A woman was slapped with £400 in parking fines despite paying for permits and all while she was fighting for her life in hospital.
Kate Matthews had been at Hull Royal Infirmary since March after she was admitted with suspected intestinal failure and complications that her father said could have killed her.
But when the 36-year-old's family challenged the operator, APCOA, refused to discuss the notices with them because Ms Matthews was the car's registered keeper despite her not having driven the car before.
Ms Matthews then received debt collection notices demanding £130 for each of the three breaches issued between June 28 and August 13, even though the family had receipts proving payment.
The initial parking charge was £60 which would be reduced to £30 if the notices were paid within two weeks.
Recalling the ordeal, her father David said: 'Our entire family life has been put on hold for the best part of a year and you just don’t need anyone ruining it any further. It’s difficult not to be very, very angry.'
The 67-year-old retired architect from Elloughton, East Yorkshire, said the family were already paying £7.20 a week for a two vehicle permit when they received the fines.
He added that the letters had piled up at Kate's home because she was in hospital too unwell to deal with them.
Kate Matthews received £400 in parking tickets despite her family having paid for vehicle permits
When the family received the first notice in July, David's wife found the receipt that showed the parking permit for the vehicle was accounted for.
The family also had receipts covering every date a notice was issued to their daughter.
However, APCOA would not speak with Ms Matthews's family about the fines because her name was on the V5 registration document.
David continued: 'They hid behind GDPR and said they could only speak to Kate. What they were saying was utter nonsense. They were just hiding behind it.'
He said his daughter was its registered keeper due to her disability-related needs and had not even driven the vehicle.
The family initially kept the dispute from Ms Matthews while she was in critical condition in hospital, but let her know about the ordeal when she began recovering - and she was equally furious.
Ms Matthews was born with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS) and has been unwell with it for around a decade.
EDS is a group of inherited conditions affecting connective tissue, which supports structures including the skin, joints, blood vessels and internal organs.
Ms Matthews has been hospitalised since March after she suffered suspected intestinal failure
Hypermobile EDS can cause loose, unstable joints and digestive problems. But David said: 'It affects everything.
'It means she can dislocate her hip by doing something as simple as pressing too hard on a brake in a car.'
Ms Matthews was initially admitted to hospital in November last year with sepsis and an inflamed colon.
She was discharged at Christmas time after undergoing treatment but her symptoms returned.
Her consultant then arranged for a planned admission to hospital where she remained since March.
Ms Matthews, who was a specialist recruitment consultant has not worked for the last four years due to her illness.
'She is a bit better now but she is still in hospital - she’s no longer in life-threatening danger, but she’s still very poorly,' her father said.
'She keeps getting hospital acquired infections which is making her recovery more difficult.'
The 36-year-old was admitted to Hull Royal Infirmary where she was fighting for her life when she received the fines
How should parking firms be held accountable when their mistakes add stress to seriously ill patients?
David claimed that hospital security office staff told the family that incorrectly issued fines were a common occurrence.
In a joint statement, NHS Humber Health Partnership and APCOA apologised for the distress caused and confirmed that all the charges had been cancelled.
They said the usual appeals process had not been followed, but the family insists it did challenge the notices correctly.
But David said the hospital and APCOA have not apologised to the family directly for the ordeal.
He added: 'My message to them would be - get your act together. You should not be issuing multiple tickets to people who have paid and who are doing everything right.'
Humber NHS Foundation Trust and APCOA were approached for comment.
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