The woman I'm referring to was given PCN's by a private parking company.

www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/fp/woman-must-pay-back-.../

That's Scotland where the law is different.

And it went to court. My point was that, at least pre Beavis, the companies in England and Wales were said to be reluctant to take a punt on the court fee. Risk for them was uncertain small claim case where an articulate defendant might actually appear and disprove their claim.

Advice was always to watch like a hawk for a summons as at that point ignoring ceases to be an option.

Edited by Bromptonaut on 17/09/2017 at 14:22

There's stuff on the Citizens Advice website about parking notices, although I do remember a thread on here some time back where someone castigated CA for the wording of their advice rather than the quality of it.

Myself, I follow the guidance given above and shuffle my car back and forth for ten minutes till I'm sure no wheels are on or over the lines. I'm so paranoid about being fined that when the ticket machine stopped working at a local council car park and I was obliged to park there for free, I returned to the car from my place of work every couple of hours to change the time on the handwritten note that I'd put on the dashboard, advising that I would come back in two hours to check whether the machine was working yet, and pay if it was.

If, one day, I get what I consider to be an unfair ticket I'll find an internet forum on which to wail about it, and accept any bad advice which is offered to me, because that seems the done thing nowadays.

Edited by argybargy on 17/09/2017 at 20:18

Several well made points here. Firslty, ORB is correct. If everyone made a huge effort to only park correctly for a month or two then some of these parking shark companies would go out of business. Who knows, we all may benefit from it catching on universally. Secondly, the advice I have gleaned from some forums is excellent. Quite often given by people who have been through the system and can guide others through it. I find my local soicitor, whom I know personally, is quite ignorant of motoring law in general and parking in particular. His advice is park correctly within the confines laid down in the signage, Not much use for a defence. Lastly, Bromptonaut has hit the nail on the head. As parking companies become bolder, we really need to examine the law fully to mount a defence. It would seem that some cases may still turn on the grounds of being 'reasonable'. Of course one mans' reason is another mans' folly, so extreme care is needed. Who thought that parking would become so difficult an issue. At the heart of it is emotion. Everyone feels really agrieved when fined heavily for what seems a very minor transgression. On the other hand, some ground rules need to be applied or chaos ensues. How about letting people pay a nominal sum for an overstay. Say £5 for an hour or a part thereof? Just a thought.

Cheers Concrete