Rip off parking fine - advice please

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Mon 3 Sep 2012 14:15
Rip off parking fine - advice please - Lady Golfer

Lidl in Taunton have recently introduced a time limit for parking at their store. I was unaware of this, nor did I see any warning signs when I parked there in August and got fined for overstaying my welcome by 10 mins. If I paid within 14 days the fine was reduced to £40. I wrote to the parking company TPS in Kettering and enclosed a £5 cheque saying I felt it was more than adequate for parking for 1hr 40 mins in Taunton.

I have received a reply asking for the balance of £35 or further action will be taken.

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Mon 3 Sep 2012 14:54
Rip off parking fine - advice please - Falkirk Bairn

Mistake -the Parking Co are not the Police or LA.

They have sent you an invoice which you should have ignored.

You should not have admitted/sent anything as it is an "invoice" to the owner of the car - they cannot Fine you as they are not the Police or LAuthority.

You have done what you have done so ignore all threats of brimstome and eternal damnation. They would have to instigate proceedings - they might win but £5 for 10 mins over Free spaces is OTT - after all there were other spaces and they were free for others and the loss of revenue was zero - as it is free parking.

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Mon 3 Sep 2012 15:17
Rip off parking fine - advice please - Bromptonaut

Assuming this is a Parking Charge Notice issued on behalf of Lidl, and what you say tallies with that then ignore.

If however it's a Penalty Charge Noitce in respect of space managed by the Council (and some supermarket car parks do work that way) then it has the force of law and needs to be paid.

After 01/10/12 the Protection of freedoms Act will be in force and the landowner can take action against the registered keeper irrespective of who was driving. See DVD's thread on the Legal section.

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Mon 3 Sep 2012 15:28
Rip off parking fine - advice please - Dwight Van Driver

Despite the advice above of ignoring the demand you are not out of the woods yet.

The crux under the law of contract is that they have to identify the driver at the time the vehicle was parked i.e. therefore entering into the contract. Until such time as you responded by sending them the letter, presumably giving information that you were the drivero or accepting as such they could not take action. Now they have that detail they can pursue to the end to get their fee.

The possibility is that because of the small sum involved they may not take it further through a civil claim because of the cost of doing so, in which case you can sit back and hope this will be the case and take no further action and be prepared to receive some very demaning letters and threats from them,

or

you could pay the amount demanded and the matter then rests.

dvd

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Mon 3 Sep 2012 16:11
Rip off parking fine - advice please - DirkThrust

They can threaten all they like but they will do nothing because you owe them nothing. It is not a fine. It is a speculative invoice which has no legal basis. They will NOT take you to court because on the small number of occasions that private parking companies have dared set their foot into court they have lost.

The only people who can fine you are the Police, Local authorities (ie The Council), TfL and the train operators. Private parking companies cannot fine you any more than any other private individual.

Ignore them and they will go away after a lot of bluster and empty threats.

Read this forum for more information.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=163

Edited by DirkThrust on 03/09/2012 at 16:24

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Mon 3 Sep 2012 20:01
Rip off parking fine - advice please - coopshere
What did you find to do for more than ten minutes in Lidl?
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Mon 3 Sep 2012 21:02
Rip off parking fine - advice please - Hamsafar

As said, you should have ignored or rejected it.

Unfortunately, as you have sent £5 you have entered into joinder with them and their contract so there is now a reason to pay the £35 remaining. Did you state that the £5 was for "full and final settlement"?

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Mon 3 Sep 2012 21:03
Rip off parking fine - advice please - Hamsafar

"What did you find to do for more than ten minutes in Lidl?"

Queue?

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Mon 3 Sep 2012 21:19
Rip off parking fine - advice please - Brit_in_Germany

From my recollection of english contract law, penalties in contracts are unenforceable. 5 pounds seems to be a reasonable amount for liquidated damages and a court might see it the same way if the parking company wanted to go along that route. There might be the argument of adminstrative costs for collecting the payment being included in the stated amount of course.

Edited by Brit_in_Germany on 03/09/2012 at 21:20

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Mon 3 Sep 2012 23:15
Rip off parking fine - advice please - Avant

Quite right, BiG - Lady Golfer should also check what warning there was of the time limit which at the time she didn't see. Was that her fault or Lidl's?

The terns of any contract have to be drawn to each party's attention before entering into the contract (in this case parking the car).

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Fri 7 Sep 2012 00:46
Rip off parking fine - advice please - concrete

Quite right, BiG - Lady Golfer should also check what warning there was of the time limit which at the time she didn't see. Was that her fault or Lidl's?

The terns of any contract have to be drawn to each party's attention before entering into the contract (in this case parking the car).

If you shopped at lidless that day, take the receipt and the parking charge invoice to the manager. He should cancel it. Aldi offered to do that for me, but I declined. Much preferring to let them waste their time chasing me for months. The royal mail did very well out of them and they got nothing but frustrated. Otherwise ignore them completely from now on. Good luck. Concrete
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Tue 4 Sep 2012 03:25
Rip off parking fine - advice please - 1litregolfeater

Pay up - you'll be subsidising their fabulous bread baked in store, which can't go on forever!

No seriously, every day I am shocked by the depths our nation is plumbing.

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Mon 10 Sep 2012 13:53
Rip off parking fine - advice please - bananastand

I agree. Lidl's bread store is weird.

Why do supermarkets have this new trend of leaving their bread products out in the open where every grubby oik can smear his paws all over them, not to mention cough splutter and dribble?

I bet this "fine" had black and white check on its borders to make it look all policey and scary.

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