UK PArking control Ltd....Anyone had dealings with them?

Stephen_Leak

Firstly, the legal stuff.

Any warning signs are usually so badly positioned and worded, that they won’t have created a legally binding deemed contract between the car park owner and the driver in the first place. (The Unfair Contract Terms Act 1997.)

Even if there is a contract, all the car park owner (CPO) can claim from the driver in damages for any breach of contract is what they’ve lost as a result. If this is a free car park or they paid, this is £0.00. By asking you for more, which is unreasonable, it’s become an unfair contract penalty, which is legally unenforceable. (Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co. Ltd. vs. New Garage & Motor Co. Ltd., House of Lords, 1914.)

Only councils, the police and Transport for London can impose legally enforceable fines or penalties. Private companies can't.

PPCs consider that their signs create a fair and legally binding deemed contract between the car park owner and the driver, that their demands are their losses, that these are reasonable, and that they are legally enforceable.

What do you do?

Don’t appeal. They always reject them. Why should they? What’s in it for them to let anyone off?

What they want is for you to divulge the identity of the driver. If they don’t know who the driver was, they have to make do with chasing the registered keeper of the vehicle involved. They’ve started claiming that they have the right to ask who the driver was. They can ask. This doesn’t mean that you have to tell them.

However, if you have appealed, it doesn’t make their actions lawful.

They will threaten you with all sorts of legal and financial unpleasantness, in order to try and intimidate you into paying. But, they can't actually do anything, for the same reason that a blackmailer couldn't sue their victim if they didn’t pay.

Their threats usually include bailiffs, damage to you credit rating, etc. But, for things to get to this stage, they would have to take you to court (and have their actions subjected to legal scrutiny), win the case (which would happen if you didn't attend) and then you’d have to refuse to pay. Bailiffs would then be appointed by the court. This scenario is possible. But it’s also unlikely, as you have control over it at two points.

You can ignore their empty threats. Eventually, they will run out of things to intimidate you with, and stop throwing good money after bad.

give_them_FA

Thanks Stephen. A comprehensive run down! Wattsy, the bottom line is you don't have to pay these scamming tricksters so much as an old halfpenny. Don't have any communication with them, no matter how much they try and tempt you to reply, don't.

Tell the Manager of the McDonalds that, as they have parasites in their car park, you won't be visiting again, (or paying, so they have lost out twice!) then relax, secure in the knowledge that nothing at all will happen to you.

wattsy1

Thank you for your reply, i have emailled them letting them know my disgust at them sending this notice and that i will consulting with my solicitor on Monday morning and i have no intention of paying this notice for eating in a fast food resturant, i called them on the number on the back and they told me they don't deal with this, so the operator gave me another number, but i noticed this to be the 'payment' line which i refused to call and told her this, she then said that she would find another number for me to call which deals with McDonalds carparks, i then explained that they should change the phone numbers on the letters to reflect that!!
Are you saying that i should ignore all of the letters and they have no legal powers unless they take me to court (unlikely)? cheers.

wattsy1

By the way i emailled them and called them before coming on this website :-(

Stephen_Leak

give_them_FA wrote: »

Thanks Stephen. A comprehensive run down! <snip>

It's still a "work in progress", but I reckon it's coming together quite nicely.

I used the same "draft offline and copy & paste" technique when I was helping people with credit card penalty charge claims years ago.

And look how things have changed there.

The PPCs are next. Failure is not an option. Just like we will have soon for clamping, one day, there will be legislation outlawing the evils that they do.

Stephen_Leak

wattsy1 wrote: »

By the way i emailled them and called them before coming on this website :-(

Appealing to a PPC is like appealing to a mugger. Actually, that's unfair to muggers. Anyway, even if you have inadvertently confirmed who the driver was, it still doesn't make anything they've done and they're going to do any more enforceable.

The car park owners, however, do need to be told what their agents, the PPCs, are doing on their behalf to their customers. Legally, they are "jointly and severally liable".

give_them_FA

wattsy1 wrote: »

Are you saying that i should ignore all of the letters and they have no legal powers unless they take me to court (unlikely)? cheers.

That is PRECISELY what we are saying, wattsy. This entire business is a con, a scam, a cheeky try-on.

There is absolutely NOTHING they can or will do if you don't pay.

They have absolutely no legal basis to claim these charges off you so they tell a pack of lies about "court" to try and frighten you into paying.

Hey, do you think that if they really COULD take it to court they would be writing you a series of stupid letters? It's all talk and no action.

You sound like someone who isn't going to be taking this attempted scam lying down- give McDonalds hell for employing these rogues, they deserve it!

As for UKPC, they are crooks and don't give them the time of day.

Coupon-mad

wattsy1 wrote: »

Thank you for your reply, i have emailled them letting them know my disgust at them sending this notice and that i will consulting with my solicitor on Monday morning and i have no intention of paying this notice for eating in a fast food resturant, i called them on the number on the back and they told me they don't deal with this, so the operator gave me another number, but i noticed this to be the 'payment' line which i refused to call and told her this, she then said that she would find another number for me to call which deals with McDonalds carparks, i then explained that they should change the phone numbers on the letters to reflect that!!

Are you saying that i should ignore all of the letters and they have no legal powers unless they take me to court (unlikely)? cheers.

Exactly that! Stop wasting your time chasing a scam. No more phone calls and CERTAINLY no need to pay a solicitor if you were actually intending to!

We already have an expert solicitor's advice on here - Tim Cary on Watchdog, linked in an info 'sticky' thread that you can see right now.

Watch the clip and look at the letter previews. You want the thread called 'PPC letters & threats', second to the top when you click back to the main forum (one click - see my signature for where is unsure). You will see the Watchdog linky and the letter-chain previews. Easy to ignore.

hack_2

Worth a read ... a barrister's parking victory

However, forum rules do not allow me to give you the url link of timkevan's blogspot and relevant article 'challenge to private parking charge'. I'm sure Google will find it.

For those asking for letter templates, you could adapt relevant parts.

But I am going to take the excellent advice here and totally ignore my 'ticket' and the scammers' threats.

ManxRed

Coupon Mad posts that link in most of her posts.