Parking Fine supermarket overstay

DorsetDude

DorsetDude

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Hi

have just received a letter through post from britannia parking from 8th Dec. Picture of my car entering and leaving the car park on it. I was in a waitrose and did stay longer than the hour and a half, I was 20 minutes over. Fine is for £40 plus a £1.50 surcharge. For what that is I know not.
Anyway I thought fair cop, I'll have to pay. but googling around it seems these notices from private firms for parking on private land can safely be ignored along with the ensuing debt collection letters.
I'm a bit nervous about doing this and am tempted just to pay up. In fact Ive tried already online but the payment "appears" to have failed with a certification error.(first time Ive ever seen such an error) I'll wait and check my statement tomorrow to see if it did go through or not. If not I'll possibly ring em up to pay unless I decide to ignore it.

Any other people had similar and any thoughts?

Thanks
 
If you were in Waitrose all that time I would have a word with the store manager. If you weren't then I suggest you do a bit more searching on the web. Several of these companies are now pursuing these tickets after a case about 18 months ago did rule they were enforceable.
 
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Marc said:
Hour and a half seems rather constrictive for a supermarket car park, especially at this time of year.
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It used to be 2 hours there as well.

I'd be cautious of advice with regards to ignoring them though, there may be a kinock on effect as far as your credit rating is concerned.
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From my googling this appears to be a common misbelief. Only county court judgements can affect your credit rating.

I might dig out the receipt if I can still find it and pop in and ask to speak to the store manager. If that fails, I'll pay up.
 
DorsetDude said:
It used to be 2 hours there as well.


From my googling this appears to be a common misbelief. Only county court judgements can affect your credit rating.

I might dig out the receipt if I can still find it and pop in and ask to speak to the store manager. If that fails, I'll pay up.
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They may chase for, and after a case 18 months ago, get a ccj though. I wouldn’t ignore ( that’s not the same as saying pay it)
 
DorsetDude said:
From my googling this appears to be a common misbelief. Only county court judgements can affect your credit rating.
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Can you not get a CCJ for a PCN?

DorsetDude said:
I might dig out the receipt if I can still find it and pop in and ask to speak to the store manager. If that fails, I'll pay up
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Were you parked there just for Waitrose or did you go on somewhere else before moving your car?
 
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Marc said:
Were you parked there just for Waitrose or did you go on somewhere else before moving your car?
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All over the place and back to waitrose for last shop. Ironically if I hadnt gone into waitrose Id probably have made it out in time. Doh.
 
munch said:
If you were in Waitrose all that time I would have a word with the store manager. If you weren't then I suggest you do a bit more searching on the web. Several of these companies are now pursuing these tickets after a case about 18 months ago did rule they were enforceable.
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I doubt Waitrose themselves run the parking though, it’s probably contracted out to a separate company so I doubt the manager will have any influence. If he/she gets enough complaints then I suppose it might get passed up to head office for them to look at. However, 90 minutes really doesn’t seem a lot of time for doing a full shop and I wonder how many people get caught out?

Definitely don’t ignore the fine, they are enforceable nowadays and you can end up in hot water via the court or bailiffs if you just turn a blind eye to the ticket.
 
boogie man said:
Definitely don’t ignore the fine, they are enforceable nowadays and you can end up in hot water via the court or bailiffs if you just turn a blind eye to the ticket.
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:dummy:
Yeah think I'll phone and pay, possibly tomorrow after checking my statement after todays attempt.
 
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DorsetDude said:
:dummy:
Yeah think I'll phone and pay, possibly tomorrow after checking my statement after todays attempt.
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I had something similar in Morrisons a few years back, parking eye caught me on an overstay after we had gone to see my granddaughter in a play. It was a genuine mistake, we always park there for our shopping and never really thought about the time. i emailed the store (manager I think) and told them i was a regular shopper and it was a genuine mistake. They contacted parking eye and cancelled the ticket. Could be worth a try.

Edit actually I think I may have gone onto the website and contacted them through that. This is the email I received back. A few days later they told me the ticket had been cancelled.

Screen Shot 2017-12-21 at 10.34.24.png
 
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Best course of action is to talk to store manager and get them to cancel it as you were a genuine customer.

This is what these companies do. They take a decent time to be in store then keep reducing it to make more money off people.

If they don't have advertising consent for the signs the 'fines' aren't in the least bit enforceable either. Check that out with the local planning department. Any sign over a certain size requires advertising consent. It cannot be back dated either unlike planning consent.
 
seems simple to me. there will be a sign clearly stating the time allowed and the fine if you go over it. it's their land, their rules. pay the fine
 
Waitrose are a good company so I would go to the manager and if no joy head office/twitter.

I sort of understand why stores have this in place but an hour and a half for a supermarket shop??? I am rarely less than an hour, and if I fancy a drink in the café and its busy this could be 2 hours.
 
