I was slapped with 22 fines for parking outside my home – I keep fighting them and WINNING
A WOMAN has been slapped with 22 fines for parking outside her OWN home.
Karen Niven has gone to court ten times over the fines - and won every time.
Karen told the the issue began when private homeowners on the estate where she lives brought in a private parking company.
But half the homes on the estate in Aldershot, Hants, are housing association - and those tenants weren't given permits.
It resulted in the housing association tenants being slapped with endless fines, despite having every right to park outside their homes.
She said: "When you first go to court it's a scary place, but I was so determined because I knew I was in the right."
Karen was issued 22 fines, contesting them all and going to court ten times.
She said: "I was so determined because I knew I was in the right.
"They were just putting penalty charge notices onto our cars, literally wherever we parked."
Karen said each time she wrote to the parking company to explain the issue - but they refused to drop the charge.
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In court the fines have been thrown out by a judge.
She is still waiting to hear back after appealing the 12 other fines.
And she said some of the other tenants had been intimidated into paying their fines after receiving letters from solicitors.
Residents are now asking the company to change its policy.
But she added: "There's been no engagement at all."
It comes as millions of drivers will see their parking fines slashed to £50 as part of government plans to crack down on rogue parking firms.
A new package of measures announced on Monday, designed to protect drivers from unfair and extortionate charges, will mean fines will be cut by up to 50% in the majority of cases.
The proposals include a maximum cap for parking fines, a ten-minute grace period before a late fine can be issued, and a requirement for parking firms to clearly display pricing and terms and conditions.
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In England outside of London and in Wales, charges will be reduced from £100 to £70 or £50, depending on the seriousness of the breach.
And motorists will be offered a 50 per cent discount if they pay within 14 days.
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Private firms which breach the new code could even be barred from collecting fines from motorists at all.
