Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask whether DH is right about this parking fine

41 replies

EElisavetaofBelsornia · 15/09/2014 16:02

DH parked our car in a private car park which is free for two hours. He was 10 minutes late back and got a £50 Fine notice. He ignored this and now we have a letter saying if we don't pay £100 they will take County court action. DH says we should continue to ignore it, local authorities have the right to take legal action for things like driving in a bus lane or exceeding the speed limit, private companies don't. Is he right? The car is in my name so all the letters come to me and it's making me twitchy! The company is called Parking Eye if that helps, I think I have seen a thread about them before but can't find it. AIBU to worry or is he right and we can carry on ignoring this fine? Thank you!

OP posts:
gordyslovesheep · 15/09/2014 16:04

the law did change recently - check the Money Saving Expert site

he was late back so why should he not pay it?

gordyslovesheep · 15/09/2014 16:06

www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/private-parking-tickets

note though this info applies to UNFAIR tickets ...his seems fair to me

Vitalstatistix · 15/09/2014 16:08

I think it used to be that they couldn't do anything but then I think they won some cases so now they do go for it.

here

Really, what people need to do is to complain to whoever uses them. If we refused to shop in places that employed them, they'd ensure there were changes!

JustMarriedBecca · 15/09/2014 16:11

Private companies have a right to sue you for hypothetical losses owing to your trespass on their land. By being on the land for longer than you had a licence (I.e a ticket) for, you are trespassing. It's not criminal which is why they would take you to the County Court which deals with civil matters.

Strictly speaking, they are only entitled to hypothetical losses suffered but it would be difficult to quantify their hypothetical losses. I have known people stick the price of a new ticket and an 'administration fee' in an envelope so £30 admin and £1.50 losses but private companies are enforcing tickets on private land and if they issue proceedings against you (they would have a standard form and a team of paralegals or admin staff dealing with claims like this so it's no skin off their nose) the cost of those proceedings (currently £280) and their legal costs could also be claimed from you.

MaidOfStars · 15/09/2014 16:19

Parking Eye haven't incurred any loss of earnings, so they'd be hard pressed to pursue that line. Which means they are trying to levy a penalty, which I don't think they are allowed to do,

DrankSangriaInThePark · 15/09/2014 16:20

Check out the threads on the Consumer Action Group website, I found them much easier to follow than MSE.

I am currently at about stage 8 in a 12 stage process and the CAG site are helping me through it.

I received a "we are going to take you to court now" letter a fortnight ago, and CAG predicted my next letter would be "Now we are going to reduce the fine by £20 if you pay up" and lo and behold, that's what arrived.

My next one will be from a different debt collector telling me they have bought my original charge from the debt people now writing to me and it will be reduced again.

They are just relying on people thinking they are real "fines" when they are civil contracts. Free carparks, like the one you (and I) were on, muddy the waters even further, because they can't prove any ££ losses that you caused them.

They can't prove you were the driver either.....

DrankSangriaInThePark · 15/09/2014 16:22

(mine is also Parking Eye, and I'm now being hounded by Debt Recovery Plus)

Any of the consumer websites will help you appeal/refuse/repudiate the claim, and make sure you write a stiff email to the owner of the carpark as well. Mine was Halfords.

Andrewofgg · 15/09/2014 16:22

Unless they actually sue - sealed claim form from the county court - ignore it.

If they do, pay up, including the court fee but no costs.

They won't!

EhricLovesTheBhrothers · 15/09/2014 16:23

Money saving expert will tell you what to do, honest.

DrankSangriaInThePark · 15/09/2014 16:23

Your dh is right, only the police or the council can issue "fines". If you read the small print on the bumf coming to you now, it talks about charges, not fines.

Original poster
EElisavetaofBelsornia · 15/09/2014 16:25

Thank you very much everyone - I take your point Gordy about fairness but Vital's link suggests that people have been successful with an argument about proportionality, that £100 is not a fair charge for 10 minutes lateness. I think my best bet might be to write to them explaining why I am challenging it, and copying in POPLA to see if that works.

OP posts:
VivaLeBeaver · 15/09/2014 16:25

He's right and wrong.

