A fed-up motorist has spoke of his anger after being given a £170 fine because of an error with a parking app.
Declan Hill, 57, was threatened with bailiffs and possible legal action after being unfairly slapped with the penalty notice at Grantham railway station.
The teacher said he had been running late for a train to Brighton to see his family when he tried to pay for his parking using the NCP app on May 21.
He was parked in the station’s ‘car park two’ but says the app only displayed the option for ‘car park three’ so he chose that instead.
However, the dad-of-two later received a letter stating he would be fined £20 for not paying for his £2.95 ticket on May 21.
After trying to appeal, he got no reply, and despite continuous efforts, he still received no contact from NCP.
This led to the fine being passed onto a debt recovery service, leaving Declan with an increased £170 fine and facing possible court action.
Despite feeling hard done by, Declan decided to just pay the fine instead – but was unable to do so after the app directed him to the website of a different firm.
He has now spoke out over his frustration and wants to warn other drivers after spending nearly four months unsuccessfully trying to get the fine paid.
Declan, of Grantham, Lincolnshire, said: ‘This is outrageous and this is a disgrace.
‘It’s not like I was trying to steal the space and then disappear. I was just parked in the wrong place for paying.
‘The link they sent me to pay for the fine took me to a website for Greater Anglia. I thought ‘why is this taking me to this?’.
‘I mean how rubbish can you be? You fine somebody and then that person can’t pay it.
‘I wanted to speak to a human being because I was only dealing with computers.
‘I am a good citizen. I have tried to pay this fine, even though I don’t think I should have to, and I have tried to do the right thing.
‘I am frustrated. Half of me wants it to go to court so a judge can say “why are you wasting my time?”
‘It would be laughed out of court surely, I’ve tried to act responsibly every step of the way.
‘If this was a public service there would be uproar about it being waste of taxpayer’s cash.
‘But because they are private and own a bit of land they seem to just think they can just ride roughshod over the little people.
‘It’s a disgrace I got this parking fine. I’ve been trying to pay for months but no one got back to me.’
After his local newspaper contacted NCP, the fine was waived but Declan says nobody from the company has let him know this is the case.
He added: ‘So I still don’t really know what is happening. The whole thing has been ridiculous.’
An NCP spokesperson said: ‘A PCN (parking charge notice) was issued as the customer paid for a different car park to the one he was parked in.
‘Looking into this case we can see that the appeal was declined because payment for Grantham Station car park one and two is not an option on the app.
‘The response sent to the customer explained that the PCN was reduced to pay an admin fee of £20.
‘On this occasion, as a gesture of goodwill, we have now cancelled the PCN with immediate effect.’
Motorists wishing to appeal a Parking Charge Notice should check first to ensure the parking company they were charged by is a member of an accredited trade association.
If the operator is a trade association member, appeal to the company about your ticket first. You can check if a firm is a member of the British Parking Association at britishparking.co.uk or email [email protected].
To give yourself the best chance of victory with an appeal get all the evidence that you can together on why the fine was applied incorrectly.
Present this explanation in careful detail, along with supporting photographs and, if needed, statements from others.
If you are unsuccessful the next port of call is the Parking on Private Lands Appeals service, known as POPLA.
Penalty Charge Notices or an Excess Charge Notices are different and usually issued by the council on public land, such as a high street or council car park.