Wish I had seen this thread a few weeks ago!

Kirstenm1976

I received a fine a few weeks ago from a company called Parking Eye for allegedly staying too long in a car park in Bristol. I was so scared by the threats of solicitors etc, i stupidly paid the £110 fine :-( I was annoyed though, as I didn't see any signs showing a staying limit.

Anyway, this week we parked at a hospital for an appointment. The 2 machines weren't working, so i went to another, and it wasn't working either. Couldn't see any more machines, and I was in danger of running late so i left it.

Lo and behold we get a ticket for £25. It wouldn't surprise me if they say the machines aren't working so they get lots of fines to give out...

I thought I'd google the company - Car Parking Partnership, and found lots of information about them, and these companies in general. Needless to say I will be ignoring it, although I am still a little nervous about doing so. Am I absolutely right to do this?

trisontana

Good for you. One point, please stop calling it a "fine". To give it that name gives it a legitimacy it doesn't deserve.

daveyjp

You could always have some sport and put in a claim for return of your £110. You paid under duress due to their threatening letters and they had no legal right to the £110. It would be deemed by a Court to be an unlawful penalty.

Paranoid

daveyjp wrote: »

You could always have some sport and put in a claim for return of your £110. You paid under duress due to their threatening letters and they had no legal right to the £110. It would be deemed by a Court to be an unlawful penalty.

It would have to be a Small Claims Court claim. This would doubtless be ignored by the Defendants and you would get judgement. But be aware that this would not automatically get your money back. The judgement would be ignored and any further action would be up to you. Various routes can be taken, like an order for the villains bank to pay! Have a go!

taffy056

Just a thought here, has anyone taken a ppc and landowner to the small claims like the clampers, I realise that there was that lawyer helping her brother a few months ago, but that was only the ppc, was wondering if after paying there is some way to get this money back, afterall the tickets are a penalty which is illegal.

daveyjp

Yes - there was a case where someone did just this and won. Whilst such cases don't set legal precedents they do give you good arguments to bring a case. PPCs always quote the very dodgy "Thomas" case to get you to pay, at least the case below is legit. Sue the landowner too - more chance of getting the cash back.

Found it!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-542355/Judge-quashes-300-parking-fine--set-frighten-intimidate-driver.html

taffy056

daveyjp wrote: »

Yes - there was a case where someone did just this and won. Whilst such cases don't set legal precedents they do give you good arguments to bring a case. PPCs always quote the very dodgy "Thomas" case to get you to pay, at least the case below is legit. Sue the landowner too - more chance of getting the cash back.

Found it!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-542355/Judge-quashes-300-parking-fine--set-frighten-intimidate-driver.html

Thanks for that, I did see that previously in another thread, what's not clear is whether she did actually pay the money first, would be interested in finding someone who sued the ppc and landowner for a refund of money paid already, it would open the floodgates to people taking them to the small claims imo

Coupon-mad

taffy056 wrote: »

Thanks for that, I did see that previously in another thread, what's not clear is whether she did actually pay the money first, would be interested in finding someone who sued the ppc and landowner for a refund of money paid already, it would open the floodgates to people taking them to the small claims imo

Yes. Two cases I know of but didn't include the landowner AFAIK:

First link, this case is the Parking Eye one you mentioned (Tazneem Patel & her brother).

There was also reportedly a second example that I know of, where a motorist took a PPC to Court and won:

Susan Pratt case (she paid a fake PCN then claimed it back in Court)

No doubt there have been others that have never been publicised, or cases settled out of Court so a PPC can keep their scam quiet.

taffy056

Thanks coupon, the 2nd one is close to what I had in mind, would be interesting to see the results of suing the likes of tesco and ppc and getting a positive result, don't think the supermarkets or shops would be willing to go to court as it would cost them a fortune to defend it, so they would likely settle.

Wonder if someone who has fallen for this scam would be willing to risk more money in a small claim plus their time ?