How to shoot down unfair parking fines & penalty charges

IF you get an unfair ticket in a private car park.... DON'T PAY IT!

These supposed "fines" are the new Wild West - and whether the cowboys do it at supermarkets or housing estates, they're often unenforceable.

My gunslinging is due to a barrage of unhappy motorists feeling harassed and bullied to pay £75-plus tickets having apparently broken dubious parking rules on private land.

They report threats about debt collectors or bailiffs, lies about their credit rating being hit, and vehicles clamped. Yet these companies have very little legal right to charge you, it's all BLUFF and BLUSTER.

THEY HAVE NO RIGHT TO FINE

Tickets are actually just invoices, a claim you broke a CONTRACT with the landowner - they have no power to fine. What contract? The one allowing you to park on their property.

Yet this assumes you had tacitly agreed to accept it and without clear signage, that is unlikely. Ultimately the only way they can force you to pay is via a court and that's virtually unheard of. Yet they still do better impressions than Jon Culshaw, with tickets designed to MIMIC official council fines, (see www.moneysavingexpert.com/parkingtickets to fight those).

THIS IS ABOUT UNFAIR TICKETS

Landowners have a right to charge for and to police proper parking. If you have broken those rules, and don't consider the ticket extortionate, I'd urge you to pay.

Yet private parking is unruly and largely unregulated. Even legit companies can sub-contract dodgy third- parties to run their parking. Tickets can be much costlier than local councils, there can be unclear signage, and systems are often actually designed to catch people for profit, not play fair.

TIME TO FIGHT BACK

Firms charge willy-nilly, so we can CHALLENGE unfair tickets the same way. Anecdotal reports show most who fight WIN.

STEP 1. How militant are you? Rabid anti-private parking activists advocate ignoring ALL ticket correspondence. Never reply, never acknowledge, no matter what is sent - unless it is from the court.

As firms may well be unwilling to take court action, it is an often successful stance though, if it does get to court, judges may look down on it.

At the other end of the scale, for those who hate any confrontation, use the parking company's own appeals system (if it has one). Yet this effectively acknowledges the ticket's validity, putting yourself at its mercy. Alternatively, for the middle ground:

STEP 2. Don't react to windscreen tickets. Make IT chase YOU. Paying and trying to reclaim's tough, far easier to dispute by not paying. If you've a windscreen ticket, gather evidence e.g. mobile photos of the scene, unclear signs and murky road markings. Then wait, see if they've legit access to the number plate database, to get your address. If not, hooray.

STEP 3. Were you the driver?

On private land, the driver not owner, is responsible. So if an invoice lands and you weren't driving, write back saying so, adding you're NOT liable (and you've no obligation to tell who was driving either).

If it contacts you again, write back politely asking them NOT to harass you. Keep copies of correspondence. Yet DON'T LIE, if you were driving, you could be in serious trouble if the case ever went to court.

STEP 4. Establish your complaint. If you're invoiced and were driving, your argument should fit one or more of these: You didn't break any rules, were misled by poor signs, didn't actually park on private land, had mitigating circumstances, or the fine's way too high.

STEP 5: Write refusing to pay. Enclose necessary evidence and explain why you dispute the invoice. NEVER call it an appeal - you're challenging the ticket's validity. Free template letters at www.moneysavingexpert.com/privateparking .

Any challenge means companies must weigh up the hassle of continuing. One former lawyer claims to have helped cancel 2,500-plus tickets.

STEP 6. Fight on. If it doesn't stop, firmly and politely hold your ground. It can only make you pay via the courts, and while it may threaten to do so, rarely follows through.

Yet repeated harrying can be stressful, so here personally decide whether stopping the angst outweighs the cost of paying.

STEP 7. Unlikely event of court. Court action is rare and these small amounts mean it's usually Small Claims - so don't think judges and wigs, more commonly it's just paperwork. The worst that can happen is you're ordered to pay (costs aren't awarded). If you need go to court, be confident of the arguments. Speak to Citizens' Advice first.

Do let me know your private parking stories and success at notw@money savingexpert.com

* READ Martin's earlier columns at notw.co.uk/columnists/martin_lewis

PRIVATE CLAMPING AND TOWING

FIRST, check they're registered with the Security Industry Authority. If not, clamping is illegal. Then pay up but write clearly on documents that it's "paid under protest". Next start the tougher fight to get your money back. See www.moneysavingexpert.com/privateparking

TV Money Guru Martin Lewis is the creator of the Consumer Revenge website www.moneysavingexpert.com which is packed with info on how to get more money in your pocket.

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