Parking fine for mum visiting her ill baby in intensive care
MOTHER CHASED BY DEBT AGENCY AFTER WRONGLY BEING ISSUED TICKET AT HOSPITAL
A MUM is being pursued by a debt agency months after she was wrongly given a parking ticket while her baby was in intensive care.
Mellissa O’Neill was going to see her newborn Jacob O’Neill-Loynes, now five months old, at the Royal Oldham Hospital when she was hit with a parking charge notice (PCN).
It was issued even though her car was exempt from fines and her registration was logged with the hospital.
Mellissa had to have an emergency caesarean section as she gave birth to Jacob three weeks early. He had to stay in intensive care for 12 days.
She was told she could visit and park for free due to the nature of the visits.
But Mellisa returned to her car after one visit to find the ticket on her windscreen. She immediately queried the ticket.
Mellissa, from Derker in Oldham, has not made a formal complaint to the hospital, but made several complaints to two firms which have since informed her she must pay a hefty fine.
Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which oversees the Royal Oldham Hospital, said it would look into the situation and arrange to have the ticket cancelled – as well as making its car parking provider aware the matter had been resolved.
Mellissa said: “My baby was really poorly and a ticket was the last thing I needed. The ticket warden must know who is exempt.”
After receiving the ticket, Mellisa was sent a £30 parking charge notice through the post from Civil Enforcement Ltd. She made a formal complaint to the firm and said she would not pay the fine. Mellisa was asked to provide evidence that Jacob had been in the ICU at the time she received the ticket. The health trust provided her with the evidence in a letter which was passed on to the parking company, but Mellissa was then told the fine had risen to £170.
On refusing to pay the increased sum, debt agency ZZPN Ltd then made contact with Mellissa. She said: “I was asked to provide a letter from the hospital which I sent and now they are still insisting I have to pay. The whole situation has increased my stress levels. It isn’t good enough.”
ZZPN Ltd and Civil Enforcement Ltd did not respond to the M.E.N.’s requests for comment.