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What Happens if I Don’t Pay a Private Parking Ticket?
Parking signs can be hard to understand and rules vary depending on who owns the land you are parking on. If you receive a Private Parking Ticket what should you do? It’s very tempting to just ignore it, after all what could they possibly do to you if you don’t pay? They aren’t the police or the government.

Find out more about what happens if you don’t pay a private parking ticket.

What Happens if You Don’t Pay a Private Parking Ticket?
There are some tickets you just can’t ignore. Tickets from the police or a council worker, are called penalty charge notices and these you must pay as they have the law on their side. Not paying your penalty charge notice could lead to a court summon and ignoring that could mean a visit from bailiffs. 

But what about tickets issued by a private company? This could be a college, a car park, a hospital, or something else. entirely. Tickets from private companies are called parking charge notices and these companies don’t have a legal right to demand payment from you. 

But can you just ignore a Private Parking Ticket?
Most private companies are perfectly justified in charging for parking on their land as that helps to ensure that people who use their facilities are able to find a parking space. E.g. hospitals may charge to stop commuters parking there if they are close to towns. or rail links.
 
However, you may feel that the ticket you received was unjustified.
– Did you deserve the ticket?
– Did you see and understand the rules?

If so, then maybe the ticket was deserved.

However, if the signs were not clear enough or the information was misleading you
may have a case to appeal.

– Can I be forced to pay the fine?
If you don’t pay you may find yourself being taken to court, likely to be the Small
Claims Court. You will have the chance to defend yourself but they could rule against
you. And if they do you may also have to pay the other side’s costs. It costs companies money to take people to court so they may decide that chasing money from you it’s not worth their while. Also, you may decide that the risk of being taken to court and the inconvenience just isn’t worth the hassle.

– Can you Clamp a Car on Private Land?
If you are parked on private land and the company clamps or tows your car you can
call the police. In the vast majority of cases, clamping or towing on private land is
illegal. However, there are some places, like public roads, where clamping is allowed.

Read our blog in full to find out how you can appeal a private parking ticket.

• https://gogirl.co.uk/news-and-advice/private-parking-ticket-pay/