Shoal Enforcement PPC

Rossi1912

Hello, new to this so hope i get a few replies and some good advice, any help is greatly appreciated.

Let me fill you in on the story.

The other night i received a ticket from Shoal Enforcement for £120, with options to pay less if i paid quickly.

I accept that I was parked in the wrong car park, however the sign saying that it was for permit holders only was not lit, there was a light nearby so you can make the sign out but you do have to look for it. The 'visitor' car park is signposted as the customer car park, as their are a couple of local shops next to it.. so surely that would suggest you can only park their if you are in fact a customer.

Also the car park listed on my ticket does not specify if i was parked in the permit holder or customer car park. i have also been back to the car park and seen that there is no CCTV so there would be no way of them telling if I was the driver as I am the RK. And the person who issuer of the ticket has only filled out his/her initials on the ticket.

I have not paid any money, contacted or received contact from them as of yet, it was only a few days ago so i wont expect anything for the next couple of weeks.

Does anyone know if i should just pay or sit tight and take my chances?

Also has anyone not payed and got away with it.. i.e they just gave up (with any company but i have a particular interest in shoal enforcement if anyone has had dealings with them) I am aware that these tickets are classed as invoices and the PPc cannot enforce them unless they take you to civil court? is this likely to happen??

Thanks for any replies i receive!! Sorry it's a bit of an essay...

Fergie76

Private car park, don't pay, just ignore. Don't get into correspondence with them, it only encourages them.

Also remove all details of the driver from your post as PPC's are know to trawl these boards and you don't want to give them any evidence as to who the driver is, in the highly unlikely event they try and take you to court.

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.

Kite2010

Total damages the landowner endured by you parking on his/her land is zero.

Total damages the landowner can sue you for in court for trespass is zero.

In other words, ignore ignore & ignore everything from the PPC, make a lovely paper-plane if you want to, the chances of them taking you to court is less than the chance of the next 2 euromillion draws having the same numbers drawn out.

Rossi1912

Brilliant thanks for your help! great replies, i look forward to hearing more! and don't worry I will not be corresponding with them at all nor telling them any info about other drivers. Cheers!

Rossi1912

Kite2010 wrote: »

Total damages the landowner endured by you parking on his/her land is zero.

True i forgot to mention there where about 50 other spaces that were free! so my car was not in anybodies space, infact my car was in my friends usual space as his car was in the garage waiting work from his mot, so off the record you could say i was taking his space!

HO87

I suggest that others take a look at Shoal's website - Click Here. The reasons will rapidly make themselves apparent but here's a taster:



From their main "Ticketing" page:

If you are landowner or an authorised person acting on behalf of such (i.e. tenant), and suffer from motorists abusing your land whereby you would like to control who gets penalised - then "Ticketing" is for you.

From their "Ticketing - Legality" page:

By parking the driver automatically enters into a Contract with you for you to issue a Civil Penalty Charge.

From their "Ticketing - Q & A" page:

Our legal department and Debt Recovery Agent will obtain the vehicle licensing details from the DVLA and pursue the registered keeper through the civil courts. Many other companies will not pursue offenders, however our debt recovery agents are issuing summons and taking enforcement action on a daily basis.

Besides all of this the full name of the company is not provided anywhere on the site nor is its registered address, company registration number or place of registration. The only address provided is a non-geographical one - a PO Box address is not a geographic address and a number of other matters.

taxiphil

The pic on their home page which they claim is a photo of their nice respectable car park attendants, is just a picture of two models wearing hi-vis vests which they've nicked from the website of a clothing supplier:

http://www.kelticclothing.co.uk/IMG-Class1Waistcoat3Stripe-gotohivis.htm

esmerobbo

This appeal system is going to be fair is it not?

"Payment must be enclosed with your appeal correspondence. If your appeal is successful, your payment will be refunded. Withholding payment whilst in dispute will result in your costs increasing."

They certainly like the words "offender" and "offence"!

trisontana

They are members of the BPA (for what that's worth), but it's against the BPA's code of practice to demand payment upfront when submitting an "appeal". Mind you, UKCPS are also BPA members, and they also demand such a payment.

trisontana

SHOAL ENFORCEMENT LIMITED
2ND FLOOR
145-157 ST JOHN STREET
LONDON
EC1V 4PY
Company No. 06267126