I was slapped with a £160 hospital parking fine despite following instructions – but I’d been scammed
A FUMING grandad has revealed how he was slapped with a £160 parking ticket despite following all the rules – but soon realised he was scammed.
Ronnie Hayman, 73, parked his car at the St James’ Hospital in Leeds to visit an ill family member and was instructed to pay £6 for two hours via the Tap2Park website.
Mr Hayman said he paid for his parking but the owners of the car parking later sent him a £100 fine letter to his address.
The grandad-of-seven said the paring website was hacked and the fee he paid at the hospital went into a dodgy account called “Mr Muscle”.
But just a month later he was sent a second letter demanding an increased fine of £160. He also received a letter from a bailiff company.
Fortunately, his fine was quashed after he told I Park Services about the problem and sent them proof of payment.
He told Leeds Live: “It’s a good win. I think it was all down to the publicity that you [Leeds Live] provided. I sent them a copy of your article and to the bailiff as well, and it did the trick.
“It was just annoying having to go through all that stress and aggravation when it wasn’t my fault. If they had any common sense, they would have realised everything was genuine when I sent them a copy of the bank proof of payment.
“As you get older and you’re not working as long hours then things bug you. This bugged me and I had the time to do something about it. If it had been 20 years ago, I’d have probably done nothing about it and paid the fine.”
The food man was soon contacted by the bailiffs who told them that the case against him was being dropped and that he should not expect any further correspondence in this matter.
The parking website company Tap2Park previously admitted they were targeted by hackers who ran a dupe website to scam customers.
The website said all they provide is an online platform as a payment provider, and have nothing to do with the running of the car park.
A spokesperson for Tap2Park told the media outlet: “Earlier this year, we were alerted to the existence of an unauthorised website, accessible through a Google search, which misappropriated our logo and falsely represented our service.
“This fraudulent site directs individuals to an illegitimate payment platform. Upon discovering this, we promptly reported the matter to Action Fraud and submitted a takedown request to Google to address the issue.
“Unfortunately, to date, despite several follow-ups on our part, we have not received a response from either entity. As part of our ongoing efforts to resolve this, we are now preparing to escalate the matter by issuing a pre-action letter to protect our brand and safeguard users against this deceptive activity.”
Can I be fined for not having a parking ticket if the machine isn’t working?
Sometimes parking ticket machines break, but that does not mean that you can park for free.
Police can still give you a fine, so here is everything you need to know about much the fine is and if you can get it cancelled.
You may still face a fine for not having a parking ticket if the machine is broken, but you should be able to appeal the decision.
According to Citizens Advice, the fine can be cancelled, but only if there isn’t another way to pay.
The penalty won’t be dropped if there is another, working machine nearby — so ensure you double-check before leaving without paying.
If you do decide to park, you should take a photograph of the broken machine as you’ll need it for your appeal should you end up getting fined.
More than half of drivers have successfully appealed parking fines handed out by local councils, an investigation by The Sun found in 2021.
But be careful, as some car parks will have a sign saying not to stop there if there’s no way to pay.
Should you ignore the sign and get a penalty, your appeal is very likely to be rejected.