Met Parking Services – Should you Pay or Appeal?

Have you received a Met Parking Services private parking fine and are feeling unsure about whether to pay or appeal?

You’ve come to the right place to get help. Every month, over 130,000 people visit our website for advice on fines and parking tickets.

In this article, we’ll provide you with simple, easy-to-understand information on:

•  Met Parking Services and their parking fines.
•  Whether it’s a must to pay these fines.
•  How to go about appealing a Met Parking Services fine.
•  Useful tips to avoid such parking fines in the future.

Research from Which? revealed that although 78% of members consider private parking fines unfair, many don’t challenge them due to doubts about the success of their appeal.¹ 

If that’s your case, don’t worry! We’re here to help you understand the process.

Can You Contest a Met Parking Fine?

My first piece of advice is not to automatically pay the Parking Charge Notice.

Next, make certain the fine is yours and given correctly.

Here are the things you should check:

• Is your registration on the Parking Charge Notice?
• Was it given correctly? For example, did you get the 10-minute grace period?
• Was the parking ticket issued in accordance with the BPA’s Code of Practice?

You could have grounds to appeal if Met Parking Services’ fine guidelines as set out in the Code are not followed.

» TAKE ACTION NOW: Get legal support from JustAnswer

Can you ignore a parking fine on private land?

Janine Marsh, our financial expert, says not to ignore private parking tickets as it leads to escalating issues like constant letters and debt collectors’ visits.

If you dispute the ticket, appeal directly to the parking company.

Debt collectors are notoriously persistent and don’t typically give up. You could face court action and if you ignore things, a County Court Judgement (CCJ) could be issued on your credit file by default.

If you don’t settle the CCJ within 30 days, the record remains on your credit history for six years.

You’d have trouble getting any sort of finance during that time.

Can you appeal a fine on private land?

As mentioned above, you can appeal unfair parking fines when you believe they are wrongly given.

But you have to prove it!

You should appeal the parking fine if:

• No rules were broken when you used the car park
• You got the ticket in the post over 14 days after you parked at the location
• Road markings and signs in the car park were unclear or not clearly visible
• The machines in the car park were out of order
• The parking fine you got was over £100
• You got back late because you are pregnant, disabled or have a young child with you (it is against the law to discriminate against anyone in the UK)
• You were broken down and waiting for help
• You got back to your car 5 minutes late but still got a parking ticket
• The Parking Charge Notice was sent in the mail, but no signs saying there was surveillance were in the car park

If any of the excuses above apply to your case, I suggest you appeal the parking ticket. 

You must challenge it within 28 days of receiving it!

Appeal Process Steps

I’ve put together this table to help you better understand how to appeal your Met Parking Services fine. If you have any doubts about private parking fines or want to learn more about the appeal process, be sure to read our specialized guides.

Process:	Steps you should take:
When you receive the ticket…	You should gather as much evidence as you can to support your appeal claim and prove that the ticket was unfairly issued.
If you were given the ticket in person/attached to your car…	You must make an informal appeal (sent to the local authority/council that issued the PCN) within 14 days. This should be a letter with the evidence proving why the ticket was incorrectly given.
If it was posted to you…	You will be given 21 days to submit an informal appeal (from the day you received the letter). Your informal appeal should be a letter with the evidence proving why the ticket was incorrectly given.
If the informal appeal is rejected…	You will receive a Notice to Owner and will have 28 days to respond to this with a formal appeal. You can conduct the formal appeal online or via paper form. The Traffic Penalty Tribunal can send you one of these forms.
If the formal appeal is rejected…	You will receive a Notice of Rejection. From here, you are free to challenge the council’s verdict at an independent tribunal.
If the independent tribunal disagrees with your appeal…	You should pay the ticket within 28 days of the tribunal rejecting your appeal. If you don’t, the fine will be increased by 50%. If you don’t have the money to pay the fine, you should contact Citizens Advice or another debt charity.

Remember that you can file an online parking fine appeal via the Met Parking Services website.

To do this, you must provide the following information:

• Parking Charge Notice reference number
• Vehicle registration number (VRN)

» TAKE ACTION NOW: Get legal support from JustAnswer

Do you need to provide evidence?

You don’t have to provide evidence when you appeal a Parking Charge Notice. But it helps if you do.

Evidence could include things like:

• Witness statements if anyone can verify your version of the story
• Receipts and documentation could be a receipt from a vehicle recovery company and letters you got from Met Parking Services. You could need them if you appeal to the independent appeals service POPLA
• Photos of where you were parked, the parking meter, payment machines, signs, road markings

What is a reasonable grace period for parking?

The operator should allow a 10-minute grace period for motorists returning to their vehicles.

Met Parking Services is a BPA member and must adhere to their guidelines that allow you 10 minutes grace.

If you got the ticket and the operator did not allow you the grace period, I suggest you contest the fine. Met Parking Services must investigate, and while they do, no other action can be taken against you.

Note: Appealing a Parking Charge Notice costs nothing!

Can you put in an appeal?

If you’ve lost the ticket, you can also find the information on the website. But you must provide the following info:

• Where and when you were parked
• Your car registration details

You can then challenge the fine once you’ve retrieved all the information.

Once you appeal the parking ticket, everything grinds to a halt. In short, the operator has to deal with your appeal.

They can’t begin legal proceedings or send in debt collectors until a decision is made.

Case study: Motorist confused about Met Parking Charge

I’ve included a message a motorist posted on a popular online forum asking how to contact Met Parking over a fine.

Source: Moneysavingexpert

Met Parking Services Contact Details

Post:	PO Box 64168, London, WC1A 9BE
Online payment:	www.paymetparking.com
Website:	https://www.metparking.com/

References

1. Which? – The rise of private parking fines