His mistake has been in ignoring it. If he'd appealed he'd have won. Sadly parking eye do take people to court and win.

here

VivaLeBeaver · 15/09/2014 16:26

I think you might be too late for a POPLA appeal now. I thought it had to be done within 28 days of ticket....might be wrong.

Nancy66 · 15/09/2014 16:30

If it was Euro Car Parks I would say ignore it - they have actually gone on record to say they don't pursue to court stage.

As others have said Parking Eye do pursue some cases so it's a risk to not engage with them.

effinandjeffin · 15/09/2014 16:30

dranksangria if you are being chased by a debt collector, does that mean that your credit record will be affected or are they just trying to make you pay up? Genuine question, would like to know for future reference.

ilovepowerhoop · 15/09/2014 16:33

forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=46975

whatsthatcomingoverthehill · 15/09/2014 16:34

They won't win on a suing for trespass basis, because they can't prove a loss. The way it is phrased is that by parking, you have agreed a contract, and part of that contract is a fee (not a fine) for staying too long, parking outside bays etc. It is unlikely that they will proceed all the way to small claims court, but they might. Parking Eye certainly have done on some occasions. If it does go that far you mustn't ignore a court summons.

Have a good read of the pepipoo forums and get some advice there is you're not sure what to do.

Original poster
EElisavetaofBelsornia · 15/09/2014 16:39

Perhaps the letters came when I was away so I have only just seen them? Viva the DM story is a bit different, my DH was properly parked, not in a disabled bay, only once and only 10 min late.

OP posts:
Original poster
EElisavetaofBelsornia · 15/09/2014 16:40

The Pepipoo link is really helpful, thank you ilove and whatsthat.

OP posts:
VivaLeBeaver · 15/09/2014 16:53

No I get that he wasnt in a disabled bay, etc. however it illustrates that contrary to what some people say parking eye does take people to court and more Importantly the courts enforce it.

The courts I don't think will differentiate between a fine for being in a disabled bay and a fine for being ten minutes late. If its a private car park then the car park gets to set the rules and breaking one isnt seen by them as been worse than breaking another. The court will just look at whether PE are allowed to issue the fine/charge and then back them up accordingly.

Original poster
EElisavetaofBelsornia · 15/09/2014 17:04

Sort of hoping you're wrong Viva! The DM man does sound like he was asking for trouble a bit with the provocative messages on the windscreen ( it takes the DM to interpret "illegal tickets here" as abusive). Whereas I hope a court would see £100 for 10 minutes as over the top. DH does have a disability by the way, but wouldn't use a disabled bay as he doesn't need to.

OP posts:
whatsthatcomingoverthehill · 15/09/2014 17:14

The main thing with the DM story is he didn't contest anything so the judgement was by default. Private Eye are notorious for being litigious though. I very much doubt they will accept your appeal. I'm not sure if it's even worth trying, just say you intend to appeal and they will give you a POPLA code. Then put a robust defence together through help at pepipoo/CAG.

If it's a supermarket or shop car park then copy them into your correspondence.

VivaLeBeaver · 15/09/2014 17:19

You'd hope so but I wouldn't bank on it.

I've heard of people with one fine/ticket for been slightly late getting done in court after PE has taken it all the way. Purely because they didnt follow the correct appeals process.

I've also heard of a court throwing the case out and awarding costs to the defendant. So I guess sometimes you do get a sympathetic judge.

But really they're there to follow the law rather than have an opinion on the fairness or otherwise of the situation.

VivaLeBeaver · 15/09/2014 17:23

I'm currently ignoring letters from another firm. The bill has got up to £900 and I've had letters from solicitors, debt collectors, etc. its all bollocks. Its not a firm which are known to take people to court.

I appealed mine straight away. I wrote them a 7 page letter detailing why I was appealing as well as asking for loads of info under the freedom of information act relating to their contract with the land owner, etc. at the end of it I asked them for a POPLA code.

They wrote back saying they were refusing to withdraw the ticket as I requested and also refused to answer my questions. They also didnt give me a POPLA code.

So I've ignored everything since. I reckon if they take me to court I'll just point out to the judge I asked for an appeal code and they didnt provide one....which they have to do!

kali110 · 15/09/2014 18:24

I know that the advice used to be just ignore them but that was untill the law changed back in 2012. They say now to not pay but to never ignore.

Swipe left for the next trending thread