Parking at Aldi

ish

My sister parked in the Aldi car park during a sunday evening (when aldi is closed) so she can visit a friend. She stayed longer then 90 minutes and got a fine.

I was wondering if this was legal?
I have uploaded the pictures...

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3348/3228570010_c5209f613f_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3344/3227719541_1fefbd2754_b.jpg

Orford

She stayed longer then 90 minutes and got a fine.

No, she got an invoice, only a court can fine you.

What to do:
1. Do not communicate with them at all, verbally or in writing
2. Ignore all their letters. Eventually they will get fed up and go away to hunt easier prey.

Meepster

Well, it's not illegal, however, it's not enforacable.

The good news is though, you can just ignore them. You'll probably get lots of letters saying they are going to charge you more, take you to court etc. But in reality, they only give these tickets out, hoping you will be daft enough to actually pay it.

If you have any reservations about this, give me a shout.

ish

mwilletts wrote: »

Well, it's not illegal, however, it's not enforacable.

The good news is though, you can just ignore them. You'll probably get lots of letters saying they are going to charge you more, take you to court etc. But in reality, they only give these tickets out, hoping you will be daft enough to actually pay it.

If you have any reservations about this, give me a shout.

How cannot it be enforcable? i just want to cover my tracks and make sure i wont be penalised at a later date for not doing anything.

Orford

See post #28 here:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1268723&page=2

and Bargepole's reply (post#29) particularly the last sentence

Meepster

It's not enforcable for this reason:

They have your details, through the DVLA, as the registered keeper of that vehicle. That doesn't mean YOU left the vehicle in the car park. It just means SOMEONE left your car in the car park.

The only way they can fine you, is if a contract has been breeched. So THEY have to prove that YOU entered into an broke this contract.

Basically, what this means is, THEY have to prove that: a) YOU drove into that carpark. b) YOU read and understood the signs relating to parking there and therefore entered into a contract with THEM. c) YOU then broke this contract without THEIR consent.

THEY know they can't do this, if it ever went anywhere near the courts, they would get laughed out. THEY are just hoping you don't know this, so they can make some money from you.

Hope that makes sense?

sarahg1969

mwilletts wrote: »

It's not enforcable for this reason:

They have your details, through the DVLA, as the registered keeper of that vehicle. That doesn't mean YOU left the vehicle in the car park. It just means SOMEONE left your car in the car park.

The only way they can fine you, is if a contract has been breeched. So THEY have to prove that YOU entered into an broke this contract.

Basically, what this means is, THEY have to prove that: a) YOU drove into that carpark. b) YOU read and understood the signs relating to parking there and therefore entered into a contract with THEM. c) YOU then broke this contract without THEIR consent.

THEY know they can't do this, if it ever went anywhere near the courts, they would get laughed out. THEY are just hoping you don't know this, so they can make some money from you.

Hope that makes sense?

That's partly correct.

However, they can NEVER fine anyone. Only a court has the power to issue a fine.

What they CAN do is to ask the driver to pay them damages for breaching the alleged contract (if the driver definitely agreed to enter into a contract). Those damages are limited to their losses and must NOT amount to a penalty, as penalties are not allowed under contract law. In a free car park, their losses are nil. And that is precisely how much they are entitled to.

Meepster

Thanks for clearing that up sarahg, I actually meant to put "fine", infact, I thought I had....
I like your way of summing it up though, I'll use that in future

peter_the_piper

Daft thing is, if they had asked her for a fiver/tenner for the parking there's a good chance she'd have just paid without much of a grumble. It's the stupid £50, £75, £100 that gets peoples goat and they end up here. Lets hope they don't realise this or this thread would be very empty.

ish

Can i just ask if that same company clamped my vehicle instead of sending a "invoice" by post. would that still be legal? and what rights would i have

peter_the_piper

ish wrote: »

Can i just ask if that same company clamped my vehicle instead of sending a "invoice" by post. would that still be legal? and what rights would i have

If possible could you please start your own thread as it gets messy trying to answer more than one person in one thread. Also a few more details would help the experts.:T