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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be cheering on a man who works in a chippy

45 replies

OurBlanche · 01/09/2015 19:16

He is challenging the private car park thieves bullies industry in the Supreme Court.

He may change the law for all of us Smile

Over 50% of appeals are successful.

The BPA bleats says we have standards... a code of practice... we have a lot of bite, have suspended 6 members... introduced an appeals process (like that needed a round of applause)

Keep your eye on the news, it is being decided this month!

OP posts:
ihavenonameonhere · 01/09/2015 19:19

I really read that as cheating on ;)

Good for him, we need people who stand up for these things and question things.

bearleftmonkeyright · 01/09/2015 19:19

Do you have a link. Our appeal got rejected for car parking when the ticket fell off the windscreen. We ended up paying £82. I am so glad he is doing this. I cried when I paid the money over the internet. I was worried we would have bailiffs round.

Original poster
OurBlanche · 01/09/2015 19:39

It was on the One Show but was, it seems, in the news at the end of July

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/11751000/Motorist-Barry-Beavis-takes-85-parking-fine-challenge-to-Supreme-Court.html

Love his name Smile
twitter.com/barrybeavis

ihave, you need a break from MN Smile

OP posts:
OwlinaTree · 01/09/2015 20:15

Why was he 56 minutes late? That's half the time again he was allowed to park for. If he was 5 minutes late i'd understand it.

BrandNewAndImproved · 01/09/2015 20:25

I'm on two sides of the coin here. I have a lovely friend who owns a company that used to clamp cars and now just tickets them. I also have a car.

He gets a contract from someone like subway as the local subway only has a small carpark and lots on non customers were parking there. They were loosing business due to costumers not being able to park and go elsewhere. That's just one real life example.

If we were allowed to just park anywhere it would be chaos and unfair.

saltlakecity · 01/09/2015 20:28

I think people should park within the rules to be honest. I don't cheer anyone on who thinks things don't apply to them.

Original poster
OurBlanche · 01/09/2015 20:31

It is not the being fined he is objecting to. It is the size of the fine being so out of proportion to the parking fees. All of which is supposed to be agreed within the BPA T+Cs.

So he isn't trying to get away with it. He is trying to get a law passed that means the private parking industry cannot levy enormous fines and then send in the bailiffs if you question it.

OP posts:
wasonthelist · 01/09/2015 20:42

I have a lot of sympathy for private landowners who wish to discourage a free-for-all. With that said, I do think Mr Beavis has a point about the size of the "fine" (it's not really a fine because they can't issue fines). There needs to be some common sense applied.

I am not in favour of "park where you like".

OwlinaTree · 01/09/2015 20:48

What size fine has he offered to pay?

InimitableJeeves · 01/09/2015 20:49

Fines need to be set at a rate that is a realistic deterrent, and there's often a hefty discount for quick payment. It seems to me that car park owners pay a fair amount to be able to provide the facility, and also to maintain it; and, as people have pointed out, if customers are driven away if they can't park due to illegal parkers, ultimately the owners will go out of business. There is a really, really easy way to avoid parking fines, after all: park legally.

Original poster
OurBlanche · 01/09/2015 20:51

To be scrupulously fair, that isn't what Mr Beavis espouses either! He just want everyone to have the right to appeal against fines issued on private land in the same way as you do if you park on council land.

Read the article, then you will appreciate what my OP was actually about!

OP posts:
OwlinaTree · 01/09/2015 20:53

Hummm I'm not convinced with this. This is why I hate pay and display, you can easily go over. But 56 minutes over a 2 hour stay? That's taking advantage really.

OwlinaTree · 01/09/2015 20:53

I did read it.

triathlon · 01/09/2015 21:06

I read the Telegraph link above. Totally agree with the quote from Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation: “It should not be up to the industry to self-regulate and there needs to be a fair and reasonable code of practice set up by government."

Original poster
OurBlanche · 01/09/2015 21:39

Exactly, triathlon.

Few other industries levy a high charge, refuse to allow any appeal and then send in bailiffs without any regulation, internal or external. and the BPA doesn't seem to have m/any teeth.

OP posts:
wasonthelist · 01/09/2015 21:52

InimitableJeeves - there's a legal grey area (or was) about fines on private land. In fact, it's not a fine at all. I suspect what would be a better deterrent would be knowing there's a sound legal basis for enforcement, not super high "fines". At the moment, various courts have made conflicting decisions about these charges - many have been thrown out of court entirely. The law needs clarification and Mr Beavis, a bloke who works in a chippy, is doing us all a favour by trying to force our learned friends and maybe the politicians to get off the fence and make a decision.

I think everyone accepts there needs to be a way to prevent blatant piss takers - like commuters parking all day, on the other hand, the size of some "fines" relative to any conceivable loss the owner could be suffering just look like extortion.

saltlakecity · 01/09/2015 22:00

He's not doing me a favour thanks. I park within the rules so don't get fined. Simples.

BoneyBackJefferson · 01/09/2015 22:03

Is his name Elvis?

wasonthelist · 01/09/2015 22:08

saltlakecity

I see your point - and I too park in accordance with the rules, but I'm lucky that I hardly ever need to. I think it will be good to clarify this issue - many folk have been asked to pay amounts in dubious circumstances that even the most fastidious rule-obeyer might have struggled to avoid.

InimitableJeeves · 01/09/2015 22:12

I appreciate that this is a payment for breach of contract rather than a fine in the criminal offence. It's questionable, however, whether it does or does not represent a calculation of the loss suffered, for the reasons given in the Court of Appeal judgment.

And I'm not too clear that we have to thank Mr Beavis - shouldn't it be his lawyers, who are working pro bono? I notice that no-one has been able to answer the pertinent question of what payment he has actually offered for his acknowledged overstay.

XCChamps · 01/09/2015 22:17

This was local to me and as with all these stories, the media campaign is very one-sione-sided. Everything I've seen that has attempted to be balanced has made me think he's an arse who deserved the fine.

And iirc he doesn't work in a chippy he owns it, which is a subtle difference perhaps but makes quite a difference in the sympathy vote stakes your thread title was going for

OwlinaTree · 01/09/2015 22:20

Local authority parking fine in this area is £50, goes up to £75 if you don't pay it quickly. So the £85 is fairly comparable.

OwlinaTree · 01/09/2015 22:21

It's not that I am bothered really, I just don't think he's some sort of have a go hero.

soloula · 01/09/2015 22:44

saltlakecity even people who follow the rules get hit by fines. We were sent a letter from the private parking company that looks after our local hospital car park. DH had apparently been parked there all day (4 hour limit). He'd been caught on camera arriving and leaving hours later but it had failed to click him leaving and then coming back in between this. We ignored the letters and they never bothered us after a while. This was the advice at the time on the Internet but it's a bit of a grey area now with recent court rulings. Our situation is quite common so even if you follow the rules they can still try and chase you with these ridiculous fines.

Original poster
OurBlanche · 01/09/2015 23:36

He certainly isn't a have a go hero - though I am not sure what his job status has to do with it. Why would you think I was aiming for a 'sympathy vote'? I heard of him for the first time on the One Show tonight and it struck my fancy. Do you have an anti-Beavis agenda? It could sound like it from your short post!

As far as 'simples' has it... should you ever have an accident, overstay in a private car park or they simply make an error with the registration number, you would be surprised at how little legal protection you have against the levy. It cannot be appealed and can be set at extortionate rates.

To be honest, who cares what fee he offered to pay, he has managed to get something Which and the RAC have been trying to get sorted to the Supreme court, something which will benefit all car drivers.

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