Pensioner gets payout after taking parking company to court over 10p
A pensioner has been awarded a payout after taking a car parking company to court over 10p.
Jim Hibbert, 85, paid for a 50p parking charge at Middleton Shopping Centre in Middleton, Greater Manchester using three 20p coins because he didn't have exactly 50p - yet then received a Parking Charge Notice (PCN) saying he owed £100, or £60 if it was paid in two weeks.
The pensioner proved he had paid more than the required amount but then received a reduced fine of £20 from Smart Parking for providing the "incorrect vehicle registration".
Hibbert wrote back in January last year and said he had entered his registration number correctly.
But when he received another letter from a debt recovery agency demanding £170, he decided to fight the company in court, making a claim at Manchester County Court and studying for months to represent himself. He argued the company had become the "beneficiary of unjust enrichment" and breached its contract by failing to adhere to its own signs.
Solicitors said Hibbert's claim costs, which included the 10p change, £4.96 in printing and postage costs and the £35 claim fee, was "spurious, opportunistic and an abuse of process".
However, before the case was due to be heard this month, he received a settlement offer of £40.06, and a letter saying that while the company believed his claim was "hopeless and entirely misguided" it had decided to pay out "to avoid further wasted time and costs".
Hibbert said: "I was polite in my letters but I thought they could get stuffed. 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. It's not a fine, it's extortion."
The centre's signage became a central part of the dispute as Smart Parking's solicitor said the sign indicated a need to pay and to provide a vehicle's registration.
But Hibbert provided photographs that proved otherwise, as the sign only indicated a need to pay the correct tariff before leaving the car park, with no mention of providing a registration number. The pensioner also argued the payment machine's keypad and display were "unusually small" and that the machine did not inform motorists how long they had been parked.
He added: "I spent a good few hours of my time but it's quite satisfying that they spent so much on lawyer's fees - when all I wanted was my simple 10p change."
'State-of-the-art' system
A Smart Parking Limited spokesperson said: "Smart Parking was brought into manage the car park at Middleton Shopping Centre in order to address parking abuse and to ensure consumers can always find somewhere to park.
"To do this we operate a state-of-the-art ANPR parking management system that monitors cars entering and exiting.
"There are numerous signs across the site that clearly set out the terms and conditions of use, one of which is that you must correctly enter your registration number into the machine when purchasing parking. In the case of Mr Hibbert, he did not do this and was correctly issued a charge.
"It is important to say that Smart Parking refutes the comments made by Mr Hibbert and at no stage was he the subject of any “intimidation”. The proceedings were initiated and pursued by him. Smart Parking advanced no claims against him.
"Whilst Smart Parking was advised by its legal advisors that the claim was without any legal merit, it was decided the costs associated with fighting the claim would be highly likely to be irrecoverable so we decided not take this matter further."
How to contest a parking fine in the UK
When it comes to challenging a penalty charge notice (PCN), there are various different rules depending on the type of PCN, but you often have have 28 days to challenge one, according to the government website. If you do it within 14 days and your challenge is rejected, you may only have to pay 50% of the fine.
You will not have to pay the fine if your informal challenge is accepted but if your informal challenge is rejected you will get what's called a ‘notice to owner’ which explains how to pay or make a formal challenge.
You then have 28 days to make a formal challenge (called a ‘representation’) after you get a notice to owner, in which you must explain your reasons for challenging the PCN in as much detail as possible and provide copies of any evidence or documents to support your challenge
If your challenge is accepted you will not have to pay the fine but if it is rejected you'll get a ‘notice of rejection’ which will give you 28 days to pay or appeal to an independent tribunal. If you do not pay or appeal, you will then have to pay a late penalty.
According to thegovernment website, the first step to challenging a ticket from a private company is to find out who the issuer is then contact them to find out how to challenge the ticket.
"If your challenge is rejected, you can appeal to 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 their website."
If the operator is a member of the British Parking Association (BPA), you can appeal to POPLA (Parking on Private Land Appeals, and if the operator is a member of the International Parking Community (IPC), you can appeal to IAS (Independent Appeals Service).
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