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Parking ticket issued to resident by private parking company

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bejocomo
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Parking ticket issued to resident by private parking company

#175172

Postby bejocomo » October 20th, 2018, 12:12 pm

I live in a modern apartment block with underground parking. Despite parking in my allocated space the same way for the last three years I have been issued with a parking ticket and my appeal rejected on the basis the hologram on my permit was obscured. The bay number was visible as was almost all of the permit, except the apparently vital hologram in one corner. The parking ticket has been issued by the private parking company appointed by the management company of the development.

Does anyone have any idea whether it is worth contesting or is it advisable just to pay the fine? It is irksome to be penalised by the very company I pay (via management charges) to protect me from parking misdemeanors, especially when the infraction is so trivial. As a resident it is people like me that the parking company are supposed to protect. What would a court say? They state their signs are very clear and that the entire permit must be visible. Does the fact I own the space (I assume I do anyway!) mean anything in this context?

Thank you in advance.

Sussexlad
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Re: Parking ticket issued to resident by private parking company

#175243

Postby Sussexlad » October 20th, 2018, 7:41 pm

I have no knowledge but moneysavingexpert have some advice here...

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/recla ... g-tickets/

redsturgeon
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Re: Parking ticket issued to resident by private parking company

#175288

Postby redsturgeon » October 21st, 2018, 7:54 am

Since you have already appealed and been turned down I think it is probable that any further fight will be fruitless. Annoying as it is to be caught on a technicality it seems that according to the rules you have been in default.

One might have hoped that an appeal to common sense and fair play would get this overturned but since that has not happened I think it is time to move on.

We have a similar scheme for permit parking outside our house but it is run by the council. They overturned a very similar case when my son had his permit partially obscured...but that's the council rather than a private for profit company.

You have paid this company to enforce the rules and I'm sure you can imagine the issues if all permits where obscured so that the company could not do their job in verifying them. This is very annoying but just one of those things.

John

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Re: Parking ticket issued to resident by private parking company

#175297

Postby GoSeigen » October 21st, 2018, 9:04 am

bejocomo wrote:I live in a modern apartment block with underground parking. Despite parking in my allocated space the same way for the last three years I have been issued with a parking ticket and my appeal rejected on the basis the hologram on my permit was obscured. The bay number was visible as was almost all of the permit, except the apparently vital hologram in one corner. The parking ticket has been issued by the private parking company appointed by the management company of the development.

Does anyone have any idea whether it is worth contesting or is it advisable just to pay the fine? It is irksome to be penalised by the very company I pay (via management charges) to protect me from parking misdemeanors, especially when the infraction is so trivial. As a resident it is people like me that the parking company are supposed to protect. What would a court say? They state their signs are very clear and that the entire permit must be visible. Does the fact I own the space (I assume I do anyway!) mean anything in this context?

Thank you in advance.


I strongly disagree that you should roll over. It sounds to me like this company is being unreasonable -- assuming you have put your case clearly and you have every right to be using the space you parked in.

I would write a letter to a director of the company and inform him that you are very disappointed that his business is pursuing one of the residents they are supposed to be helping on the basis of a mere technicality, that his employees are probably just trying to do their job property but have evidently lost all sense of perspective, and that you will not pay a penny unless required to by the court and you look forward to hearing from him that the matter is closed. If you are on good terms with the property's management company you might want to send them a copy too.

Then I'd do nothing but wait for them to sue you and if necessary defend the case in court.


GS

Moderator Message:
Re-instated missing text (shown in italics for clarity) from subsequent post which has been deleted as a duplicate (chas49)

redsturgeon
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Re: Parking ticket issued to resident by private parking company

#175309

Postby redsturgeon » October 21st, 2018, 10:13 am

I can understand your point of view GS and I would definitely agree that an appeal to common sense is worthwhile but if the appeal has failed then where we differ is the desire to keep going with this.

How much are we talking...£30? I'm not sure in this case but is £30 worth any more than an hour of my time or yours?

It could be that if you just ignore it then they will not pursue it any further but who knows.

As I said, what if all residents start showing partially obscured permits, how then is it possible to enforce parking restrictions?

I assume there is photographic evidence of the obscured permit, if so then the case is cut and dried.

