NPC parking machine fault

[Daniel O]

I parked at an NPC station car-park, but the machine was out of action. My coins wouldn't insert, and there was a flashing message on the machine's screen saying "Out of action". I didn't have my mobile with me, or any plastic so I couldn't pay over the phone, and there was no other machine in the car-park. I got a penalty on the car when I got back, and I wrote to NPC stating the circumstances and saying that I have no intention of paying their excess charge.

 

NPC have "rejected" my letter, saying the parking attendant would have checked the meter was working before issuing the notice, and there was no fault reported on the machine. It seems that either NPC are just sending a pro-forma response and haven't really run any checks, or they have made an error, or the machine had an intermittent fault that corrected itself. Knowing nothing about the technology don't know whether this is possible. Anyone with similar experiences, or a possible solution?

[Jamberson]

Was the ticket definitely issued by NPC (should that be NCP??) and not a local council? Does it say specifically "Penalty Charge Notice" at the top, or just something similar?

[Daniel O]

Issued by NCP - (not NPC) and says penalty charge at top.

[Space Cadet uk]

It's not a fine, it's an invoice, bin it, and ignore all letters in future, they will send letters from pretend solicitors, etc, just ignore.

[Michael Browne]

Issued by NCP - (not NPC) and says penalty charge at top.

Are you sure? NCP tickets are usually headed 'Parking Contravention Charge Notice'

[Daniel O]

Quite right, Parking Contravention Charge it is on the plastic sticker too, now that I've checked

[Jamberson]

Anything called "Parking Contravention Charge" is not legally enforceable. If you don't want to pay it, you don't have to. There's nothing they can do. They will send you scary letters purporting to be from solicitors and debt collectors. They're just pieces of paper - ignore them, and they will give up.

[dx100uk]

speculative invoice

 

ignore

 

dx

[Andy77799]

Ignore! I did & saved my hard earned cash thanks to this site!

[greasmonkey]

they make more money when theres a fault on the machine

than they would if you paid for the parking they wouldent admit

it was out of order

[Al27]

It seems that either NPC are just sending a pro-forma response and haven't really run any checks

 

That'll be it. You've contacted them once, so you might as well write back and just tell them to cease any further contact or issue a court claim, otherwise you will be issuing a £100 claim against them for harassment.