What is the parking fine for council owned car park for overstaying please?

hj711

I am a newbie here and so apologise for asking questions on a thread not designed for that.. the suggestion is to start up my own thread so here I am. I posted the other day on this dilemma which I am sure a lot of you are also experiencing the same moral choice. I received a parking notice from a private parking firm and the charge is extortionate at £150 (but £100 if I pay by 23rd May). Unfortunately, I called them and listened to their blurb on a recorded message and then 'appealed' to them explaining my circumstances and the reason for the overstay BEFORE I read the blogs here. However, and I am at fault here, I did not realise (having been told by a friend who regularly parks there) that the parking time was 2 hours.. I am responsible here as I should have double checked but had parked there many times before with other friends on shopping sprees for 2 hours or more and not ever have any of us been picked up on this. This suggests to me that they make the rules up as they go along and only randomly charge people or maybe it is dependent on who the attendant is checking the cameras.

It is a free car park and they photograph you as you enter and as you exit clocking your time in the car park. I was in a store which incidentally is vast and it is easy to be in there for 2 more hours and especially as they usually have long queues at the tills. What is more diffiuclt is to negotiate a parking space as its a nightmare of a parking layout, plus I require a disabled parking bay and there are only a few there. I drove around for a good ten minutes looking for one where I could get my door open wide enough to exit and re-enter my vehicle. I explained all this to them but because I had parked there for just over the 2 hours and not the 90 mins they said the charge stands.

I made suggestions to them also about how the car park may be better laid out with disabled people in mind but when they wrote back, they did not mention any of that. Of course they wouldn't .. they really do not care about individuals do they?

My point then is this. I accept that I did not adhere to their policy on parking, albeit totally unintentionally and will put my hands up and admit to that. What I do not agree with is the cost! I see a lot of others are charging only around £40 or £50 for late payments. How can they honestly justify £150? It beggars belief.

What I was thinking of doing is this.. please tell me what you think.. I thought if I perhaps wrote back to the contact I have there, who apparently is the Enforcement Department Manager and offer to pay them £40 and tell them that is all I am willing to pay for what I feel is the equivalent of a car park in a council owned car park or whatever that figure is? (presumably that depends on the area in which you live?).. Does that lay me open to further harrassment or are they likely to accept it and back off? I kind of get the feeling they won't accept it but wonder if anyone here has tried this.

I can't honestly hand on my heart say I feel its right to not pay it given that the moment I entered that car park, I basically accepted that I would be held responsble for overstaying didn't I? Didn't we all? The store in question were sympathetic to my plea for assistance on this but said that I have to take it up with the individual store. I don't think its worth the 1 hour drive to do that. I have a feeling I would be bitterly disappointed. Anyone else have any experience of this please?

Thank you.

sabz3008

My advice to you is just ignore them from now on, forget about the conversations you've had with them...You're right, they CAN'T justify £150...And they can't prove in court that this is a loss of their earnings and so on (Which, if they do want to take it to court they'll have to justify to a judge the £150 charge!) . Just ignore them from now on and refuse to pay... Don't worry about their scare mongering tactics or endless letters to come...Just file them away...

They've made NO Loss whatsoever as it's a free car park as you've stated, therefore they have no case and won't take you to court at all...Because they know they can't and they won't win as it's almost impossible to build a case against you

Ignore them, don't be afraid

sabz3008

Oh also, you've said:

I made suggestions to them also about how the car park may be better laid out with disabled people in mind but when they wrote back, they did not mention any of that. Of course they wouldn't .. they really do not care about individuals do they?

If I remember from the top of my head, there is a BPA clause that states they must give more time to disabled drivers.

But in the end, just ignore them, there's a difference between council owned car parks and private owned...You can't compare them HMG7! They're different things

If you're scared of harassment, just report them to the Police or send a letter and tell them you refuse to pay and that you do not welcome any further letters from them

hj711

Thank you Sabz.. I did overstay though .. that much I do know.. it was my responsibility to check the times on the board and I did not.. I made an assumption, incorrectly. I will shop there again but I doubt I will ever fully enjoy it knowing they 'are out there.. watching' and 'waiting'. :-) I mentioned the whole disability thing to them not to make excuses for myself .. far from it but to get them to understand the difficulty in that particular car park in the hope that they make recommendations to whomever to change the layout of the car park. I think I will sit on it a while and see what they do next. I may be back for a bit of moral support! :-)

JimmyTheWig

If you feel that, because you were officially in the wrong for overstaying, then ignore them and give the £40 that you think is fair to charity.

sabz3008

HMG7 wrote: »

Thank you Sabz.. I did overstay though .. that much I do know.. it was my responsibility to check the times on the board and I did not.. I made an assumption, incorrectly. I will shop there again but I doubt I will ever fully enjoy it knowing they 'are out there.. watching' and 'waiting'. :-) I mentioned the whole disability thing to them not to make excuses for myself .. far from it but to get them to understand the difficulty in that particular car park in the hope that they make recommendations to whomever to change the layout of the car park. I think I will sit on it a while and see what they do next. I may be back for a bit of moral support! :-)

Well if they are a BPA registered car park, I'm still sure there is something about giving disabled drivers more time, but anyway...Seeing as how they're not being considerate then why should you even CONSIDER giving them a penny? ...Don't send them anything otherwise they'll demand more... Just ignore, and have a read through other threads for comfort

kwaks

First of all it is not a council owned car park.

Second of all you did not overstay if you were in the shops, seeing as the FREE car park is for patrons.

Thirdly, do not pay them, do not enter any discussions with them.

This is a morally bankrupt scam which only survives because people pay these unjustified invoices. IF the LANDOWNER wishes to chase for his losses then he can. A seperate company does not have the right to do this.

AlexisV

What the BPA says or doesn't say makes no difference to anything.

sabz3008

What the BPA says or doesn't say makes no difference to anything.

What any PPC or BPA or any other organisation says makes no difference, but for the OP's conciliation, just another box to tick on the list of 'DO NOT PAY'

Coupon-mad

It's nowt to do with BPA Guidelines, it's the law that they have to make reasonable adjustments (which includes allowing disabled people to park for longer in a car park). It comes under the Equality Act 2010 (previously the DDA) and also harassment of disabled people is illegal too now so that part more than covers the threatograms:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8488737.stm

So, the OP should print that out and send it to the CEO of the retailer with a strong COMPLAINT that they are breaking the law in allowing their sad car parking goons to restrict disabled shoppers to the same time as other shoppers. And secondly enclose the letters you have been sent - any debt collector threatograms spouting rubbish about court - and point out that harassment of disabled people is also against the Equality Act as well as the Protection From Harassment Act.

Demand that they change their policy in their car parks, and call off the pathetic PPC and their debt collectors forthwith or you will seek serious monetary compensation, as is your legal right.

Do not say anything else or even suggest that their signs are OK - they are NOT. The usual timed restriction cannot legally apply to disabled visitors.

Simple.

hj711

Thank you Coupon-mad for that info and advice. I was going over there today to see what the lay of the land was at the car park and take some photos but had decided against it and will take the tact that all are suggesting here and ignore the b's!