What do you do if you believe you have received a parking ticket in error? Maybe the ticket is issued for a parking violation in a city that you’ve never visited, or maybe you got a ticket in a spot where you felt you were legally parked.
Failure to pay the ticket can result in calls from a collection agency and the unpaid fine being recorded on your credit report. Here are some tips on what you can do if you find yourself with a potentially unfounded parking ticket.
- Contact the business to try and resolve the issue. Give as much information as possible as to why you feel you were issued a ticket in error. We encourage you to follow up in writing so you have proof of your complaint.
- If you are being contacted by a collection agency, you can fill out our debt in dispute form and give it to both the collection agency and the creditor (in this case the parking company). Once a debt has been disputed, the collection agency must not continue to communicate with you.
- Keep a copy of the debt in dispute form and proof that you have sent it.
- If the debt appears on your credit report, you can provide to the reporting agency an explanation in writing of not more than 100 words about the debt.
If you have disputed the debt with the debt collector but continue to get calls about the debt, please contact us.
About Consumer Protection BC
We are responsible for regulating specific industries and certain consumer transactions in British Columbia. If your concern is captured under the laws we enforce, we will use the tools at our disposal to assist you. If we can’t help you directly, we will be happy to provide you with as much information as possible. Depending on your concern, another organization may be the ones to speak to; other times, court or legal assistance may be the best option. Explore our website at www.consumerprotectionbc.ca.
In the past, I have received various parking tickets. What I have done was send them a letter, along with a cheque in the amount I would have paid. Then I keep an eye on my Bank Statement to see if the cheque has cleared the Bank, if it has, they have accepted your reason for not being able to pay when you parked, that you gave in the letter and can’t come after you.
I received a “statement letter” in the mail by Impark saying I owed them $85 for a ticket issued on 3/28/2018. There was no way I could’ve received a pkg ticket as I was in California on a road trip that day (which I can prove). I called them and was told it was an “error”, the wrong license plate was entered.
I think this is a horrible excuse and shouldn’t have happened. They said they had video and could see the other plate # was very different than mine. Impark should be held accountable for these types of errors and I’d like to know how often this happens to poor unsuspecting people who actually submit pmt when these types of “errors” are made. I know how ruthless they can be with their collection tactics and outrageous fine amounts.
I paid and park my car in a very dirty parking lot close to Gastown. Nowhere it mentions to display my receipt on the dash; not on the receipt, not on any place in the lot. Well, I got a ticket for not displaying which should have been deleted at a proof of payment. Instead, I got charged $10 for the complaint.
I would like to know if this is legal, after all I did pay my parking and end up paying $13.25 for an hour in a very dirty place.
Thank you
Hi Martha, thanks for reaching out to us here. Although that sounds like a frustrating situation, we don’t oversee parking lots so I can’t say for sure what’s allowed and what’s not allowed. You may be able to dispute the charges by working with the business directly if you’re unhappy with what happened. Outside of that, I believe your recourse would be through the courts, which I doubt you would want to pursue. I think your best bet would be to escalate the situation to management. I hope this helps and best of luck
They closed the parking due to the virus outbreak in March and still havent announced when are they gonna reopen. At the meanwhile, they are still charging the full amount from monthly parking clients in April and May. They refused to suspend our accounts for a few months. I paid for the service but then I did not receive it.
Hi Karina, thank you for reaching out to us here. Which parking lot are you referring to? There may have been certain cancellation policies that you’ve agreed to when you first signed up for the service, but I would suggest contacting the business directly to see if there is an alternative solution.
Greetings,
I parked at a private lot at 3001 Gordon Ave, Coquitlam run by Precise Parklink Inc. I paid for parking and have proof but accidentally parked in a stall they had marked as ‘loading zone’ (but the paint was so faded that it was not readable from the drivers view of the road – and I have pictures to prove that as well). When I came out of my appt, I found a violation ticket on my windscreen saying I was improperly parked. I emailed them to complain but they refused to budge and now are starting to send letters claiming they will send it to a debt collection agency. There were no signs mentioning any loading zone or the penalty for parking in a loading zone (which basically looks like all the other stalls). I have no intention of paying their ‘fine’ (which has now gone from $50 to $100). What a waste of time for them and me. Good luck Precise getting a cent from me.
Hi Is there anyway dealing with predatory behavior by parking management companies such as Royal Parking Service? We parked at a fast food restaurant and went in to grab something. When we came back, there was a parking violation ticket on the windshield. There was no staff onsite to inquiry. On their website, there is only an email address. The telephone listed was never answered. We submitted our dispute via email and heard nothing back. After 2 months, there was a notice with even more fine. Through BBB, finally someone talked to us. But they insisted their parking officer, who nowhere to be found at the scene, saw us going into an adjacent place. Now there was their words verse our words after months of no communication. I searched and found this is a regular trick by this company at different places to cash grab unsuspecting clients. How do I deal with them?
