Private Parking Industry Hits back blog discussion

tvaddict

looked in vain on here cant find anything ot start a new post
anyone help please
i need advice on best company to help me claim compensation
thats free
thanks

bargepole

I've sent this email to my local council - it'll be interesting to see their reply:

Dear Sirs,

I was disappointed to learn, from your website, that XXXXX DC are members of the British Parking Association (BPA). Presumably, this means that you are using £1,500 + VAT annually of council tax payers funds to belong to this organisation.

As you will no doubt have seen from recent publicity, the BPA is primarily a trade organisation set up to protect the interests of its Private Parking Company (PPC) members, such as Excel Parking Services, NCP, APCOA, UKCPS, Euro Car Parks, etc. etc.

Every single one of these companies, without exception, breaches the BPA code of practice on a daily basis, in the way that they go about trying to collect private parking "charges" which are mostly unenforceable legally. Specifically, their fraudulent - and I use the word advisedly - activities include:

• Producing documents which mimic official Council notices, designed to mislead consumers.
• Stating that the registered keeper is legally responsible for payment, when in fact any civil contract can only be entered into by the driver.
• Making unjustifiable and untrue threats of bailiffs, adverse credit ratings, etc., without first proving a debt in a County Court.
• Describing their charges as "penalties" (unlawful under contract law) or "fines" (which cannot be levied by private companies).
• Suggesting that consumers can "appeal" against charges, when there is no independent appeal procedure.
• Employing Debt Collection Agencies to harrass consumers for disputed charges.

Unsurprisingly, very few unpaid private charges are actually pursued to a County Court claim, and in the majority of cases of those that are, the Courts have found for the defendants.

The BPA is very well aware of the activities of its private members, yet does nothing to regulate them, preferring to maintain the fiction of being an Approved Trade Association (ATA) so that its members can continue to obtain owner data from the DVLA.

It is absolutely scandalous that XXXXX DC and other public bodies should associate themselves with such a shabby and self-serving organisation, and give that organisation an unwarranted veneer of respectability.

I strongly object, as a Council Tax payer, to any of the Council's budget being used for membership of the BPA, and demand that you withdraw your membership forthwith.

Yours sincerely,

bargepole

sarahg1969

town_cryer wrote: »

Martin
I am a registered disabled (blue badge) driver and frequently find that the allocated 'disabled' bays at supermarkets etc are taken by non-badge drivers.

You simply do not KNOW that. They may not be displaying badges, but that does not mean that they do not have a badge or a disability. There is no obligation to display a blue badge in a private car park.

Paul_Herring

There is no obligation to display a blue badge in a private car park.

There most certainly is if they don't want to be accused of parking where they shouldn't.

I-LOV-MONEY

sarahg1969 wrote: »

There is no obligation to display a blue badge in a private car park.

My local Asda have signs up saying that the PPC will fine people that are not displaying a blue badge in a disabled parking bay (I think the clock is not required). Also the same applies if you haven't got a carry cot/child seat and are parked in a parent and baby space.

Tricia_Mc

I am looking forward to the forum with a BPA representative, should it ever come to pass!
I wrote to the BPA in March, detailing several breaches of its code of practice by one of its members, and I am still waiting for a reply or acknowledgement.
Similarly from the DVLA.
To make for a more full and rounded discussion on the forum, perhaps we could also have representatives from the DVLA, Trading Standards etc to explain why they have aided and abetted the illegal and immoral actions of PPCs in extorting money from the unsuspecting general public.

Also, just purely theoretically and out of idle curiosity, if anyone happens to know the exact type/spec of boltcutters required to cut through a private company's wheelclamp, I would be interested to know.

sarahg1969

I-LOV-MONEY wrote: »

My local Asda have signs up saying that the PPC will fine people that are not displaying a blue badge in a disabled parking bay (I think the clock is not required). Also the same applies if you haven't got a carry cot/child seat and are parked in a parent and baby space.

Excellent. :rolleyes:

Have you actually read any of this thread or others about private parking? :rolleyes:

sarahg1969

Paul_Herring wrote: »

There most certainly is if they don't want to be accused of parking where they shouldn't.

By whom?

You? Why should they care?

By a PPC? Ditto.

Coblcris

I-LOV-MONEY wrote: »

Where can we see this case ?

Case references.
Arthur v. Anker [1996] 2 WLR 602
Vine v. Waltham Forest London BC [2000] 1 WLR 2383
Black v. Carmichael (1992) SCCR 709
I suggest a good overview can be gained by reading this:
http://www.racfoundation.org/files/CLAMPING%20PAPER%20(Elliott)%20-%20FINAL%20060709.pdf

celadon

I am fascinated with the reply as i have used your letters to fight a charge i received for parking in an out of town parking space outside focus diy 4 hours after closing at 9pm. I won my fight after many threats to take me to court and debt collectors. Many others would have been too frightened to continue the fight. I am wholely behind your stance martin and the more we can do to support the better.