A retired man has been awarded compensation after taking a car park company to court over a 10p fine.
Jim Hibbert, 85, paid for his 50p parking fee at Middleton Shopping Centre in Greater Manchester using three 20p coins because he didn’t have exactly 50p – but later received a Parking Charge Notice (PCN) saying he owed £100, plus £60 if he paid within two weeks.
The pensioner proved he had overpaid but was later given a reduced fine of £20 from Smart Parking for providing “incorrect vehicle registration”.
Hibbert wrote to me in January of last year stating that he had entered the registration number correctly.
But when he received another letter from a debt collection agency demanding £170, he decided to fight the company in court, taking action at Manchester County Court and spending months trying to represent himself. He argued that the company had become a “beneficiary of unjust enrichment” and had breached its contract by failing to comply with its own signage.
Lawyers said Hibbert’s claim costs, which included a 10p change, £4.96 printing and postage costs and a £35 claim fee, were “fraudulent, opportunistic and an abuse of process”.
But before the case was due to be heard this month, he received a settlement offer of £40.06 and a letter saying the company believed his claim was “hopeless and completely misguided” but had decided to pay “to avoid further loss of time and costs”.
Hibbert said: “I was polite in my letters but I thought they would get into trouble. I decided to give them a taste of their own medicine. The more they tried to bully and intimidate me, the more determined I became. This is not a fine, it’s extortion.”
The centre’s signs were at the heart of the dispute, Smart Parking’s lawyer said, because they stated that payment had to be made and the vehicle’s registration had to be presented.
But Hibbert provided photographs to prove otherwise, as the sign only stated that you had to pay the correct fare before leaving the car park and made no mention of being given a registration number. The pensioner also argued that the payment machine’s keypad and screen were “unusually small” and that the machine did not tell drivers how long they had been parked.
“It took me a couple of hours but it was quite satisfying how much money they spent on legal fees – I just wanted 10p change,” he added.
‘State of the art’ system
A Smart Parking Limited spokesperson said: “Smart Parking was deployed to manage the car park at Middleton Shopping Centre to address parking misuse and ensure consumers can always find a space to park.
“For this, we use a state-of-the-art ANPR parking management system that monitors the entry and exit of cars.
“There are a number of signs on the site that clearly state the terms and conditions of use, one of which is that you must enter your registration number correctly into the machine when purchasing a parking space. In Mr Hibbert’s case, he failed to do this and was charged correctly.
“It is important to say that Smart Parking refuted the comments made by Mr Hibbert and that at no stage was he subjected to any ‘intimidation’. The proceedings were initiated and carried out by him. Smart Parking has made no allegations against him.
“Despite Smart Parking’s legal advisers advising us that the claim had no legal basis, we decided that the costs of fighting the claim were unlikely to be recoverable and therefore we did not pursue the matter further.”
How to dispute a parking ticket in the UK
When it comes to appealing a penalty charge notice (PCN), there are various different rules depending on the type of PCN, but according to the government website, you usually have 28 days to appeal one. If you do this within 14 days and your appeal is rejected, you may only have to pay 50% of the fine.
If your informal appeal is accepted you will not have to pay the fine, but if your informal appeal is rejected you will receive a ‘notice to owner’ explaining how to pay or lodge a formal appeal.
You then have 28 days from receiving notice from the landlord to lodge a formal objection (this is called a ‘representation’) You must explain your reasons for objecting to the PCN in as much detail as possible and provide copies of any evidence or documentation to support your objection.
If your appeal is accepted you won’t have to pay the fine, but if it is rejected you will receive a ‘rejection notice’ giving you 28 days to pay or appeal to an independent tribunal. If you don’t pay or appeal you will have to pay a late payment fine.
The first step in disputing a ticket from a private company is to find out who is disputing the ticket and then contact them to find out how to dispute the ticket, according to the government’s website.
“If your appeal is rejected, you can contact an independent appeals service,” the site says, adding: “Find out if the ticket operator is a member of an accredited trade association by looking at the ticket or website.”
If the operator is a member of the British Parking Association (BPA), you can appeal to POPLA (Parking on Private Land Objections); if the operator is a member of the International Parking Community (IPC), you can appeal to IAS (Independent Appeals Service).
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