Hi Janet, thank you for reaching out to us here. Consumer Protection BC does not regulate parking companies and as our article suggests, contacting and dealing with the parking company directly is usually what we recommend. Contacting the BBB is also something you can do and sounds like you have already done that as well. Your next step may be to take the matter to the Civil Resolution Tribunal if you feel that the issue is still not resolved. You can see what your option might be by using the CRT’s solution explorer. Their website is at http://www.civilresolutionbc.ca.
I was ticketed by Royal Parking Services for walking out of the parking lot (2330 Ottawa street, Port Coquitlam). I parked in a lot and went into Mc’Donalds, which is where this parking lot is, the “officer” claimed “Parking reserved for Mc’Donalds customer only walk off to Costco”, Costco is nearby. The ticket that was put on my car had no image of my car being placed there. I reached out to appeals department via email showing them my receipt of purchase from McDonalds, and they told me to pay the fine. The appeals department does not talk on phone, and takes 5-7 days via email as per the customer support. I mentioned to customer service rep to get this resolved on phone, they were unwilling to resolve it over the phone. When asked to talk to a manager, I was told there is no manager to help. I requested to speak with someone from appeals department and was told they only get back over email. On top of that, customer support argued that the ticket which was issued at 1:59 pm and my bill receipt from Mc’Donalds which was issued at 2:12:40 pm was over 15 minutes apart, upon correcting them that it was a 13 minute time difference apart, they said it was outside of the 10 minute window. My ticket is $60 and if not paid in 7 days it is $73, which is a joke as the appeals department takes 5-7 days to get back. They should give a fair chance to appeal the ticket and still be able to pay the initially agreed amount. I will pay this ticket for now not because i am guilty of walking out of the lot but because I do not wish to receive calls from collection agencies and be harassed by collection agencies. I wish to still pursue the case even tho I am paying for the ticket.
Hi Jasneet, if you would like to dispute the debt, we have forms to help you do this here: https://www.consumerprotectionbc.ca/consumer-help/debt-collection/ You can follow the instructions on that page and learn more about your rights when it comes to debt and debt collection. Best of luck
Can I ask why parking fines have to be so expensive? I am a person that pays for parking and to get a $90 fine for a 30 minute grocery stop doesn’t feel right. Maybe if you are there for more than 2 hours, but a quick in and out and you happen to forget, you have to pay $90?
Surely a more reasonable amount would be $20?
For a growing family it hard enough these days to pay for groceries and we know its free parking because it is validated. Obviously we will pay, but a simply error for 30 minutes is absolutely crazy.
Is there anything we can do about these parking fine being so high?
Hi Shawn, I hear you. However, we have no legal oversight over the prices that parking companies charge. If you would like to complain about a particular company, I would suggest reaching out to them directly. Alternatively, if you would like to see more widescale changes, you could try writing to your MLA.
I parked in P2 of Indigo parking near Cambie and 8th Ave in Vancouver. You could only use their app to pay for parking, but there was no data down in P2 (so I couldn’t download the app). There was no stall/machine to pay for parking, and no signage directing me to any. I looked around for 10 mins, found nothing.
Came back half an hour later after shopping, and had a parking ticket.
I disputed it, sending them 10-11 pictures showing how it was not possible to pay even though I had all the intentions to pay.
They sent me back an image of P1, showing me the machine to pay for parking. And said, “we will give you a $25 discount, and no more discussion”. How was I supposed to look in P1? Why would I look in P1? There’s no sign directing me to it.
This feels like racketeering. They have intentionally made it near impossible to pay for parking, just so that they can give parking tickets.
I don’t know how to escalate this further? Indigo has said “we will no longer cater further disputes related to this violation”. And city of Vancouver has told me that this is not something that they do.
I can afford to pay the ticket, but it feels wrong. And I think the correct party is not held accountable here.
Hi Mehul, thanks for reaching out to us. We have no legal oversight when it comes to parking tickets or parking companies. Like the blog post says, our only involvement would be if your debt went to collections (in which case you would have certain rights under BC’s debt collection laws, which we oversee). If you can’t resolve the issue with the business, it’s my understanding that your only recourse would be through the courts, as there is no agency that oversees these types of disputes. You could speak to a lawyer to see what your options are. I suspect this wasn’t the answer you were looking for but I hope it helps.