Parking ticket

[Dessieb2022]

Hi, I'm looking some advice from our Northern Ireland residents.
I went to the North West 200 last week and parked in a council owned car park. I parked along a hedge, it wasn't a space but I was not blocking traffic. Came back a while later to find a parking ticket on the window (not overly surprised or bothered). It was issued by a private firm call Car Park Services but the actual ticket is a Penalty Charge Notice which makes me think it's the Department.

I spoke to Solicitor and he said the unofficial advice is to ignore a private parking ticket but it seems like real deal to me other than being issued by CPS. Any advice? Should I just pay now while it's £45?

 

[RonMig]

Been through similar with my son...
My advice? - If you were in the wrong and you know it, just pay up then forget it.

If you paid to park - and you've got evidence of that - then like the man says, ignore it (and retain the evidence).
But if you don't have evidence, or didn't buy a ticket, just pay the fine and get on with life.

Just think forward a bit, to being taken to court and having to defend your position.
With maybe 2 years of waiting, and the accompanying stress.

If you lose, it could turn into big money.
If you win, happy days, but is it really worth the hassle and stress?

My son went to court - and won - but it was 2 years of stress and uncertainty- not nice.

 

[colnerov]

Watch Blackbeltbarrister on youtube, plenty of information in his videos.

 

[AVI_8]

It depends in the law in Ireland.
In England there is a law which is the freedoms of information act, it does apply.
In Scotland the freedoms of information act does not apply.

I don’t know if it applies in Ireland you’ll have to do your own research

The Freedoms of information act requires the owner of the car to disclose the driver of the car, in England you have to disclose the driver, in Scotland you don’t, I don’t know which is the case in Ireland.

What that means in England they can and maybe will take you to court.

In Scotland it won’t happen as there’s no obligation for the owner of the car to disclose who was driving it.

So us Scots throw these tickets in the bin, you’ll not be taken to court, that’s not the case in England, there you are under a legal obligation to disclose who was the driver, if taken to court, they will get the fine.
Edited to say
This information only applies to tickets given by private car parks not tickets from council car parks

 

[skotl]

Been through similar with my son...
My advice? - If you were in the wrong and you know it, just pay up then forget it.

If you paid to park - and you've got evidence of that - then like the man says, ignore it (and retain the evidence).
But if you don't have evidence, or didn't buy a ticket, just pay the fine and get on with life.

Just think forward a bit, to being taken to court and having to defend your position.
With maybe 2 years of waiting, and the accompanying stress.

If you lose, it could turn into big money.
If you win, happy days, but is it really worth the hassle and stress?

My son went to court - and won - but it was 2 years of stress and uncertainty- not nice.

100% this.

Unlike the other post above, there's been a long history of people getting PCNs in the local (Scottish) co-op car park and being hounded by debt collectors and having their credit score adversely affected.
I'm not interested in getting into an armchair-lawyer debate: Ron is spot on - for the sake of £45, pay it and get on with your life.

 

[Morrisman]

Just think, if we all parked ‘not in a parking space, but not blocking traffic’….


…..it would free up a lot of parking spaces for people who want to pay for privilege.

 

[Greeves246]

The NW200 like other road races doesn’t charge admission to watch so the only income comes from programs and parking. It would cost you £39 to watch BSB at Donington today so I’m sure the car park charge would have been a lot less. Pay the PCN and help to keep racing going in N. Ireland in future.

 

[angellonewolf]

after a bit of research a few years ago and this is in uk they seam to upholding private car parking charges before the idea was to throw in the bin and not take any notice not even any contact or acknowledge you have recived any from what i seen this changed and more and more are winning


and as you admit you where not parked in a space just pay the fine and sleep better and forget

 

[Dev]

Looks like the local council uses a third party firm so you can’t ignore it https://www.causewaycoastandglens.g...-car-parking/challenging-a-parking-ticket-pcn

Pay up and forget about it.

 

[ajlelectronics]

I spoke to Solicitor and he said the unofficial advice is to ignore a private parking ticket but it seems like real deal to me other than being issued by CPS. Any advice? Should I just pay now while it's £45?

If it is a private company, it will be a PARKING charge notice which is an invoice and not a fine. As you seem to have a PENALTY charge notice, it appears to be a council ticket. Like the others, I have no idea how it works anywhere other than the mainland so you will need to do some research. Pepipoo.com is the place for official stuff, various other fora for the invoices.

There is a group for Parking Eye on FB that might be worth a scan down for clues? https://www.facebook.com/groups/parkingeye

 

[Dessieb2022]

If it is a private company, it will be a PARKING charge notice which is an invoice and not a fine. As you seem to have a PENALTY charge notice, it appears to be a council ticket. Like the others, I have no idea how it works anywhere other than the mainland so you will need to do some research. Pepipoo.com is the place for official stuff, various other fora for the invoices.

There is a group for Parking Eye on FB that might be worth a scan down for clues? https://www.facebook.com/groups/parkingeye

That's what is confusing, it is a Penalty Charge Notice but it is from a private firm and has to be paid on their own website.

 

[Dessieb2022]

The NW200 like other road races doesn’t charge admission to watch so the only income comes from programs and parking. It would cost you £39 to watch BSB at Donington today so I’m sure the car park charge would have been a lot less. Pay the PCN and help to keep racing going in N. Ireland in future.

I did actually pay to park in the car park lol, just not in a marked parking bay as there was none left.

 

[ajlelectronics]

That's what is confusing, it is a Penalty Charge Notice but it is from a private firm and has to be paid on their own website.

There must be something unusual about Norn Iron which I am not qualified to comment on then.

 

[Dessieb2022]

Thanks for all the advice everyone, I'll just pay it and move on. Was just questioning it as most people say to never pay a private parking ticket.

 

[ajlelectronics]

Thanks for all the advice everyone, I'll just pay it and move on. Was just questioning it as most people say to never pay a private parking ticket.

In England and Wales, that is VERY poor advice. In Scotland, individual tickets rarely if ever get taken to court because their court system discourages "petty" claim values. However, collect a few and the value increases enough to make it worthwhile.

 

[Smallfry]

There is normally a sign in most car parks, that states you must park in a marked bay.

They use this rule also if you are parked on or over the lines. Money making scam ? Of course, but there you are.

Also "I was not blocking the traffic" is a matter of opinion, which all those who get done for parking issues, try to argue.

I do not like this private company thing though. I think its wrong, but I suppose you do not HAVE to use a privately run car park.

 

[dobbslc]

It's £45! I pay more than that to park in some parts of London for four hours!

 

[Dessieb2022]

It's £45! I pay more than that to park in some parts of London for four hours!

Yes, but then you probably get paid £45 per hour in London lol

 

[dobbslc]

^

 

[Morrisman]

There is normally a sign in most car parks, that states you must park in a marked bay.

They use this rule also if you are parked on or over the lines. Money making scam ? Of course, but there you are.

Also "I was not blocking the traffic" is a matter of opinion, which all those who get done for parking issues, try to argue.

I do not like this private company thing though. I think it’s wrong, but I suppose you do not HAVE to use a privately run car park.

Or, one could argue it is a deterrent. If nobody got penalised for breaking the parking rules it would be chaos, as we’ve all seen the clowns who basically abandon their car, rather than carefully position it to make life easier for all the other people who use the car park.