it’s all just threatening, they can’t do a damn thing. No court costs as you suggested because they do not go to court, read the letters carefully when they come, it’s all, IF it goes to court, IF you were found guilty, IT may affect your credit but it’s all bollocks quite frankly, one case , yes only ONE case has ever been taken to court and successfully been prosecuted.
They rely on you capitulating , stay strong and ignore them is what I do, or have done when been given a ticket, I have had 4 in my life, one was council, I paid, the others were 2 where it used to be okay to park but they changed it to a car park and I didn’t notice sndcsnother in Sainsbury’s car park where I went to the cinema before going the grocery shop. Last 3 I never paid a penny and frankly never would.

Steviegasgas I have also ignored them in the past and not paid up but the scenery has changed somewhat with Parking Eye v Beavis which has introduced an element of 'Penalty' into 'Free' car parks. Parking Eye is one company that will go to court, I know its legalised daylight robbery but sometimes its worth paying up just to get the bastards off your back. If you are going to face 'em down the answer is to ignore them from day one and not even try to appeal.