I had a fine for pretty much the same thing. Private parking company etc etc. I copy and pasted a letter i found on the internet. Apparently, a photo of you entering and leaving the car park is no proof you were actually parked up. I wrote to them quoting some legalese and hey presto, they wrote back saying that "on review, we will not be pursuing this matter". A saving of £60 for 20 minutes work!
 
Waitrose actively encourage you to have a coffee in the cafe. This added with a shop would almost always take longer than the allotted time.
A stern letter to the manager voicing your displeasure about being forced to shop elsewhere will soon see the ticket cancelled.
 
Dont you just get your ticket validated through your Waitrose receipt? Surely the 30 minutes free is if you don't shop in there? That's how it wrks around here.
 
DorsetDude said:
Hi

have just received a letter through post from britannia parking from 8th Dec. Picture of my car entering and leaving the car park on it. I was in a waitrose and did stay longer than the hour and a half, I was 20 minutes over. Fine is for £40 plus a £1.50 surcharge. For what that is I know not.
Anyway I thought fair cop, I'll have to pay. but googling around it seems these notices from private firms for parking on private land can safely be ignored along with the ensuing debt collection letters.
I'm a bit nervous about doing this and am tempted just to pay up. In fact Ive tried already online but the payment "appears" to have failed with a certification error.(first time Ive ever seen such an error) I'll wait and check my statement tomorrow to see if it did go through or not. If not I'll possibly ring em up to pay unless I decide to ignore it.

Any other people had similar and any thoughts?

Thanks
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Get over to Pepipoo and ask for advice, they’re the experts on private parking “fines”.

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showforum=60
 
My understanding is that if you chose to ignore the parking charge, they 'could' take you to court to try the get the money (plus costs etc) but from what I have read online and friends/family experiences, they rarely ever do this but its a risk you would be taking.

Say you take the risk and ignore it, is it worth the worry that you could get a court letter each time the postman rocks up for the sake of £41.50?

It would be different if you were arguing it over something you didn't do but in this case, you know you overstayed so personally I would chalk it up to a mistake, pay the charge and make sure I was more careful next time.
 
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Which store is it?
 
I've had a few of these over the years and simply ignored them, they go in the bin, they are invoices and not fines. 2 from sainsburys, 2 from Luton airport and one from the hospital I actually work at.

All were ignored, all send a threatening follow up letter which also all went in the bin, never heard another thing. I read and followed advice from https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/private-parking-tickets every time to base my decision and to balance, the one time I got one from the council I paid up straight away, simple.

In your case though https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/private-parking-tickets#shop will possibly have the best effect if you are worried about it.
 
strumstrum said:
I would defo speak to Waitrose, these things were put in to stop people parking and going footie/work etc so seeing as you shop there you might be okay
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But the OP has admitted that he just parked there and went:
DorsetDude said:
All over the place and back to waitrose for last shop. Ironically if I hadnt gone into waitrose Id probably have made it out in time. Doh.
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Ironically, if he hadn't gone to all the other places he would certainly have made it out in time. I would suggest that ethically he's not quite got the optimal number of legs to stand on.
 
Donnie said:
I've had a few of these over the years and simply ignored them, they go in the bin, they are invoices and not fines. 2 from sainsburys, 2 from Luton airport and one from the hospital I actually work at.

All were ignored, all send a threatening follow up letter which also all went in the bin, never heard another thing. I read and followed advice from https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/private-parking-tickets every time to base my decision and to balance, the one time I got one from the council I paid up straight away, simple.

In your case though https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/private-parking-tickets#shop will possibly have the best effect if you are worried about it.
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From the website which you link in your post

Screen Shot 2017-12-21 at 14.43.36.png

Whilst private parking fines seem excessive the Supreme court have ruled they are not, so you couldn't appeal on those grounds either. I'm sure many private parking companies don't want the hassle of court procedures, and whether or not they do is a bit of a lottlery, but if they do take you to court and you have genuinely parked beyond the time allowed then you will lose and your £40-50-60 fine will be considerably higher

And whilst this is in scotland, it does show that private parking companies are prepared to take legal action
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...-24000-ignoring-notices-warning-a7665346.html
 
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I had one os hese a long time ago maybe 10 years + and i googled it and simply chose to ignore it, they sent me about 6 letters overa period of 12 months and eventually did cease.
I understand now they are enforcable as the charge is similar to a parking fine via the council.
personally know i would pay it and be more midful by your own admission you were using the car park for far longer than the store.
 
Mr Bump said:
I had one os hese a long time ago maybe 10 years + and i googled it and simply chose to ignore it, they sent me about 6 letters overa period of 12 months and eventually did cease.
I understand now they are enforcable as the charge is similar to a parking fine via the council.
personally know i would pay it and be more midful by your own admission you were using the car park for far longer than the store.
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It’s not a fine like the council issue, but the parking company can take you to small claims court for breach of contract.
 
As was always under the assumption that fines can only be issued by courts, police and council officials. A PCN is just that a notice, no where on the ticket will it stat it's a fine. Also have you asked for proof? Was it a pay and display or car registration reading system? I ask because what proof do they have that you arrived when you did to make you go over the allotted time.
 
