SALLY SORTS IT: Parking firm is chasing me for £170 fine after I was caught short
Last year I was treated for prostate cancer. On June 14 this year, my wife and I were on a short break in Cornwall when I was unfortunately caught short while driving.
I desperately looked for a safe place to pull over and sort myself out. I found an area with a few parked cars and some buildings close to a beach. There was a sea mist and not much could be seen towards the beach.
Having parked, I went to find somewhere to change my clothes. This took around 20 minutes, after which I drove back to Port Isaac where we were staying.
About a week later, I received a Parking Charge Notice for £100 from Initial Parking for parking without a ticket. In my anxiety, I had not realised I had stopped in a private car park.
I emailed Initial Parking explaining the situation. Within 30 minutes I received a reply turning down my request for forbearance. It looked like a standard reply, so I decided to write a letter in the hope somebody would sympathise. This failed, as did my subsequent appeal to the Parking on Private Land Appeals (POPLA) scheme.
Distressing situation: A parking firm is chasing a driver for a huge £170 fine after he was forced to stop due to medical condition
The POPLA assessor concluded he could not accept my mitigating circumstances. He said I should have been aware of the parking notices and paid the £2.20 fee. I do not believe he had taken into account the embarrassment and distress this condition causes.
The fine has now risen to £170 and I am being pursued by a debt collection agency with a threat of court action if I do not pay.
A. C., Hemel Hempstead, Herts.
Sally Hamilton replies: When you’ve got to go, you’ve got to go. But bursting for the bathroom appears not to be on the list of mitigating circumstances that will easily win over private parking companies.
They want motorists to pay up, even if they are parking simply to spend a penny in an emergency.
But yours was a more complex situation as your health condition and the effects of prostate surgery put you in a more vulnerable position than most.
It is not only hard to deal with such ‘accidents’ physically but as you described, they can be psychologically unsettling.
POPLA states that it ‘cannot allow an appeal due to mitigating circumstances alone’. It considers whether a parking charge notice has been issued correctly in line with the ‘relevant law, codes of practice, and the evidence provided by the parties’.
I was shocked by the determination of both Initial Parking and POPLA to brush off your mitigating circumstance and apply the Penalty Charge Notice come what may. I would have expected more compassion.
Car parking firms have it within their power to withdraw a penalty charge, especially in exceptional circumstances, including when a car breaks down or when there’s a medical emergency.
In my opinion, your predicament ought to meet the latter criteria. I put this argument to Initial Parking, asking it to show more understanding in your case and call off the debt collectors.
I am glad to report it responded, within a short time, with the words: ‘This charge has been cancelled.’ You told me a huge weight had been lifted off your shoulders.
Late uncle was £1,411 in credit on his energy bills
I have been in dispute with Scottish Power since my uncle died more than a year ago. I arranged his funeral, cleared his flat, and notified all utilities with readings by August 2, 2022.
I received the final reckoning from Scottish Power on August 5, which to my surprise said the account was £1,411 in credit.
I am my uncle’s next of kin in the UK, although my cousins are his executors and live in South Africa. It was decided it was easier for me to deal with the UK matters.
After much communication, I received a cheque for the sum owed with my uncle’s name on it. However, this could not be paid in anywhere as all his accounts had been closed.
I asked if the cheque could either be reissued and made out to me or sent by bank transfer to his beneficiaries, my cousins.
To cut a long story short, the payment was not sorted out, and I was forced to go to the Energy Ombudsman. It took up the case in December.
At the beginning of March, the Ombudsman upheld my complaint, and asked Scottish Power to pay the money owed plus compensation. Frustratingly, I am still waiting.
C. S., Burton upon Trent.
Sally Hamilton replies: When an energy account is closed, including when an account holder dies, the energy firm should automatically refund any credit owed within ten working days of the final bill being issued.
You suggested to me that if Scottish Power had met this deadline, there would have been no problem with cashing the cheque, as your uncle’s bank account was still live.
However, Scottish Power moved so slowly that by the time it issued the cheque, your uncle’s bank account was closed.
The delay set you on the course that, 12 months later, ended up with you writing to me.
You explained that a request to have the money sent by bank transfer to your cousins in South Africa had failed and even the cheque option proved fruitless as banks in that country stopped accepting cheques at the end of 2020.
You had clearly run out of energy in your pursuit of the money owed to your late uncle’s estate, even after the ombudsman had ruled in your favour.
So, I turned up the heat on Scottish Power. Normally, a firm can overcome payment issues after the account holder has died by simply changing the name on the energy account and reissuing a cheque in that name.
The new account holder doesn’t need to be an executor or even a next of kin. But this wasn’t explained to you.
After my intervention, Scottish Power finally resolved the issue, and reissued a cheque in your name. It included the £1,411 owed, plus the £60 compensation ordered by the ombudsman, and a further £60 as an apology.
A Scottish Power spokesman says: ‘We’re sorry for the delay in fully implementing the ombudsman’s recommendations regarding the late customer’s account, and for any additional distress this has caused his family at this sad time.
‘Due to an administrative error, there was a delay in ensuring all credit refunds and additional payments were processed and payable to his niece to action on behalf of the family.’
- Write to Sally Hamilton at Sally Sorts It, Money Mail, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT or email [email protected] — include phone number, address and a note addressed to the offending organisation giving them permission to talk to Sally Hamilton. Please do not send original documents as we cannot take responsibility for them. No legal responsibility can be accepted by the Daily Mail for answers given.
