A 71-YEAR-OLD motorist has emerged victorious from a bizarre five-year legal battle over a £1 parking ticket.
Nigel Richardson took on Euro Car Parks in court after the firm pursued him over the £1 debt for nearly half a decade.
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The semi-retired former business owner has since claimed victory in the David and Goliath battle after taking on a barrister while representing himself at Leicester County Court on July 11.
Nigel parked his VW Golf in Syston, Leicestershire back in 2020 but had no change on him and the card payment machines weren’t working.
He paid for his parking using a mobile phone but then received no notification telling him the payment had been successful.
Mr Richardson wrote to the firm to explain what had happened and that he might owe them a quid, they responded by slapping him with a £100 fine.
Later, Nigel found the receipt for his payment and thought that would be the end of the matter.
Over the next four years however he was hounded by debt collection companies, receiving letters threatening him with court action.
The fine more than doubled to £230 as well with Nigel refusing to back down.
At court Mr Richardson took on a barrister himself and was awarded £200 in compensation by a judge who agreed he had been unfairly fined.
Nigel then had to pay court costs of £180 leaving him just £20 better off after the five-year dispute.
Nigel of Rearsby, Leicestershire, said: “A win is a win.
“The simple thing would have been to just pay the fine but I knew I had nothing wrong.
“I made every effort to buy a ticket but their machines weren’t accepting card payments and I wasn’t going to be bullied into paying the fine.
” When I used the app I had notification the money had come out. I even tried to call a number to do it over the phone but that didn’t work either.
“I went to the shop to try and get change but they were closed early on a Wednesday, so I didn’t know what more I could do.
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“I know what these companies can be like so I even contacted them to explain what happened and to see if I could pay the £1 if the app hadn’t worked.
“But the next thing I know a fine comes through and then you have to start an appeals process.
“But then I found the receipt for the £1 which had gone to my junk folder – so I thought great, here’s the proof there’s no debt to pay.
“But even when I pointed that out, they said I hadn’t raised this at the appeal stage, so they kept on.
“Various debt collection companies and solicitors started sending threatening letters warning about county court proceedings.
“When I wrote to DCB Legal, who were pursuing the debt, I told them I’d got the receipt now and they said it was up to Euro Car Parks to drop it.
“I wrote to Euro Car Parks and they told me it was up to DCB.
“DCB said they would see me in court, so I said, ‘bring it on’ and I launched a counterclaim.
“I had the bit between my teeth by then and there was no way I was going to give up.”
Nigel later revealed that the firm said they would drop the case if he agreed to pay £60 and sign a confidentiality agreement.
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When confronted with the offer Mr Richardson said no to the parking company.
He said: “I said no and I knew at this point they were starting to back down as the next thing I know they were talking about dropping the entire case.
“But after four years and a lot of my time, I thought I was entitled to some compensation so we ended up in court.
“They offered me £130 but I decided to go to court instead as I had spent many hours writing letters.
“I looked up what a junior barrister charges and its like £100 an hour so I decided to claim for £2,480 which I think was very reasonable as I’d spent about 100 hours representing myself.
“In court the judge asked the Euro Car Parks barrister why I was being pursued for a debt I didn’t owe and he said he ‘hadn’t been instructed about that’.
“He was fumbling through his documents and looking at his phone for an answer but that was all he could say.
“In the end the compensation was settled at £200 but after paying £180 costs I only ended up with £20.”
He joked: “I had planned to go on a cruise but nevermind, a win is a win and it was all about the principle.”
Everything you need to know about parking
