My question is what happens if we decide NOT to pay this, or is there a way of reducing the charge to a more "reasonable" sum?
How lucky do you/she feel?
No point in using the parking company appeal route; you admit she was sloppy and suggest nothing in mitigation.
They might escalate the charge and take you to the County Court where, in the absence of deficiencies in signage etc, you'd probably lose. The principle of penalties and what might be charged was decided by the Supreme Court in a case called Beavis. On that basis £100/£60 is already "reasonable".
Since then Parking Companies have been more bullish about chasing these cases in the small claims (ie County) Court. Given the clarity of Beavis judges don't like time being wasted on ill advised and under prepared defences.
On the other hand if you're lucky it'll just get passed down a chain of debt collectors feeding ever closer to the bottom until eventually it's written off. Debt collection alone won't affect your credit rating but it can he a hassle to deal with.
Same thing happened to us. In that case SWMBO spent too long chatting to a friend she met for a coffee in M&S and overstayed the permitted time.
We didn't feel lucky and paid up.
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