Private Parking Fines

[StottyEvo]

I live in an apartment with an allocated parking space, I've been given a couple of fines since I moved in, in February. The little card thingy that I have has fallen off the dashboard on both occasions. I've had the usual letter that looks like I put it together on Word 98 but I've just opened a letter from a solicitors stating that I now owe £185 for one fine, all official looking etc. It states:

"The supreme court ruled on the 4th November 2015 that chargers for parking on private land are enforceable and we believe our Client's charge is enforceable"

Will I be going to court over this?

[Danattheopticians]

Don't worry it'll never make it to court mate, the courts will laugh it out.

[TooMany2cvs]

I take it you'd prefer that there was no effort to stop other people using your parking space?

[PurpleMoonlight]

Write back and state you are leasehold/freehold owner of the private land in question and as such have the right to park there.

[Danattheopticians]

Some people can't read OP.

The OP wasn't parking illegally. I piece of paper fell down and tooman2cvs wants you to pay £185 to a money making bunch of scammers. Get a life!

If you want the easy way out, return the letter with a photo copy of your card to the solicitor (which probably doesn't exist) and respectfully ask them for the name of the "person" bringing the claims against you, proof of the loss that you have caused, with the evidence to back this up. They won't be able to do this and they'll leave you alone. Purely scaremongering.

[TooMany2cvs]

Danattheopticians said:

The OP wasn't parking illegally.

There's no suggestion of illegality.

Danattheopticians said:

I piece of paper fell down and tooman2cvs wants you to pay £185 to a money making bunch of scammers. Get a life!

So how is the person going round the carpark meant to know that's the right car...?

[Danattheopticians]

Record their No. plates, check this on the DVLA database against the address if this even becomes necessary. Also if there is no question of illegality then why would there even be a penalty? Is that really an excuse to fine him £185?

[anonymous-user]

Danattheopticians said:

Don't worry it'll never make it to court mate, the courts will laugh it out.

If it never makes it to court, how will the court laugh it out?

[TooMany2cvs]

Danattheopticians said:

Record their No. plates, check this on the DVLA database against the address if this even becomes necessary.

And none of the cars eligible to use the car park might be registered elsewhere? A lease company, say?
Or the car has been bought or sold or the RK has moved in or out, but the V5C record's not been updated yet?

Putting some kind of parking permit on display is by far and away the easiest way to tell which cars should or should not be parking there.

Danattheopticians said:

Also if there is no question of illegality then why would there even be a penalty?

Because it's private land that somebody may or may not be entitled to park on. Nothing illegal, but there IS an accepted legal right to charge if the conditions are not adhered to. In fact, it's the ONLY legal remedy that's available to landowners to deal with people parking incorrectly.

Danattheopticians said:

Is that really an excuse to fine him £185?

He's not being fined. He's being charged. The original parking charge has risen because it's not been dealt with and further costs have been incurred.

[Danattheopticians]

desolate said:

Danattheopticians said:

Don't worry it'll never make it to court mate, the courts will laugh it out.

If it never makes it to court, how will the court laugh it out?

Lol, good point.

I mean before they summons him in.

[Danattheopticians]

TooMany2cvs said:

Danattheopticians said:

Record their No. plates, check this on the DVLA database against the address if this even becomes necessary.

And none of the cars eligible to use the car park might be registered elsewhere? A lease company, say?
Or the car has been bought or sold or the RK has moved in or out, but the V5C record's not been updated yet?

Putting some kind of parking permit on display is by far and away the easiest way to tell which cars should or should not be parking there.

Danattheopticians said:

Also if there is no question of illegality then why would there even be a penalty?

Because it's private land that somebody may or may not be entitled to park on. Nothing illegal, but there IS an accepted legal right to charge if the conditions are not adhered to. In fact, it's the ONLY legal remedy that's available to landowners to deal with people parking incorrectly.

Danattheopticians said:

Is that really an excuse to fine him £185?

He's not being fined. He's being charged. The original parking charge has risen because it's not been dealt with and further costs have been incurred.

Point missed! It's his space, he's allowed to park there. No-one has the right to "charge" him for the use of his space. He only should, although legally he doesn't have to, provide evidence he has right to park there.

I agree the thing about No. Plates being difficult, however, I still maintain that no complaint was bought against the OP because he'd have to complain to himself. He has no case to answer, but I agree he'd save some headache by supplying the evidence, then case closed.

