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Looking For Advice - Considering Paying Parking Charge

In August 2014, I received a PCN, which I ignored. I received the expected run of letters over the course of a few months then, nothing. Today I received another, along the same lines. 'Pay within 14 days or we will recommend court proceedings be taken against you.' They want £130.

It's only a single incident,I live in Scotland so I understand that the law is a bit different here. But this happened recently:

"Woman must pay £24,000 in charges after ignoring parking notices" - I am unable to post links.

I am wondering if they are just trying their luck in light of this, in the hope people will be scared into paying. But, I have a couple of queries here:

1 - Is there a time limit with how long they can take something to court? That's not far off three years now.

2 - What is the chances that they will take me to court over £130?

It's less hassle for me to pay the thing than it is to mount a defense if it did go to court.
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  • Half_way
    Half_way Posts: 7,029
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    chances of court are very low to non existent in your case.
    the case you mention was for want of a better word exceptional, the key with scottish cases is never give any clue as to who you think the driver could have been, and not to continuosly rack up charges without doing something about it (either not parking there, or by taking action to question the validity of the pcn's)
    Do you know how the original parking charge was picked up, and where?
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  • Redx
    Redx Posts: 38,084
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    edited 19 April 2017 at 1:48PM
  • Umkomaas
    Umkomaas Posts: 41,256
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    "Woman must pay £24,000 in charges after ignoring parking notices"
    She admitted to being the driver and had racked up 200 tickets. A totally different league!
    I am wondering if they are just trying their luck in light of this, in the hope people will be scared into paying
    Yes!
    Is there a time limit with how long they can take something to court? That's not far off three years now
    5 years in Scotland (6 years in E/W).
    What is the chances that they will take me to court over £130?
    None at all if the driver hasn't been identified. Infinitesimal chance if the driver has been identified.
    Please note, we are not a legal advice forum. I personally don't get involved in critiquing court case Defences/Witness Statements, so unable to help on that front. Please don't ask. .

    I provide only my personal opinion, it is not a legal opinion, it is simply a personal one. I am not a lawyer.

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  • System
    System Posts: 178,077
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    Half_way wrote: »
    chances of court are very low to non existent in your case.
    the case you mention was for want of a better word exceptional, the key with scottish cases is never give any clue as to who you think the driver could have been, and not to continuosly rack up charges without doing something about it (either not parking there, or by taking action to question the validity of the pcn's)
    Do you know how the original parking charge was picked up, and where?

    Thanks. Yeah, I think so. Space was probably used as a temporary parking place and forgotten about. Not 100% sure but I *think* that may have been the case.
  • Fruitcake
    Fruitcake Posts: 58,155
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    As above, you are safe for a single ticket in Scotland if the scammers don't know who the driver is.
    Also as above, the woman involved in the £24000 case gave away the fact that she was driving, and stupidly continued to park somewhere she was not entitled to park 200 times.

    Debt collectors can be ignored anywhere in the UK. Everything parking scammers send can be ignored in Scotland or NI unless it is real court papers from a real court.
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  • System
    System Posts: 178,077
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    Thanks all, appreciate the feedback. I see there have been quite a few people posting this sort of thing, who reside in Scotland so clearly the parking companies are ramping up again. If I may ask one final question. If by chance it did go to court, how do I NOT reveal who the driver was? Are you allowed to not answer the question or is a simple 'I can't remember' enough?
  • yotmon
    yotmon Posts: 484
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    ummagoomba wrote: »
    Thanks all, appreciate the feedback. I see there have been quite a few people posting this sort of thing, who reside in Scotland so clearly the parking companies are ramping up again. If I may ask one final question. If by chance it did go to court, how do I NOT reveal who the driver was? Are you allowed to not answer the question or is a simple 'I can't remember' enough?

    Under Scots law (No PoFa) they can only take the driver to court. They would have to produce 'some' evidence that it was you driving. I cannot see any court allowing them to haul the 'keeper' into court, just to be given the opportunity to ask them if they were driving. You are not there to prove their case for them, it is up to them to them to produce the evidence.
  • Coupon-mad
    Coupon-mad Posts: 130,634
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    edited 19 April 2017 at 5:57PM
    Considering Paying Parking Charge

    No you are not, come on, look here:

    http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?p=72359397#post72359397

    What makes you think that a non-precedent case in which a driver was admitted, affects other cases? It is the claimant's case to prove and people are not routinely asked 'were you driving?'. The burden is the claimant's.

    The Robb case - as mentioned by Tom Trinder in that link - tells you that each case turns on its own facts:


    "Dundee man wins £700 parking ticket case

    A sheriff has thrown out a private parking company’s case against a Dundee man who racked up more than £700 in tickets, branding the action “incompetent.”

    But the decision will not act as a test case on the legitimacy of future private parking charge claims, a Dundee solicitor has warned.

    Vehicle Control Services (VCS) took Mark Robb to the city’s small claims court after he refused to pay charges on tickets received in Trades Lane and Cross Lane between December 2013 and May 2014.

    But Sheriff Alastair Brown dismissed the case and awarded Mr Robb expenses, saying VCS’s agent had provided “no evidence whatsoever” that he had been the driver of the vehicle at the time.

    After the decision, Mr Robb’s solicitor Gary McIlravey pursued expenses at the level granted in summary cause cases rather than at the small claims court level.

    However, Sheriff Brown told him: “I can only grant expenses on a punitive scale if they have conducted themselves inappropriately. On this occasion they conducted themselves incompetently but not inappropriately.”

    Mr McIlravey said: “Each case will turn on its own facts. There’s no underlying legal principle.” "
    PRIVATE 'PCN'? DON'T PAY BUT DON'T IGNORE IT (except N.Ireland).
    CLICK at the top of this/any page where it says:
    Forum Home»Motoring»Parking Tickets Fines & Parking - read the NEWBIES THREAD
  • System
    System Posts: 178,077
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    [Sheriff] Court in Scotland is not Gladstones/SCS/BW friendly. While in England, these cases are now being run by the ambulance chasers on a "no win/no fee basis", Scots Courts have a more long winded process that does not lend itself to a "no win/no fee" basis. It is no longer a case of law but simple economics.

    The only cases you see up there are for many multiples or show cases. Since it won't be economical to take one ticket to court, is there anything you've done that warrants you being a "show case"
  • Blibble
    Blibble Posts: 503
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    Have you had any other previous correspondence with the PPC at the time when the PCN was first issued, where you have disclosed who the driver was?

    If not, then it's safe to leave this one for the time being. PoFA is not applicable in Scotland, therefore there is no keeper liability and only the driver could be pursued through the courts as already noted.
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