Private Parking Tickets discussion

lucylucky

Ignore them.

Private tickets are unenforceable

Why did the guy say he was giving you a ticket - out of interest.

trisontana

Was this an actual private parking ticket, or one issued by the council. If it was a private ticket then no crime has been committed and there will be no "criminal proceeding". Could you tell us the actual wording of that letter please?

Thepieman

It's a private company not council. They are a member of the BPA..
The guy who gave me the ticket said 'his office radioed him to go put a ticket on my van'..
The actual letter reads:

After several reminders your penalty charge notice remains unpaid, we have today instructed solicitors to issue proceedings for this outstanding amount.
Then it's all blah blah blah..
The last part reads:
if you ignore this, court proceedings will commence and judgement may be entered against you without further notice, this may lead to baliffs calling at your address to seize your effects...

Quite a strong letter eh.....
Once again I look forward to your comments ..... The Pieman

trisontana

The usual empty threats which they will not follow through. As for the BPA that means nothing. It's just a trade association that looks after the interest of the parking companies and not those of the general public.

Coblcris

Thepieman wrote: »

It's a private company not council. They are a member of the BPA..
The guy who gave me the ticket said 'his office radioed him to go put a ticket on my van'..
The actual letter reads:

After several reminders your penalty charge notice remains unpaid, we have today instructed solicitors to issue proceedings for this outstanding amount.
Then it's all blah blah blah..
The last part reads:
if you ignore this, court proceedings will commence and judgement may be entered against you without further notice, this may lead to baliffs calling at your address to seize your effects...

Quite a strong letter eh.....
Once again I look forward to your comments ..... The Pieman

I would appreciate seeing the full and exact wording of that letter.
Your pr!cis indicates possible breaches of Consumer legislation including the criminal elements.

Coupon-mad

Unfortunate choice of username, Thepieman = a well-known private parking co. owner! :rotfl:

But your post appears genuine and you've named a well-known bunch of con-merchants (Shoal). As others have told you, private tickets are not real PCNs and you don't have to pay them!

These scammers get the registered keeper's details from the DVLA which is allowed (shocking I know). For £2.50 the DVLA sell on motorists' private details to private parking companies and you cannot opt out. I take it you're the registered keeper? If it's a company van you'll need to tell your Fleet Manager that if they get any letters NOT to pay as it's a scam, but to pass them to you as you are reporting the company and you won't be paying. Some Fleet Managers have been stupid enough to pay these fake charges and then pass the cost on to drivers.

There's tons on the internet about this issue and about Shoal, look for forum posts on here, pepipoo.com, consumer action group, all of which will tell you that such tickets are unenforceable trash. Watchdog covered this last month, and their legal bod helpfully confirmed what we already know on here about what to do with fake parking tickets (whether you have 'contravened their rules' or not):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAIcdi9niHA

:T:rotfl:

The registered keeper/van owner will receive debt collector letters telling you to pay. Do not panic, do not believe the lies on the letters about Court/CCJs/dire consequences! See examples here of what to ignore:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/....php?t=2214803

Relax, even if you get more letters (as per our examples, we can predict you'll get the same).

But to be proactive, do let Coblcris see a scan of the letter as the wording seems to be illegal. As well as following up that angle, if the scam letters get tiresome you may like to also report the company and their debt collectors for harassment:

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/en...=03_harassment

But don't forget this is NOT a debt, NOT a fine, just a mickey mouse ticket. Nothing happens, your credit record is NOT affected, so don't fall for this con. Be angry about their illegal scary letters, tell your friends never to pay a private parking ticket. Spread the word.

abbyneedsdosh

Hi all,

First of all, I'm a total scaredy cat when it comes to receiving threatening letters etc, so please forgive me for being a little unsure on this issue.

I received a PCN from what I believe is a private security firm (Senator Security Services Ltd) for not displaying a pay and display ticket during the 'free parking' period in a supermarket. (The signs are all emblazoned across the car park saying 'TWO HOURS FREE PARKING.')

I have 14 days to pay before the fine increases to £50 from £25, and the charge notice says; 'Failure to pay the parking charge may result in your name and address being requested from the DVLA and action being taken through the county courts to recover the amount due.'

Am I right in thinking that;
a) this IS a private security company
b) I should ignore the PCN?

Thanks in advance, and apologies once again for asking what must appear to be the obvious......

Abby

Coupon-mad

You are absolutely right.

Ignore the scammers completely.

I take it your fake 'PCN' is headed up 'Parking Charge Notice' as opposed to a real Council PCN which is a 'Penalty Charge Notice'? I got one of those in a Supermarket as well, last year. Ignored it of course (mine was from Euro Car Parks) and after 3 'debt collector' letters it all fizzled out.

If so you can now have a good laugh time they try to convince you to line their pockets, as they will send the registered keeper what is commonly known on here as a threatogram. See the sticky 'PPC tickets/threats, what to expect' for scanned examples of threatgrams and the lies they tell.

Nothing will happen at all, your credit record is unaffected as there's no fine and no debt.

Bendingleboy3

Evening everyone new here hope to gain some more advice, in brief my daughter recieved a parking charge notice on 1st may 2010, followed martins advice and replied stating she was not the driver at the time and suggested that they go away, not happy with this they have replied that she must know who was driving and started spouting on about insurance and court etc etc.

We have since replied again stating that she was not the driver and suggested that they stop harassing her or we will report it to bpa and or the police.

Recieved a reply stating that unless you tell us who was driving the vehicle then court proceedings will be comenced, am i correct in thinking she has no legal obligation to disclose who the driver was? as anyone with fully comp cover could have driven her car at the time.

peter_the_piper

Correct, she is under no legal obligation to tell them anything. Any threat is just bluster. I suggest that you just ignore them from now on.
Unfortunately its generally accepted that ,well meaning that it is, Martins advice to contact to deny anything is often the wrong advice. Its generally agreed that ignoring them from the outset is best as they do not know who the driver is or if the RK is a top shot barrister etc. They are best kept in the dark and they go away sooner.
Court proceedings will be most unlikely to commence and if they did humiliation for them usually follows.