Saba Parking Services – Should you Pay or Appeal?
Have you received a private parking fine from Saba Parking Services and are unsure if you should pay or appeal? You’ve found the right guide.
Every month, over 130,000 people visit our website to understand their fines and parking tickets, and The DVLA reports that over 11 million parking tickets were issued last year, which is up by 29% year on year!1 You are not the only one facing this issue.
In this easy-to-read article, you’ll find:
- Who Saba Parking Services is.
- Whether you need to pay Saba Parking fines.
- How to appeal a Saba Parking Services fine.
- What happens when you ignore a Saba Parking Services fine.
- Tips on avoiding a Parking Charge Notice.
We know it can be a big bother when you get a private parking fine. But don’t worry; we have lots of helpful advice and real-life examples to guide you.
Let’s dive in!
Most Ticket Appeals Succeed
In some circumstances, you might have a legitimate reason not to pay your parking fine.
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Not only did I save £50 on solicitor fees, I also won my case and didn’t have to pay my £271 fine.
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*According to Martin Lewis, 56% of people who try to appeal their ticket are successful and get the charge overturned, so it’s well worth a try.
Will you have to pay the fine?
You’ll have to pay a Saba Parking Services fine if you:
- Were badly parked
- Didn’t pay
- Overstayed the time allotted
That said, don’t automatically pay the fine until you’ve checked the following:
- Are the details on the Saba Parking ticket correct? For example, does it contain the right vehicle registration details
- Was the fine issued following British Parking Association guidelines? (Code of Practice)
- Were you just a few minutes late returning to your car?
All the above could be grounds for contesting a parking ticket issued by Saba Parking Services. I was recently featured in The Sun about parking tickets, where I encouraged everyone to check whether the ticket was issued by a member of a trade association. If they aren’t, then they probably can’t get your details from the DVLA to pursue you.
Note: The impact of non-payment of parking fines, however, could be far-reaching.
How do you appeal it?
You have the right to appeal the fine when you believe a fine is wrong, unfair, or incorrectly issued.
You have 28 days from receiving the parking fine to lodge an appeal with the operator.
Instructions on how to appeal the fine are found on the notice if the fine is sent by mail.
Suppose the fine was left on your vehicle. In that case, you could appeal in writing to the operator within 28 days of getting the parking ticket.
Alternatively, you can appeal online. Again, you have 28 days to file an appeal.
You must provide the following details with your appeal
- The parking ticket reference number
- Your vehicle registration details
- The reason why you’re appealing the fine
If the operator rejects your appeal, they must tell you how to file POPLA parking appeals.
Here’s how a typical appeal process works:
| 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. |
Successful Appeal Case Study
Situation
| Initial Fine | £100 |
| Additional Fees | £171 |
| Total Fine | £271 |
The Appeal Process
Scott used JustAnswer, online legal service to enhance his appeal. The trial of this cost him just £5.
| Total Fine | £271 |
| Cost of legal advice | £5 |
JustAnswer helped Scott craft the best appeal possible and he was able to win his case.
Scott’s fine was cancelled and he only paid £5 for the legal help.
In partnership with Just Answer.
How do you make a POPLA appeal?
The operator should provide details on how to escalate your appeal to POPLA in their letter of rejection.
That said, I suggest you can provide the following with your POPLA appeal:
- The 10-digit verification number
- The Parking Charge Notice number
- Your vehicle registration number (VRN)
- Your details
- Details on your grounds to appeal the Parking Charge Notice
- All supporting evidence
What evidence should you provide with an appeal?
In my experience, the more evidence you can provide, the stronger your appeal against a private parking ticket could be.
The sort of evidence you should gather could include:
- Witness statements if anyone can corroborate your version of events
- A copy of a valid Pay & Display ticket you purchased
- Photos of signs and road markings which were unclear
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What happens when you ignore the fine?
The operator will send you payment reminders. Lots of them.
They could pass your details to a debt collection agency when you don’t reply or pay.
In a worst-case scenario, Saba Parking Services could take you to court!
Parking fines court procedures should never be ignored.
You could get a County Court Judgement (CCJ) for non-payment of a debt.
It will affect your credit history, making it harder to get credit for up to 6 years if you don’t settle the CCJ within 30 days.
Parking tickets are escalating and becoming a large issue. In fact, the RAC found that the number of parking tickets being issued is up by nearly 30%! The report also found that misleading and deliberately confusing signage in private car parks is part of the problem.2
What happens when you don’t pay?
The operator will chase you for the payment.
In addition, as I previously mentioned, your details could be sent to a debt collection agency if you continue to ignore their payment demands.
Finally, as a last resort, Saba Parking Services may start legal proceedings to recover the debt.
Note: A parking fine issued on private land is an invoice; therefore, an operator can’t legally demand payment from you. They must take you to court and win the case. In this case, the court would order you to pay the parking fine!
How likely is it a parking company will take you to court?
Saba Parking Services will send out payment reminders with each getting more threatening.
If you don’t respond, the operator could take you to court. But before they do, the operator must send you a Letter Before Action.
I suggest you either pay the fine or appeal it before this happens. Ignoring a Letter Before Action could lead to a default being registered against you.
Does Saba Parking Services give you a grace period?
Saba Parking Services are BPA members.
It means they should adhere to the BPA guidelines, including allowing motorists a 10-minute grace period when they return to their cars.
In short, the operator must respect UK parking regulations regarding a grace period.
If you are given a ticket before the 10 minutes are up, you could have grounds to get the fine cancelled.
You could also file a complaint about the operator with the BPA!
That said, you won’t be given a grace period if:
- You didn’t buy a ticket
- Your car was parked incorrectly
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Could you get a CCJ for a Saba Parking Services fine?
For the fine itself, no.
But if you refuse to pay, ignore the fine, and the operator starts legal proceedings, you could!
Although a private car park management company cannot legally demand you pay a fine, a court could order you to pay.
When this happens, a parking fine on private land becomes enforceable.
Note: If you let a court decide the matter, you could end up with a CCJ on your credit record if you don’t pay!
You could have trouble getting:
- A bank loan
- Mortgage
- Credit card
That’s the impact of non-payment of parking fines in the UK.
Do They have to follow a Code of Practice?
Yes. Saba Parking Services should follow the BPA code of practice.
In short, the operator should manage a private car park following the association’s guidelines.
But mistakes happen when parking fines are issued on private land.
For example, maybe the Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) recorded your vehicle registration incorrectly.
ANPR parking errors are commonplace. Also, tickets can be issued incorrectly for several reasons.
As such, I suggest you do the following before paying a Saba Parking Services fine:
- Check the details on the notice are right
- Make sure you were allowed a grace period
Can you stop Saba Park Services from contacting you?
When you want to stop an operator from taking the matter further, you should either pay the fine within 14 days. It means you pay a lower amount.
Or, you appeal the fine, which means the operator can do nothing until a decision is made on your appeal!
Look what happened to one motorist who was contacted by a debt collector even though they had not heard from Saba Parking!
Source: Moneysavingexpert
Hire a Parking Solicitor for less than a coffee.
If you’re thinking about appealing your parking ticket then getting some professional advice is a good idea.
Getting the support of a Solicitor can make your appeal much more likely to win.
For a £5 trial, Solicitors from JustAnswer can look at your case and help you create an airtight appeal.
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