Clarification on some issues re private parking and fines.

[sneezecakesmum]

This is a ruling that may interest people as there are always ? from people with hefty parking fines on MN legal.


Got a parking ticket - council or private ?

Parking tickets from a local council are dealt with entirely differently to those from a private parking company.


The Protection of Freedoms Act 2010-12 received Royal assent on May 1st.

From October the wheel clamping ban in England and Wales will apply to parking on private land only.

Parking company comes a cropper in court
Back in February 2011, a First Tier Tax Tribunal ruled that Vehicle Control Services, a private parking company which did not have an interest in a car park which it was only managing on behalf of a landowner, was not entitled to sue trespassers as principal.

VCS and their parent company Excel happily continued to issue court claims while they appealed to the Upper Tribunal.

However, in March 2012, the Upper Tier Tribunal agreed with the First Tier Tribunal that VCS had insufficient interest in the car parks to pursue a trespass claim and decided that there was no contract between the motorists and VCS.

This was confirmed on 16th May 2012 when VCS lost their case (VCS v Ronald Ibbotson) at Scunthorpe County Court.

The Judge ruled that only the landowner can take the matter to court and not people acting as their agents (VCS) and that the landowner then has to prove damages.

VCS have also been ordered by the court to explain why they issued a claim when they had no lawful contractual assignment of authority to do so.



Clamping and other means of traffic enforcement carried out on highways and public land by local authorities or the police - or other statutory bodies, such as the DVLA - will remain in place.



Courtesy of The Consumer Action Group