A WOMAN was left furious after being slapped with a £100 parking fine despite the ticket machine not working.
Irene Jordan, 73, arrived at the Cartergate car park in Grimsby at 2.20pm on June 21 only to find that the meter she usually uses to pay was out of service.
Irene decided to call the helpline number listed on the meter to report that it was broken.
But although she pressed the relevant extension number, she claimed she was cut off on two occasions.
Irene went into Grimsby town centre before returning to her car and leaving the car park around 25 minutes after she first arrived.
Several days later, she was left stunned after received a letter from an independent car park company, Excel Parking Services, asking her to pay a £100 Penalty Charge Notice (PCN).
The letter stated that the charged would drop to £60 if she paid within a certain time.
Irene then appealed to the Independent Appeals Service against the Penalty Charge Notice, but was unsuccessful.
Speaking to GrimsbyLive, she said: “I was absolutely certain I was in the right, I was all set on going to court to fight it. I phoned up the RAC for legal advice and they were very helpful, but they said debt collectors would likely start sending me threatening letters saying the charges will keep going up.
“I didn’t know what to do, so I decided to cut my losses and pay the fine. I owed £100, and had to pay through an automated phone number. It said at the end that if I wanted a text receipt, it would cost 10p extra.
“When I had a look, it was 7p a minute to call that number, so it was another £2.47 I had to pay. I was furious and cross with myself.”
Irene said she feels independent car parking companies “exploit” elderly people who do not have the appropriate technology or knowledge to use websites or apps to pay for parking.
She added: “What about elderly people who don’t have mobile data or the app? I took all the reasonable steps I could to inform them.
“It’s made me very stressed and very angry. I think these car parking companies exploit people.”
A spokesperson for Excel Parking Services Ltd said: “It is a matter of speculation as to why Ms Jordan was not able to speak to one of our helpline operators to report the difficulties she was experiencing in purchasing the parking tariff.
“However, there were no problems with our helpline number on the day she made the calls.
“The phone logs she provided of her calls did show that she called our helpline number albeit, the contact details it was saved under was that of the pay by phone provider, ‘Connect Cashless Parking’. It is unclear why she did not contact the pay by phone provider.
“Although, we declined Ms Jordan’s appeal, she subsequently appealed to the Independent Appeals Service (the IAS); the adjudicator dismissed her appeal and highlighted that ‘the fact that the ticket machine was faulty does not entitle the driver to park on this site’.
“Ms Jordan could have left the car park and sought alternative parking arrangements. We remain satisfied that the parking charge was issued correctly, which Ms Jordan has since paid.”
Sometimes parking ticket machines break, but that does not mean that you can park for free.
Police can still give you a fine, so here is everything you need to know about much the fine is and if you can get it cancelled.
You may still face a fine for not having a parking ticket if the machine is broken, but you should be able to appeal the decision.
According to Citizens Advice, the fine can be cancelled, but only if there wasn’t another way to pay.
The penalty won’t be dropped if there was another, working machine nearby — so ensure you double check before leaving without paying.
If you do decide to park, you should take a photograph of the broken machine as you’ll need it for your appeal should you end up getting fined.
More than half of drivers have successfully appealed parking fines handed out by local councils, an investigation by The Sun found in 2021.
But be careful, as some car parks will have a sign saying not to stop there if there’s no way to pay.
Should you ignore the sign and get a penalty, your appeal is very likely to be rejected.
