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#Post#: 107472--------------------------------------------------
Parking Eye ANPR - Accused of under paying for duration - Wall
St, Hereford
DIR By: Malakym
Date: January 27, 2026, 4:07 am
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Car was parked up at car park but driver did not leave the car
for the duration. Sign said pay on exit so this was done prior
to leaving with the car. Machine asked for registration plate,
gave a value on the screen (£1.60) and says press green to pay
at the top - paid with card and received a parking slip
(granted this says "receipt" on it). Surprising considering I
was about to leave. I think the "when exiting car park" may mean
when leaving on foot leaving the car parked. Since the reg
number was entered at the end of stay (on exit) was expecting it
to calculate what was needed).
Received ticket in post for over staying, 1hr 13 on 1 hr ticket.
Took photos of signage on another day and of the machine -
entered a random (fake) registration plate to see what it shows.
The machine specifically says to select your tariff after
entering the number plate, but since the registration plate was
entered wasn't expecting to select our own time so assumed the
number (it was in £ not in time) was correctly calculated.
Basically missing the whole "card step" part.
Raised issue with POPLA who sided with the operator. Operator
only supplied a PDF of how to pay with cash, and didn't provide
evidence of signage as per what POPLA said.
POPLA says since the machine says to use the "Card Step" button
(IMO a stupid term) to increase tariff so the appeal was
unsuccesful. POPLA confirms the operator confirms the ticket was
for 1hr.
Not sure how long POPLA took to respond to the case, though only
found out when a "Letter before county court claim" was
received.
They base it on a "resonable user", though my thinking is its
reasonable for the machine to tell you how long you need based
on ANPR entry and entering a registration plate, specially on
exit.
Timeline...
29th August 2025
Arrival: 16:01:31
Purchase ticket: 17:13:xx
Departure: 17:15:28
PCN issued: 2025-09-10
POPLA appeal submitted: 2025-09-15
POPLA outcome: 2025-11-12
LBA received: 2026-01-07
Additional Qs...
1) It says pay before exiting car park - but it gives a ticket
at the machine. Do they mean exit on foot or exit in the car?
The car was never left alone.
2) The "10 minute" leway to enter into contract, does this eat
into the time allowed to leave the car park? (specifically being
1hr13)
Images...
Car park Sign 1:
HTML https://ibb.co/RkQygQhD
Car park Sign 2:
HTML https://ibb.co/ksfRwBp5
Meter sign 1:
HTML https://ibb.co/q3XW1MmL
Meter sign 2:
HTML https://ibb.co/qY4WKcfd
Purchased ticket or receipt:
HTML https://ibb.co/YB12NdzK
PCN Front:
HTML https://ibb.co/Rfks5sZ
PCN Rear:
HTML https://ibb.co/HLN2hmqt
POPLA Case:
HTML https://ibb.co/LX3PYb8H
LBA Front:
HTML https://ibb.co/0j98kmdY
LBA Rear:
HTML https://ibb.co/Y7Hp76Zs
#Post#: 107494--------------------------------------------------
Re: Parking Eye ANPR - Accused of under paying for duration -
Wall St, Hereford
DIR By: DWMB2
Date: January 27, 2026, 7:39 am
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--- Quote from: Malakym link ---
>
> The machine specifically says to select your tariff after
entering the number plate, but since the registration plate was
entered wasn't expecting to select our own time so assumed the
number (it was in £ not in time) was correctly calculated.
Basically missing the whole "card step" part.
>
--- End Quote ---
Your task on this point would be to convince the court that a
reasonable and observant driver would make this assumption. In
your favour is that this is a 'pay on exit' car park, so it's
not entirely unreasonable to think the machine may be connected
to the ANPR system and be able to calculate your stay. Against
you is the fact that the machine contains instructions, which
set out that the driver must select the correct tariff.
HTML https://i.ibb.co/R47rJFgS/Screenshot-2026-01-27-133357.png
HTML https://ibb.co/G3FYr6dJ
HTML https://i.ibb.co/6JHFfVgN/Screenshot-2026-01-27-134041.png
HTML https://ibb.co/S7tB9WRJ
--- Quote from: Malakym link ---
>
> 1) It says pay before exiting car park - but it gives a ticket
at the machine. Do they mean exit on foot or exit in the car?
The car was never left alone.
--- End Quote ---
I'm not sure the answer to this affects your case. They aren't
accusing you of paying at the wrong time, but of not paying for
your full stay.
--- Quote from: Malakym link ---
>
> 2) The "10 minute" leway to enter into contract, does this eat
into the time allowed to leave the car park? (specifically being
1hr13)
--- End Quote ---
There is a 10 minute grace period mandated by the Code of
Practice, at the end of a legitimate period of parking, to
account for time entering/leaving the car park, finding a space
etc. In some circumstances this period may not be sufficient,
although it might be hard to make that argument here, as from a
look at Google Maps, the car park in question is fairly small.
#Post#: 107497--------------------------------------------------
Re: Parking Eye ANPR - Accused of under paying for duration -
Wall St, Hereford
DIR By: Malakym
Date: January 27, 2026, 8:13 am
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I do think the main issue is "not reading" as I was focusing on
the screen (even though that said at one point to increase etc)
although I don't think everyone reads everything - not to
mention it only gives a price value, so you in theory have to
cross reference price vs time really which I think personally is
nonsensical.
I only read the first line "Press green button for ticket" and
immediately pressed it because thats how I think sadly.
The addtional questions was opinions on if others feel the pay
on exit is supposed to mean one or the other - and you answered
the 10 minute to mean both entry and exit which I thought it
might be.
Something else we were talking about here - it says "10 minutes
free stay" which I take to mean the grade period. Below it it
has odd wording "All tariffs include the first 10 free minutes"
- not the "first free 10 minutes". It seems to suggest the 10
minutes free is indeed free and up to 1hr means you're only
paying for 50 mins initially. Right?
If you note the real time in the photo, vs the expiry time the
ticket gives you for the 1hr tariff of £1.60- if you leave on
exit the ticket is +1hr? I can't be sure how it would display if
I put in a real car reg as we didn't park here to take photos.
Is it worth being clear that I am not ignoring the letter before
action, and I will await court summons (without giving any
details or not) - or ignore it until the time possibly arrives?
I know courts like to see good faith negotiations so wouldn't
want to impede this.
I'm going to try to narrow down my points...
Pay on exit + entering registration = assume it would calculate
for me.
I read press green for ticket on the first line only (...)
Maybe the 1hr10 vs 1hr13 point (but already the 10 minutes is
the grace so not sure)
#Post#: 107571--------------------------------------------------
Re: Parking Eye ANPR - Accused of under paying for duration -
Wall St, Hereford
DIR By: ixxy
Date: January 27, 2026, 2:06 pm
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Just a note here and it may be splitting hairs but it doesnt say
it's pay on exit but pay before you exit, I.e. you can pay at
anytime as you pay before you leave. This is exactly what people
wanted after the Excel parking pay within 5 minutes scandal.
Thousands of people use (horrible) machines like this each day
and get it right so understandable POPLA would assume a
reasonable person could interact with it.
Think of the 10 minute free more like an advertised
consideration period rather than free parking. So if you stay
for less than 10 minutes parking is free, if you stay more than
10 minutes then you have to pay for all the time in the car
park.
Looks like this is Parkingeye pursuing this so they probably
think they have a good case, not DCB Legal so more chance of
this actually going to court. Parkingeye have quite a good win
rate in court. In most cases entering any form of defence will
result in the case being dropped before the court fee is due but
I think thats less likely in this case and if it does go to
court your current defence of not understanding how the machine
works is a little weak.
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