Thread: Parking ticket from NHS

Morning all,

I am looking for some advice on this matter. I received a parking ticket whilst at work last November. I parked in the car park at work (hospital) which is owned by Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust (at the time, my employer). I was in a proper bay and had my staff permit displayed but did not buy a pay and display ticket as I had no change - should have been 90p for the day.

I had a ticket on my car when I got back, which I threw away and did not pay. If I did pay, it would have been £7.50, rising to £15 after 7 days.

I heard NOTHING more until this week, when I received a solicitors letter saying I had to pay £143 or they would initiate court proceedings, also threatened to send the bailiffs round and that it would affect my credit rating.

Now I accept that I should have paid the 90p for parking but this hospital is in the middle of nowhere, has plenty of spaces and the alternative would be missing an hour of work whilst going to get some cash.

Part of me thinks it would be interesting to see them in court - the press would have a field day - NHS takes junior doctor to court over 90p - especially as parking charges will be abolished in Welsh hospitals as of next week!

Any ideas what I should do?

Many thanks.

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Originally Posted by lottie1982

Morning all,

I am looking for some advice on this matter. I received a parking ticket whilst at work last November. I parked in the car park at work (hospital) which is owned by Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust (at the time, my employer). I was in a proper bay and had my staff permit displayed but did not buy a pay and display ticket as I had no change - should have been 90p for the day.

I had a ticket on my car when I got back, which I threw away and did not pay. If I did pay, it would have been £7.50, rising to £15 after 7 days.

I heard NOTHING more until this week, when I received a solicitors letter saying I had to pay £143 or they would initiate court proceedings, also threatened to send the bailiffs round and that it would affect my credit rating.

Now I accept that I should have paid the 90p for parking but this hospital is in the middle of nowhere, has plenty of spaces and the alternative would be missing an hour of work whilst going to get some cash.

Part of me thinks it would be interesting to see them in court - the press would have a field day - NHS takes junior doctor to court over 90p - especially as parking charges will be abolished in Welsh hospitals as of next week!

Any ideas what I should do?

Many thanks.

Welcome to the forums.

The validity of said charges are extremely questionable. Sounds like penalty charges to me. If you have breached any contract the most they are entitled to are 90p. Anything else is a penalty charge and therefore unenforceable under case law (Dunlop).

Have a read of this guide to get an overview of the legal position and these template letters for a guide on to respond. They can both be found in the stickies section at the top of this forum.

Really useful, thanks!

I will draft a letter tonight to send out tomorrow. Should I be writing to the solicitor or to the trust that issued the pcn?

Originally Posted by lottie1982

Really useful, thanks!

I will draft a letter tonight to send out tomorrow. Should I be writing to the solicitor or to the trust that issued the pcn?

I'd write to the solicitor first.