Tamara Unlimited

One fine our new immigrant naivety made us pay not once… not twice… but THREE different times is parking fines. 😭

You know those tickets nicely placed on your windscreen telling you that you have 28 days to pay £70 or £35 if you pay within 14 days?
Yes… that one.

We paid it three different times before wisdom finally located us. Every time we would say, “But we only parked for a few minutes!”
The council basically replied, “Lovely… that will be £70 please.” 😅

But honestly, parking fines are just the introduction course in UK fines. There are many more subjects in this university of learning:

• Speeding fines – my husband personally donated £100 to this one for exceeding the speed limit. The camera just quietly snaps you and sends greetings in the post. 📸

• Bus lane fines – you follow Google Maps innocently and suddenly you’re in a lane meant only for buses. A few days later… letter arrives.

• ULEZ / congestion charge fines – especially around London if your car doesn’t meet the requirements or you forget to pay.

• Yellow box junction fines – traffic traps you in the middle and the camera happily records your mistake.

• School run parking fines – those “no stopping” signs near schools are not decorations.

• TV licence fines – many people ignore those letters until they realise they are very serious.

And this one shocked me the first time I heard it…

Absence from school fines. 😳

Yes, if you take your child out of school during term time without permission, parents can actually be fined. The first time someone told me this I was literally shocked. In many countries you can travel whenever you like, but here the school calendar is almost like law. Parents will understand this one very well.

The funny thing about UK fines is that they are very polite. Nobody shouts. No confrontation.
They just quietly send the bill to your house. 😭

These days when we park, we read parking signs like we're preparing for IELTS.
Lesson learned.

So let’s talk…

What fine have you paid in the UK because you didn’t know better?
New immigrants and old residents… come and confess small. 😂