Pay or Appeal? Vars Parking Charge Notice Contact Number

Have you received a Vars parking charge notice and are wondering whether to pay or appeal?

You’ve come to the right place. Every month, over 130,000 people visit our site to understand their fines and parking tickets.

This article will give you simple and straightforward advice on:

•  Deciding if you need to pay Vars parking fines
•  Learning how to appeal a Vars parking charge notice
•  Knowing what happens if you don’t pay a PCN from Vars
•  Finding out if a parking charge can affect your credit score

Research from Which? found that the rise in fines can be attributed in part to unclear rules and the variety of payment methods offered in private car parks¹ — something we’re no strangers to.

So if you’re feeling overwhelmed by the process, don’t worry. We have plenty of handy tips and examples ready to guide you. 

Please keep in mind that this article is for information only; we know that every situation is different. Always check with a legal professional if you’re unsure about your specific case.

Do You Need To Pay a VARS Parking Fine?

A private parking charge is not a fine. It is nothing more than a bill, asking you to pay the fee for breaching a contract.

If you disagree, you are well within your rights to query payment if you believe the PCN was given to you for inappropriate reasons.

Private parking firms are notorious for slapping people with parking fines for any and every reason.

They are, after all, in the business of making money from parking.

Also, these kinds of companies try to disguise the parking charge notice as an official-looking document, that you absolutely must pay.

So, the main question here, is are private parking charges legally enforceable?

In general, they are not.

How To Pay VARS

You can make a VARS PCN online payment.

You will need to have:

• A valid credit or debit card
• The PCN number

VARS seems to offer no way to pay by telephone or to pay by post. You also cannot pay in instalments.

How To Make an Appeal

You can make a VARS PCN appeal online via the company’s website.

You’ll need to provide the following:

• Evidence to support your appeal
• The parking charge reference number

Something to keep in mind though, is even if the company sends you the PCN long after the offence took place, this won’t be grounds for overturning it.

Appeal Process Steps

Appealing a Parking Charge Notice is often confusing as shown by this message posted on a popular online forum.

Source: Moneysavingexpert

But don’t worry! We’ve put together this quick table to help you better understand the appeal process.

If you require further advice or want to learn more about the steps you should take, be sure to check out our complete guide.

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.

Reasons to appeal a Vars ticket

Challenging a VARS parking ticket is your right if:

• The parking ticket arrived over 14 days after you parked
• You didn’t commit a parking violation and were parked correctly
• Road markings and signs were unclear
• There was no way for you to pay
• The charge was over the capped amount (£100 as of July 2023)
• You were not driving when the parking charge was issued
• There were mitigating circumstances that prevented you from getting back to your vehicle
• You were broken down and had to wait for assistance
• The ticket was issued before the grace period had expired

What Happens If You Don’t Pay?

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.

Often, private parking firms use strong-arm tactics to try and scare people into paying. Don’t fall for this trick.

Remember, it’s just an invoice, not an immediately enforceable fine.

Will VARS Take You to Court for Payment?

In some instances, a private parking firm may not take you to court to collect the fine, VARS might be different.

In general, most private parking firms will hound you with ever-increasing threats of further action if you don’t pay. But eventually will stop short of the full debt collection process, as they then face the expense of paying a debt collection agency, and potentially funding a court case.

It simply doesn’t make financial sense to follow this process for such as mall amount of money.

But VARS might take things this far.

As we mentioned at the start of this post, VARS operates its own debt collection agency. So, the process of turning your debt over to a collection agency is simpler and far cheaper for VARS.

In this case, it may be that VARS could take you to court, and a CCJ from unpaid parking fines would impact your credit score.

The takeaway here should be that VARS, unlike many other private parking operators, has access to the legal infrastructure needed to pursue the parking charge beyond simply sending you threatening letters.

References

1. Which? – The rise of private parking fines