Perhaps morally wrong but legally enforceable IMHO. Sometimes it is best to cut your losses. IMHO, YVMV etc.

John

bejocomo
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Re: Parking ticket issued to resident by private parking company

#175360

Postby bejocomo » October 21st, 2018, 4:12 pm

All fair comments. The ticket is £100 or £60 if paid within 14 days.

I don't disagree that there was an infringement, but one would think that as the company are employed by the residents to protect the residents they would do something vaguely helpful like telling me, as a resident, that the hologram needs to be visible rather than issue a parking ticket. The fact the permit hasn't moved for three years shows that previous operatives have exhibited common sense...alas not this time. The bay number is perfectly visible.

How the hologram is of any use to them is beyond me...apparently it is to prevent photocopying. Even if I photocopied ten permits I can still only park one car in the space, and I doubt a non resident would go to that much trouble.

Unfortunately it is easier for them to make money from infringements rather than tackling the unauthorised parking that goes on everywhere else around the development.

I think I'll pay the penalty and chalk it up to experience.

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Re: Parking ticket issued to resident by private parking company

#175392

Postby jfgw » October 21st, 2018, 7:24 pm

GoSeigen wrote: If you are on good terms with the property's management company you might want to send them a copy too.


If nothing else, I think you should make the property's management company aware of the situation.

Julian F. G. W.

Dod101
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Re: Parking ticket issued to resident by private parking company

#175399

Postby Dod101 » October 21st, 2018, 8:17 pm

bejocomo wrote:All fair comments. The ticket is £100 or £60 if paid within 14 days.I think I'll pay the penalty and chalk it up to experience.


I would not pay it, not at least without sending the notice to the management company telling them what you have related here. It might be simply a new employee who is being over zealous and needs calming down a bit. The mere fact that you are a bona fide resident should be enough to make them back off, especially as you would obviously acknowledge that technically they may be correct but that the whole idea is to stop non residents or other unauthorized people parking there. In a sense it is like fining their employer. What nonsense!

Dod

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Re: Parking ticket issued to resident by private parking company

#175403

Postby Lootman » October 21st, 2018, 8:26 pm

redsturgeon wrote:How much are we talking...£30? I'm not sure in this case but is £30 worth any more than an hour of my time or yours? It could be that if you just ignore it then they will not pursue it any further but who knows.

Dod101 wrote:I would not pay it, not at least without sending the notice to the management company telling them what you have related here.

I am with Dod on this one. To me it is a matter of principle, and I will fight these things out of all proportion to the amount and the value of my time. And in my experience if you are determined, and willing to work your way right to the top of an organisation, you can prevail. You just have to be willing to be a right royal pain in the backside.

I've successfully fought off about 50% of all the parking tickets I ever got. And I'm scoring 100% getting errant credit card entries removed.

I recall a dispute many years ago over NatWest charges. It was about a hundred quid. I literally fought my case up every level of their hierarchy until I finally ended up writing to the CEO of NatWest. He wrote me a very nice letter forgiving the charges.

Never surrender.

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Re: Parking ticket issued to resident by private parking company

#175417

Postby stockton » October 21st, 2018, 10:18 pm

I am under the impression that the courts have already decided that if you are entitled to park in a parking space, then you are entitled to do so unless something else appears in your lease. Participating in a parking scheme is basically voluntary.

Mike88
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Re: Parking ticket issued to resident by private parking company

#175421

Postby Mike88 » October 21st, 2018, 10:32 pm

Is there any documentation from the management company such as the management contract stating that the hologram must be in full view? Or, if such a document exists which I doubt, is it stated anywhere the permit must be placed in full view? You could argue that the permit was in view but only the hologram was obscured. Unless there is clear unambiguous instructions on how and where the permit should be placed I do not see how you could be fined for parking in your own space.

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Re: Parking ticket issued to resident by private parking company

#175426

Postby JohnB » October 21st, 2018, 10:59 pm

I'd write to the management company to complain, and suggest that as it seems the parking company have changed their policy someone needs to send a copy of the new policy to all residents. This will help your neighbours, and cause work that they might want to avoid by letting you off. You could also cause trouble by asking for statistics as to how many residents have been caught out over the last year. If significant, you could use that as ammunition for a policy change to allow residents to cancel charges through the management company.

All depends what sort of management company you have, and their relation to residents.


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