Parking charge notice - Please help!

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Mon 5 Sep 2011 23:15
Parking charge notice - Please help! - wrightstuff

Hello, i received a parking charge notice from parking eye showing photos of my car (and number plate) entering a private car park and leaving after 40 mins. They want £60 and this will apparently rise to £90 if not paid within 13 days. I have noticed there is a lot of information about these private car park management companies on the internet with most people saying ignore the letter. Has anyone any good advise on this please from a legal standpoint. Thankyou

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Tue 6 Sep 2011 09:50
Parking charge notice - Please help! - ifithelps

It's a scam invoice and can be safely ignored.

A few legal points:

No private company - or individual - has the right to fine or punish another person.

This is a civil matter, so your liability is limited strictly to the damage your action has caused the other party.

Civil courts do not impose punishments, they only award damages.

In the case of a fee paying car park, those damages can only be the parking fee you did not pay, which for 40 minutes is presumably a few pounds at most.

The parking company knows this, and of course it's not worth suing anyone for a fiver.

What you will receive is a series of increasingly convincing threat letters, but they are just that, threats.

I have ignored two of these tickets, although one of the companies still writes occasionally, more than a year after the ticket was issued.

The best advice is not to contact the company at all, because if you do, they will see that as a 'bite', and hassle you all the more.

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Tue 6 Sep 2011 10:46
Parking charge notice - Please help! - wrightstuff

Thanks for the advice. I know there are a lot of posts on this subject but wanted an up to date standpoint on this. It was a genuine mistake on my part and when I received it yesterday I was just going to pay it, but afterdoing a bit of research into these companies and the heavy handed tactics they use It made me think.

I do understand the owner of the carpark has to monitor and try to make sure users pay for parking but this charge is outrageous. If this company had asked for £10 in payment for not having a ticket then I would have paid it no question. I just feel that these companies are just out to make a small fortune on the back of the motorist.

I am also not happy that the DVLA sells these companies our information for £2.50 a go! What a money spinner that is!

Does anyone know whether Parking Eye could obtain my telephone number and start trying to contact me that way? Would that be legal?

The letter states that either I did not purchase a ticket or did not display it. I am intrigued to know how they know this when I did not even leave the vehicle so I know an attendant was not present? Maybe the ticket machine asks for your registration number?

The letter I received shows the vehicle entering and leaving the carpark but not actually parked. Is it likely they would produce images from other cameras showing the vehicle parked up or not? Is that relevant?

Thanks again appreciate the help!

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Tue 6 Sep 2011 11:05
Parking charge notice - Please help! - ifithelps

Whatever Parking Eye produce is irrelevant.

If you owe them anything, it's the price of 40 minutes parking, no more, no less.

Ringing someone is not in itself an offence, so nothing to stop them doing that.

But they are not MI5, so getting hold of your number might be tricky for them, even if they were minded to do it.

Ultimately, your legal redress would be harassment, but that needs to be a course of conduct, and a few telephone calls would not qualify.

I have heard of scam parking companies bothering motorists on the phone, but that tends to be after the motorist has made the mistake of initiating contact.

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Tue 6 Sep 2011 15:12
Parking charge notice - Please help! - RT

Having got the name/address from DVLA, getting a phone number off the internet is a doddle - they don't need to be MI5.

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Tue 6 Sep 2011 19:35
Parking charge notice - Please help! - wrightstuff

Whatever Parking Eye produce is irrelevant.

If you owe them anything, it's the price of 40 minutes parking, no more, no less.

Ringing someone is not in itself an offence, so nothing to stop them doing that.

But they are not MI5, so getting hold of your number might be tricky for them, even if they were minded to do it.

Ultimately, your legal redress would be harassment, but that needs to be a course of conduct, and a few telephone calls would not qualify.

I have heard of scam parking companies bothering motorists on the phone, but that tends to be after the motorist has made the mistake of initiating contact.

Thanks again for the advice.

Is someone able to clarify a point on this please?

I have noticed that the vast majority of people in this situation have parked on a 'free' carpark, I.E supermarket car park where you don't pay anything anyway but have stayed longer than the stated time. Does this make a difference if it was a P&D carpark?

Cheers

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Tue 6 Sep 2011 19:46
Parking charge notice - Please help! - ifithelps

The only difference is the amount of damages.

In a pay and display car park, the damages are the cost of the parking.

In a free car park, the damages are zero.

Unless the supermarket wanted to claim your parking meant other customers could not park, so it lost trade.

But that is a convoluted argument, and almost impossible to prove.

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Sun 7 Oct 2012 20:03
Parking charge notice - Please help! - angel24

Hi, I have just received a fine from CP Plus, has anyone had dealings with these people? I spent over 2 hours in Moto service station on the motorway (Chieveley, Berkshire to be exact) I was using their facilities, i.e. having coffee and shopping their, it didn't occur to me to look out for parking restrictions. I have noticed advice on here to be to ignore it, they have offered me a discounted fine of £50 if I pay early, I have appealed already but am worried about ignoring them, which is what I want to do, but worry if I do get summoned etc. and end up paying much much more - what to do?!

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Mon 8 Oct 2012 09:06
Parking charge notice - Please help! - Falkirk Bairn

To go to court will cost them £££s, to get an compensation order they might get £5.00 or less.............it won't happen, just ignore them.

They cannot fine you (only a court can fine) or put a black mark on your credit history as they need a court order for non-payment by the driver as their "breaking of a contract charge / invoice" is tenuous at best.

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Mon 8 Oct 2012 12:51
Parking charge notice - Please help! - Bromptonaut

Hi, I have just received a fine from CP Plus, has anyone had dealings with these people? I spent over 2 hours in Moto service station on the motorway (Chieveley, Berkshire to be exact) I was using their facilities, i.e. having coffee and shopping their, it didn't occur to me to look out for parking restrictions. I have noticed advice on here to be to ignore it, they have offered me a discounted fine of £50 if I pay early, I have appealed already but am worried about ignoring them, which is what I want to do, but worry if I do get summoned etc. and end up paying much much more - what to do?!

What's the date of the alledged infringement?

If before 01 Oct safe to ignore. After maybe not - see other posts in this forum on change in law effective that date.

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