Help -My first ever parking ticket!

madeinleeds

Hi All

I have been to the football today & over the last few years I have parked in the same spot. Its a private carpark in an industrial estate near the ground in leeds. Many people park there on match days & never had any issues. This morning I drove in, parked up & to be honest, I was half asleep. I thought nothing of it, but when I got back to the car, all the cars left in there had parking fines. £80 if paid within 7 days, with additional £40 if paid after. As you can imagine, it took me by suprise, but on closer insepction, new signs had been put up since my last vist 2 weeks ago. The company is called Vehicle Control Services & I have 7 days to "Appeal" or "Challange". They claim to have taken a photo of the car & I don't want to lie & say I wasnt driving. The ticket says I was breaching section 94 - parking without a valid ticket or Permit. As I said, over the last 10 or so years, its not something I have needed, but I accept it was an expensive school boy error not noticing the new signs. Any ideas or should I just pay up?:(

McKneff

Absolutely ignore it. I will post some notes in a minute when I find them.
Dont pay it, they are scammers.

Driver8

Is that by Scania? Anyway, totally ignore.

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...affic-offences.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/...play.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...affic-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.

McKneff

Here you go, now you can have a glass of wine and relax.
and breathe........................


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...affic-offences.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/...play.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...affic-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.

madeinleeds

Many thanks both!

It was in Revie Way ind estate - the ticket says Parking Charge Notice.

On their website, the company claim to pursue all PCN's through court if required.

OK - will ignore, but given my luck recently, they will choose me to make an example of lol !

Sir_Roger_deLodger

madeinleeds wrote: »

The company is called Vehicle Control Services & I have 7 days to "Appeal" or "Challange". No you don't, you have until the end of time to ignore it.
They claim to have taken a photo of the car & I don't want to lie & say I wasnt driving.
No need to lie, a photo of the car proves nothing. You are under no obligation to tell them who was driving.
The ticket says I was breaching section 94 - parking without a valid ticket or Permit.
Section 94 of what? They are making up "rules" to make it look official.
As I said, over the last 10 or so years, its not something I have needed, but I accept it was an expensive school boy error not noticing the new signs. Any ideas or should I just pay up?:(

Would you pay a Nigerian email scammer? This is no different.
VCS are very well known. Ignore them.

madeinleeds wrote: »

On their website, the company claim to pursue all PCN's through court if required.

What they claim and what they do are two different things entirely.
And they are not PCNs, only councils can issue those.

peter_the_piper

""They claim to have taken a photo of the car & I don't want to lie & say I wasn't driving. ""
Unless they stood in front of you in the driving seat and took a picture it will be impossible to say from who is driving. Even a cctv camera on the entrance/exit will only show the reg.

roddydogs

Wish I had a £ for every "Do I have to pay a private parking ticket thread."!!

madeinleeds

Hi all

Just an update - well, I wandered over to another forum to get futher advice & I have followed the ignore, ignore ignore policy. My charge intially went from 80 to 120. At that point, the company claimed in writing that had I paid within 7 days it would heve been 60 - this was not wtitten on my ticket. Anyway, we move on & now the Debt collector writes - the fee is now £162 & am feeling rather uneasy. The continued advice is to ignore. The I get a text from them - not sure how they got my number mind you - anyway, still adviced to ignore. My worry is that if it does go to court, do I have show I acted reasonably as part of my defence? Just need mind putting at rest!

trisontana

You are still taking these clowns too seriously. Please believe us, it will not go to court. Stop falling for their meaningless threats. They are just bullies, nothing else. Keep ignoring.

funkycoldribena

madeinleeds wrote: »

the fee is now £162 & am feeling rather uneasy

Take a rennie,and carry on ignoring.