Uk Parking Control Ltd

Coupon-mad

IF YOU ARE READING THIS ANCIENT OLD THREAD AFTER 2013 - WHY WHY WHY?

IT IS ANCIENT, A FORUM'S PAGE ONE IS ONLY EVER ONE CLICK AWAY FROM ANY THREAD. THINGS CHANGE, ADVICE CHANGES, DO NOT READ OLD FORUM THREADS, EVER, ON ANY SUBJECT IF LOOKING FOR IMPORTANT ADVICE ON MONEY MATTERS.


see my signature below (the black writing) for where to click in the above breadcrumb trail (LITTLE BLUE LINK) to hop ONE CLICK to page one and read the top threads of CURRENT advice on private parking tickets.


STOP READING THIS OLD THREAD. This thread was form 2008 originally!!!!!!!!

STOP!

mgf77

Cheers for the explanation

Teto

Hello people...
I'm new to forums but really looking for some advice!
Me and my partner visited a retail park to collect some heavy items so we quickly parked in a disabled bay by the door. We are not disabled so we shouldn't have done it. When we returned to the car there was no ticket on the car.
A few weeks later, a letter from UK Parking Control arrived at my partners work - the car is a company vehicle. It stated we had not paid the £45 and the charge was now £90. My partner appealed this stating there was no ticket on the car so we had no chance to even think about paying £45. The appeal was no successful, they basically said we were guilty.
Then another letter appeared from Debt Recovery Plus Ltd saying the charge was now £150.
It is getting very out of hand and increasing daily.
Any help or advice would be gratefully received.

ManxRed

Is your partner's company OK with simply passing these letters on, or do you think there is a risk that they might pay up and try and deduct the money from your partner's salary?

I am hoping the answer is the first one because the advice is much simpler for that scenario!! Let us know.

Teto

Thanks ever so much for coming back to me!!
No his work are happy to pass the letters on.
Many thanks

ManxRed

In that case - Ignore!!

Eventually they will give up and go away. They haven't got a legal leg to stand on.

The letter chains are well known and are all designed to scare people into paying. They have no intention of initiating court action because they know they'd lose.

Two recent high profile cases, VCS v Ibbotsen, and VCS v HMRC, where VCS (who are Excel) lost badly, set rulings in which ONLY the landowner can pursue anyone for losses caused by private parking companies, the private parking companies themselves cannot, unless they own the land (they rarely do).

Also, when I say losses I mean just that. If they incurred a loss of zero or a few quid as a result of your indiscretion then that is all they are legally entitled to.

Teto

If we'd known of the fine at the £45 stage we perhaps would have considered paying it knowing we were in the wrong, but now they want £150!!
Thank you very much for you're help. I'll ignore them from now on and see how I get on. I did read from other posts that they were perhaps trying to scare us, but I really don't want to end up with a summons.
There doesn't appear to be any posts from anyone that has actually been summoned.

ManxRed

It wouldn't be a summons you'd receive, you haven't broken any law at all. There is no legislation covering private car parking.

It comes under contract law, one party claiming the other owes them money for breaching a contract. Under contract law, the only redress open to either party in relation to a breach is actual losses incurred, which in most private parking scenarios is zero. It isn't £40, or even £75, or any more. Its zero.

That's all you legally owe them.

If they were stupid enough to want to try to sue you it would be a small claim in the county court. Very very very unlikely to happen, they know they would lose.

They will stick to trying to scare you instead, its their only real weapon.

Stephen_Leak

Teto wrote: »

<snip> we quickly parked in a disabled bay by the door. We are not disabled so we shouldn't have done it. <snip>

Teto wrote: »

If we'd known of the fine at the £45 stage we perhaps would have considered paying it knowing we were in the wrong. <snip>

Possibly not one of your better decisions, but you weren't in the wrong.

The Blue Badge scheme doesn’t apply to private car parks. Anyone, who’s disabled under the terms of The Equality Act 2010 can use a disabled parking bay. If they’re also Blue Badge holders, they don't need to display it.

The Equality Act doesn't say that able-bodied drivers can't also use disabled parking bays. OK, maybe they shouldn't, but they can.

This probably contravenes the terms & conditions for the car park, which usually state that you shouldn't park in a disabled bay without displaying a badge. This, in itself, contravenes The Equality Act.

Teto wrote: »

<snip> It is getting very out of hand and increasing daily.

One day, it will decrease ... to £0.00.

zipman23

What is the usual period of time before these companies give up? I've been getting letters since before New Year and they've only just changed the debt collection company now! I've been binning everything I get from them and I would have thought that if they were actually serious about taking me to court that they would have done it by now? Its been over 6 months. Has too much time not elapsed for them to do that?