Better than charging him £185 for allowing a bloody piece of paper to fall on the floor!

[StottyEvo]

Danattheopticians said:

I piece of paper fell down and tooman2cvs wants you to pay £185 to a money making bunch of scammers. Get a life!

TooMany2cvs said:

So how is the person going round the carpark meant to know that's the right car...?

I'd wager that he was aware as the car is very distinctive and is parked in the spot with the pass displayed every day.

I was ticketed the very first time the permit dropped out.

Edited by StottyEvo on Tuesday 9th August 14:35

Edited by StottyEvo on Tuesday 9th August 14:35

[TooMany2cvs]

Danattheopticians said:

Point missed!

Not by me.

Datattheopticians said:

It's his space

No, it's not. He will lease it from the owner and operator, who are the people who have contracted somebody to control the parking, and on whose behalf the charge is being levied.

Danattheopticians said:

he's allowed to park there.

Yes, he does, providing he displays a valid permit. Which he admits he didn't.

Danattheopticians said:

No-one has the right to "charge" him for the use of his space.

Yes, they will do - and the relevant legally-complaint signage will almost certainly be displayed in the car park.

StottyEvo said:

I'd wager that he was aware as the car is very distinctive and is parked in the spot with the pass displayed every day.

I was ticketed the very first time the permit dropped out.

When you moved in - what if the previous tenant had decided they wanted to retain use of the nice convenient parking space? After all, the guy doing the enforcement may well have recognised the car... Or what if you sold your distinctive car, but the buyer decided that it was a nice convenient parking space? Do you even know it's the same bloke comes round every day?

Edited by TooMany2cvs on Tuesday 9th August 14:40

[StottyEvo]

You're really spoiling for an argument today TooMany2cvs

Irregardless of that, will I be summonsed to court?

[TooMany2cvs]

StottyEvo said:

You're really spoiling for an argument today TooMany2cvs

Look, it's quite simple - there IS a well-established legal right to charge for parking on private land unless conditions (time/permits/payment) are met, providing the signage meets certain criteria. It's been through courts, and courts have upheld it. You're not arguing with me here, you're arguing with legal precedent. You don't like it, that's fine - not my problem, so don't shoot the messenger.

What you need to do is figure out if the charge was levied correctly, with reference to the signage etc, and figure out how to reduce the payment if it was. Ignoring it is not the best option, since it can be enforced through the courts against the registered keeper quite legally - again, legal precedent supports it.

StottyEvo said:

Irregardless of that, will I be summonsed to court?

It's far from impossible - the law is very likely to be on their side, depending on the fine detail. How lucky do you feel?

[Thermobaric]

Depending on the parking company, court is unlikely, but certainly possible. In the future, you need to appeal the charges.

Go on over to Pepipoo forums and start a thread. They'll help you out.

[Danattheopticians]

StottyEvo said:

Danattheopticians said:

I piece of paper fell down and tooman2cvs wants you to pay £185 to a money making bunch of scammers. Get a life!

So how is the person going round the carpark meant to know that's the right car...?

I'd wager that he was aware as the car is very distinctive and is parked in the spot with the pass displayed every day.

I was ticketed the very first time the permit dropped out.

Exactly they knew it was your car (most likely as it could have been a new attendant), they are in a business to scare people into paying UNLAWFALL demands upon you.

How did the penalty notice reach you? Was it by post? Was that to the address that has this space allocated to it?

Another interesting one, was it addressed to the legal occupier (or similar) or to your name? If it was to your name, then they could match this to your records and then see it's your space. If it was to the legal occupier (Or similar) then who will they summons to court? You could just sent that back, not known, return to sender. In both cases there is no case to answer.

I'm trying to help you OP so if I sound argumentative in my response, I'm not, just showing you how you really have nothing to fear in this sort of case. The only sad thing is, it does also mean you can't do anything if someone parks in your space, but the notices displayed should be a deterrent to those who do not have the right to park there.

[Danattheopticians]

^^I don't know how that just happened? My response started from: "Exactly"

[Thermobaric]

Dangerous advice ^^^. Court is a very real possibility in these situations.

[bad company]

TooMany2cvs said:

It's far from impossible - the law is very likely to be on their side, depending on the fine detail. How lucky do you feel?

OK, not impossible but VERY unlikely given that he had the right to park there. The parking firm will now want the unrecoverable cost, agro or possible publicity involved in taking this to Court.