If you can afford it, I'd pay up for the ease of mind but would also let Waitrose management know that 90 minutes isn't sufficient time to do shopping / have coffee / enter and exit the premises etc.
 
MrDrizz said:
As was always under the assumption that fines can only be issued by courts, police and council officials. A PCN is just that a notice, no where on the ticket will it stat it's a fine. Also have you asked for proof? Was it a pay and display or car registration reading system? I ask because what proof do they have that you arrived when you did to make you go over the allotted time.
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You assume correctly, private parking companies issue an invoice for the contract it’s deemed you entered into by parking, they can then sue in civil court for breach of contract if you don’t pay, since a few high profile court cases the parking companies are beginning to be more likely to decide to take these to court.

It’ll likely be ANPR cameras reading registration plates in and out.
 
Marc said:
Hour and a half seems rather constrictive for a supermarket car park, especially at this time of year.
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They are obviously saving up for their Xmas party ...
My local Tesco express had a 2 hour waiting limit, Newly added signs now say 30 mins ...
 
Cobra said:
They are obviously saving up for their Xmas party ...
My local Tesco express had a 2 hour waiting limit, Newly added signs now say 30 mins ...
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Well........it is an express.... boom boom :coat:
 
jakeblu said:
Well........it is an express.... boom boom :coat:
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:D
Actually I don't disagree with that move, if they enforce it, there are flats right next door, and the car park is split, in half, numbered spaces for the flats,
the other half cleared marked ( on the road) Tesco.
Its a bloody nightmare trying to park in there most evenings / week-ends, and yet if / when I do, the shop is largely empty ...

But I know what'll happen there is also a Co-op a couple of hundred yards away, they'll just park in there ;)
 
jakeblu said:
From the website which you link in your post

View attachment 116736

Whilst private parking fines seem excessive the Supreme court have ruled they are not, so you couldn't appeal on those grounds either. I'm sure many private parking companies don't want the hassle of court procedures, and whether or not they do is a bit of a lottlery, but if they do take you to court and you have genuinely parked beyond the time allowed then you will lose and your £40-50-60 fine will be considerably higher

And whilst this is in scotland, it does show that private parking companies are prepared to take legal action
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...-24000-ignoring-notices-warning-a7665346.html
Click to expand...

Indeed, but if you read what i actually wrote I said " I read and followed advice from https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/private-parking-tickets every time to base my decision" I didnt just read the militant bit and go on that basis, there's a lot more in the article to help base peoples decision on.
 
From Paul's link... " If you've broken the rules, and you think the ticket isn't exorbitant or disproportionate, pay up." By Keith's own admission, he broke the rules and overstayed.
 
cambsno said:
Waitrose are a good company so I would go to the manager and if no joy head office/twitter.

I sort of understand why stores have this in place but an hour and a half for a supermarket shop??? I am rarely less than an hour, and if I fancy a drink in the café and its busy this could be 2 hours.
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If it is a small car park that gets particularly busy at times 1 1/2h is understandable. I've seen places that only give you 30min but luckily these are minority. On the other hand there are some that charge for parking and as you may guess I avoid these places like plague.
 
DorsetDude said:
It used to be 2 hours there as well.


From my googling this appears to be a common misbelief. Only county court judgements can affect your credit rating.

I might dig out the receipt if I can still find it and pop in and ask to speak to the store manager. If that fails, I'll pay up.
Click to expand...

Not sure that's correct.
Defaulting on loans, cc payments, store cards and catalogue accounts are noted on your credit file; and even if you pay them off, they remain on the file for 5 years. Marked as paid, but still showing as default / arrears.
 
Cobra said:
:D
But I know what'll happen there is also a Co-op a couple of hundred yards away, they'll just park in there ;)
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Oh come on, you underestimate the laziness of people. They'll go elsewhere rather than walk 200 yards
 
We have a new complex, morrisons underneath with a large car park, entertainment complex on top with 3 restaurants and a cinema on top.
Thought we'd try it, meal and cinema, noted the parking restriction on the ticket machine of a max 3 hours on the ticket.
Had the meal, popped down to the car, bought another ticket, went to the cinema. We were there about 3 1/2 hours in total with a 2 hour ticket then a 3 hour ticket, just to be safe.

Got an £80 parking ticket as they use ANPR and our car didn't leave the car park. If I'd driven out and back in again I'd have been fine.
Apparently it's Morrisons car park and they use an external company to run it, neither companies were interested in resolving, so I took photos of the signs, pointed it it didn't say about leaving, just that you needed a valid ticket and wrote an article for the local paper.
Charge was dropped, signs have now changed and I've not been back to that complex as we have two others with free parking.
 
Byker28i said:
Oh come on, you underestimate the laziness of people.
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No where else to park for the flats in that area, well I suppose the pub car park, but thats twice as far as the Co-op,
and if you can find a space that is.
 
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