Parking Fine Private car park - should I pay???

Honest John Back Room » Legal matters
What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
View Threaded
Sat 9 Apr 2011 01:18
Parking Fine Private car park - should I pay??? - tonyp78
Plese help....

I parked my car in a private car park in December. The ticket machine was out of order so I put a note in my window. I returned an hour later to find a £80 fine had been left on my windscreen. I wrote to the company and explained that the machine was out of order and I had attempted to make the payment. The fine has now increased to £120. The company is called V.C.S Vehicle Control Services. Their letter reads...

We acknowledge receipt of your challenge to the above Parking Charge Notice. Despite careful consideration of the circumstances, we have not found sufficient ground to cancel the charge.

Whilst we understand your concern at receiving a Notice, it is entirely the responsibility of the motorist to ensure that they are not parked in contraventionof the terms and conditions prior to leavong their vehicle on site.

On the day in question a Pay and Display ticket was not clearly visible when the contravention occured. Therefore the Notice was issued correctly. We appreciate that there may have been a problem with the ticket machines on the day in question however it is not acceptable to leave a note in the windscreen. You could have utilised the helpline number on our signs to inform us of the situation or made alternative parking arrangements. Whilst we sympatise with the situation described , the fact remains that you were parked on private property without displaying a valid pay and display and therefore in contravention of the terms and conditions of the site.

Whilst you may not have intentionally breached the rules of the car park, the fact remains tha you were in contravention of them. We regret to disppoint you but unfortunately the circumstances you described give us no grounds to waive the notice.

Unfortunately as we did not receive your appeal within 7 days of the notice issue date the charge has now been reverted to £120.00. The required payment of £120.00 is to be received within our office by 19th April 2011. Failure to comply may result in the issue of court proceedings wherby further costs could be incurred.

Yours xxxxxxxx

If anyone has similar experience or legal knowledge on this please advise. I have until Monday 11th April to reply - only seven days, surely that's not legal notice!

Thanks for your time. TonyP78
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 9 Apr 2011 09:20
Parking Fine Private car park - should I pay??? - Dwight Van Driver

The words PARKING CHARGE NOTICE indicate to me that this is a civil matter involving contract and not staturoty authority of a PENALTY CHARGE NOTICE.

read:

http://www.tinyurl.com/2hr37d

http://www.tinyurl.com/lewaow

The General advice is not to respond to any letters sent, which can become aggressive and thereaten the end of the world.

http://www.tinyurl.com/yw8nnu.

Please note that at the moment there is Bill before Parliament that will change things and allow such companies to push by law for their shekels.

dvd

No2AV

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 9 Apr 2011 10:22
Parking Fine Private car park - should I pay??? - Dutchie

Hello Tony.

I would have found alternative parking in this situation why taking the change.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 9 Apr 2011 19:12
Parking Fine Private car park - should I pay??? - Simon

I'd tell them to stick their 'fine' where the sun doesn't shine. Firstly they have very little legal standing regardless of the circumstances and thus I wouldn't pay it anyway. Secondly given the circumstances they should rip the ticket up, but they won't because they are only after your money at the end of the day. They do not play fair ever.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 11 Apr 2011 13:12
Parking Fine Private car park - should I pay??? - daveweim

Sorry to hijack this thread but I too, am after a spot of advice. I have received a similar Parking Charge notice from a company managing our local retail car park for overstaying our free 2 hour stay by 20 minutes. I don't dispute this fact but think the size of the fine is over the top - £50. Howvever, having read this forum and HJ's advice I'm not sure how to proceed.

1) Myself and my girlfriend are both insured on my car and I cannot recall who was driving. Do I ask them to provide proof of who was?

2) Pay the £5-10 that HJ advocates as 'full and final settlement' in recognition of the overstay. My question (and worry) is that if I do this and the company rejects it what is likely to happen and what is my course of action as by sending this payment I or my girlfriend are admitting guilt.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Many thanks

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 11 Apr 2011 13:40
Parking Fine Private car park - should I pay??? - martint123

Howvever, having read this forum and HJ's advice I'm not sure how to proceed.</p>


Consider

(3) Ignore any and all communications from them.

Edited by martint123 on 11/04/2011 at 13:47

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 11 Apr 2011 13:51
Parking Fine Private car park - should I pay??? - daveweim

I did think about the third option as you stated but I am concerned that eventually after all the harrassment and threatening letters I will end up in court. The galling thing is that I spent £50 in two of the shops on the retail park. I am tempted to write to both of those companies saying I won't be using them again.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 11 Apr 2011 15:40
Parking Fine Private car park - should I pay??? - Dwight Van Driver

They cannot extract the 'fine' from you until such time as they take THE DRIVER to a civil Court for debt recovery. They have to prove who the driver was. The Reg Owner is under NO OBLIGATION in these matters to Identify the driver to them. Are they going to take a case and costs involved under these circumstances for the sake of a £50 fine which they cannot prove who the driver was?

The consensus of opinion will be to IGNORE the letter and subsequesnt letters that will threaten the end of ther world for you etc etc.

Its your decision......

dvd

No2av

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 11 Apr 2011 16:43
Parking Fine Private car park - should I pay??? - stackman

In Tony's case though he has entered into correspondence with the company and has admitted that he was the driver and has breached the terms of the parking contract.

Should his course of action now be to send them HJ's £10 along with a letter stating that this is a fair and reasonable sum for the damages caused by his breach and challenging them to prove to a court that their sum of £120 is fair?

If they return his £10 and threaten further action then he he should ignore these letters as he will be able to demonstrate at any potential court hearing that he made a reasonable attempt to settle the civil dispute and that the parking company were trying to impose oppressive and unjustifiable penalties.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 12 May 2011 15:44
Parking Fine Private car park - should I pay??? - rowley

It's in another thread, but to sum up - I overstayed a supermarket car park by 20 mins. Wife is the registered owner/keeper of the car. She is now being threatened by a PPC with a Norwich Pharmacal Order to disclose the ID of the driver. Can they do this?

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 13 May 2011 06:22
Parking Fine Private car park - should I pay??? - LucyBC

They can apply for any order they want andt a "Norwich Pharmacal Order" which - if granted - would provide a court order to compel the keeper to reveal who was driving.

A Norwich Pharmacal Order would normally require the applicant to show that revealing the information or forcing it to be revealed was in the *public interest* - ie to the benefit of society - not the private interest of the parking company.

Furthermore the substantial costs of a Norwich Pharmacal Order must be paid by the applicant (ie the parking company) and while they are recoverable if granted the application for costs is subject to a further hearing.

To get one would require a full hearing of the court and considerable expense with little chance of either success or recovery.

So any mention of a Norwich Pharmacal in a parking case is likely to be another empty threat from the parking company's representatives.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link