stupid mistake

wendyb126

i recently visited a retail park and pulled up right outside the door of the store i wanted to visit (no other cars around and loads of spaces). i had had a really bad day and was in a world of my own.
when i came out there was a ticket on my car - i had not seen the sign right infront of my car or realised i was in a disabled space. i am not an inconsiderate person, and NEVER do this - genuine one off stupid mistake.
i have read so much about tickets on private land and not to pay, my head is spinning and i don't really know what to do.
the fine is for £80 reduced to £50 within 2 weeks both of which are extortionate.
if it had been £30 i probably would have paid and let them win for me being such an idiot in the first place, but not the amount they are asking.
the company is parking eye
any constructive advice would be welcome, thanks

corbyboy

The advice on this forum is always the same. Ignore their invoice. It is not a fine. They have no authority to issue fines.

You may get a couple of threatening letters in the post, but just ignore.

Driver8

PRIVATE PARKING TICKETS - DON'T PAY!
IT IS NOT A FINE! YOU HAVE DONE NOTHING ILLEGAL!

This is an information page for the thousands of people who receive "tickets" from private companies in the UK ever day at supermarkets, retail parks, and in any other privately-owned carpark.

We are NOT encouraging anybody to openly flout parking restrictions on private land, or to refuse to pay reasonable charges for parking. Landowners have a right to make reasonable charges for the use of their land.

For advice specific to your case, you should visit the forums at http://forums.pepipoo.com or http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/parking-traffic-offences.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=163

1. What you should know about these companies

It is important to remember that private parking companies (or PPCs as they are often called) have NO OFFICIAL POWERS - that's right, none at all! They give out their "tickets" on the basis that you have seen the signs in their car park and that you have therefore agreed to a contract obliging you to pay a certain sum of money.


2. What happens to people who don't pay?

In 99.9% of cases, absolutely NOTHING! The company pays the DVLA £2.50 to get your address, and then sends lots of threatening letters. In the main, these letters can be safely IGNORED. The only way the company can actually force you to pay is by taking you to the small claims court, which costs them even more money. And they are by no means guaranteed to win! And they practically never do.

The two main reasons for this (among others) are the following:

- Only the person DRIVING the car could ever have agreed to any such parking contract. The company can only get the Registered Keeper's address from the DVLA: you don't have to tell them who was driving.

-Many of these charges are so extortionately high that they constitute a penalty, which is unenforceable in a consumer contract.


3. Can they affect my credit rating?

NO! The only way your credit rating could be affected by ignoring private parking companies is if you were taken to court, lost, and then still refused to pay. But they will not take you to court.


IN SHORT

The vast majority of the time, you can safely IGNORE tickets from private parking companies, they are not official fines.

The vast majority of the time, you can safely IGNORE the threatening letters, including those from debt collection agencies.

You DO NOT have to pay a penny of your hard-earned money to these companies. Remember that the chances of being taken to court are very slim indeed.

DO NOT IGNORE COURT PAPERS!
If you receive real court papers from a private parking company (very rare) then you should go to http://forums.pepipoo.com or http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/parking-traffic-offences for help defending the claim. Do not be afraid to sign up and ask questions regarding any paperwork you are not sure about.



Don’t believe the above? Watch a solicitor on Watchdog advising you what to do with the scam invoices.

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

THEY ARE NOT FINES

Only the Police, Courts or Council’s can fine you. NOT a private company, please remember that.

Sir_Roger_deLodger

wendyb126 wrote: »

the company is parking eye

Nothing to worry about. Parking Eye are very easy to ignore, expect three or four letters before they give up and crawl back into their pond.

McKneff

Good advice above.

Keep ignoring any letters, come back here for reassurance if you need to.

sassy_one

No legal action will be taken against you nor any other kind of action.

They are not 'tickets' they are unenforceable 'invoices'

Ignore and do not pay!

And don't worry!!!

wendyb126

thank you all for your advice,

so i ignore all letters - except a court one?
easy to say not to worry - i could be that 1% they decide to come after!!!
if they did what do i say - ''had a bad day'' !!! there are good reasons but do they listen?
i WAS the driver and will not lie (as you advise)
there was a clear sign - i just did not see it

so what do i have i my defence ?

thanks again

peter_the_piper

Its far less than 1%, that would be 1 in 100. Its more like 1 in 100,000 and then they usually don't turn up or lose bigtime. So not to worry

The amount they charge is a penalty, not allowed in civil law. Signs not clear. etc. But as others say, parking eye don't do court at all.

AlexisV

Parking Eye have never done court.

The only time they've been near a county court was when it was THEM who was being sued. They lost.

kwaks

wendyb126 wrote: »

thank you all for your advice,

so i ignore all letters - except a court one?
easy to say not to worry - i could be that 1% they decide to come after!!!
if they did what do i say - ''had a bad day'' !!! there are good reasons but do they listen?
i WAS the driver and will not lie (as you advise)
there was a clear sign - i just did not see it

so what do i have i my defence ?

thanks again

Not unknown for PPC to send out FAKE court papers. If you ever receive court papers the first call is to the court to see if they are genuine.

IF, and its a big if, they did take you to court tere are plenty of people who would happily join you as a McKenzie friend, loads have been waiting for a chance to have them in court.

Coblcris

If anyone receives fake court papers, as opposed to papers which are a facsimile of 'what we intend to file' then they should report the company that sent them for a clear breach of the County Courts Act 1984 S.135


Penalty for falsely pretending to act under authority of court.

135. Any person who—
(a) delivers or causes to be delivered to any other person any paper falsely purporting to be a copy of any summons or other process of a county court, knowing it to be false; or
(b) acts or professes to act under any false colour or pretence of the process or authority of a county court;
shall be guilty of an offence and shall for each offence be liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years.

http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/content.aspx?LegType=All+Legislation&title=County+Courts+Act+&searchEnacted=0&extentMatchOnly=0&confersPower=0&blanketAmendment=0&sortAlpha=0&TYPE=QS&PageNumber=1&NavFrom=0&parentActiveTextDocId=739035&ActiveTextDocId=739224&filesize=943