Private Eye Parking Fine

briarlow

My mum has had a parking fine from this company. She was at her local shopping centre. She is fairly disabled after suffering with cancer last year which has affected her walking etc.

On the fine it says that she was 2hours 18 minutes in a 2 hour car park. The photograph is not from the time of entering a parking space and parking up but from the time of entering the road that the car park is adjacent to.

This car park can take up to 10 mins to find a parking space.

Is this legal. She has asked for me to send the cheque off which needs to be sent now as the fine will go up higher from Wednesday. I just find it disgusting that they can do this. I can tell that the Asda has had numerous complaints regarding this as the woman knew straight away as to what I was going to say.
My parents are elderly and are not happy not paying as they are scared that the cost of the fine will go higher and higher. What should I do?

Browntoa

ignore , its not a "fine" , its a pretty bit of paper they stuck on the windscreen on some private land

they will also pretend to be about to take you to court in a series of letters , THEY WILL NOT

watch this

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

Browntoa

http://gutt.co.uk/2010/05/06/don%E2%80%99t-pay-or-respond-to-parking-fines-or-tickets/

If it is from a private company and not the Police.
This is the advice of Tim Cary a Solicitor who specialises in traffic law and appeared as a guest of Anne Robinson on the BBC program WATCHDOG which was shown on BBC1 on Thursday the 6th of May 2010.
Tim stated that he ‘was surprised at the volume of these fines being issued’ and said, ‘ People don’t have t deal with them, people don’t have to answer them because it is NOT A CRIMINAL OFFENCE not to answer these unless they are from the police.’
Anne Robinson then said that ‘People are worried about being taken to court… what are their chances of being taken to court?’
Tim answered that ‘It is up to the parking company to sue the driver NOT THE OWNER OF THE VEHICLE OR REGISTERED KEEPER and they have to prove that the driver was in breach of some contractual term,
Anne then asked ‘will they do that?’ and Tim said ‘I don’t know of any cases where they have done it and it would be incredibly difficult to mount a case before a County Court.
Anne then went on to mention people’s other worry about when debt collectors get involved and peoples credit ratings getting marked down.
Tim, who is an expert in traffic law said ‘Complete nonsense, complete nonsense. The only way that you will have your credit rating damaged is if you were to get a County judgment against you that was registered’.
And since he already indicated that that would be nearly impossible for the Private Parking Companies to do and to his knowledge they haven’t done it yet. I wouldn’t worry about ignoring parking fines no matter how officious they may seem.
As a matter of point, Anne Robinson pointed out that the fine itself, complete with photos of the ‘offending vehicle’ really did look like an official penalty charge and Tim agreed that it looked impressive. He then went on to state that if his Mum got one he would advise her to fold it up into a paper aeroplane and simply throw it away

briarlow

The fine actually came through the post with photo's so the company will of gone through the DVLA to get my parents details. It was clear from the photo's that my mum was driving at the time and not actually parked up.

Just disgusts me that other parking places the disabled have a 3 hour waiting time, how can they decide on what they want?

notts_phil

IGNORE IT !!!

its rubbish just pretty paper to go down the toilet....

trisontana

briarlow wrote: »

The fine actually came through the post with photo's so the company will of gone through the DVLA to get my parents details. It was clear from the photo's that my mum was driving at the time and not actually parked up.

Just disgusts me that other parking places the disabled have a 3 hour waiting time, how can they decide on what they want?

We repeat this is not a FINE. This is an unenforceable invoice and not a penny is owed to them. Please take the advice of everyone on here and don't pay the clowns. You are taking them too seriously. They are not the police or the council. They are just a bunch of private citizens with no more power than you or me to demand money off people.

vax2002

If you Do pay it, can you send me £196 as well as I have just given you a "forum reading Charge"
Would you pay me ? of course not, well the ticket you got is no more enforceable than mine.
Do Not contact them there is NO APPEAL, they ALL get turned down.
IGNORE THEM
you will get several scary letters full of empty Lies and threats and then they go away.
TRUST US !

esmerobbo

Do as advised ignore the parasites. However complain to Asda in writing. The more we do the sooner these maggots will be got rid of!

Kite2010

Take the landowner to court for harassement under the equalities act 2010, failure to provide reasonable adjustments for disabled visitors.

Ignore Parking Spy as they are useless and would charge a dog if they could get away with it.

Coupon-mad

briarlow wrote: »

The fine actually came through the post with photo's so the company will of gone through the DVLA to get my parents details. It was clear from the photo's that my mum was driving at the time and not actually parked up.

Just disgusts me that other parking places the disabled have a 3 hour waiting time, how can they decide on what they want?

They cannot, it is illegal:

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

Print that out, march into Asda and insist on seeing the Store Manager (not the Duty Manager who has no clout). You Mum had the legal right to a reasonable adjustment of a longer parking time than other non-disabled shoppers (as well as use of a disabled bay). You could sue Asda for a MUCH higher sum for the harassment your parents are now experiencing, Tell them that!

Please do not even consider sending your hard-earned many to these scammers. You have watched the Watchdog clip, yes? You must show it to your parents.

If they fall for this scam then they have been had. The only trouble will be if they cannot cope with the threatogram debt collector letters which will arrive (see the top thread):

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

That's why you must complain about this harassment to Asda to get them to call off the bully-boys before you sue them and the parking co. If they won't, then PLEASE issue a formal letter saying you will sue them (both), this is a situation waiting for someone to take a stand. The compensation would be four figures - the public need to know that this practice is illegal as it breaches the Eqauality Act 2010.

Complain this week, at Asda. Do not appeal to nor contact the PPC, and do not be misled by Asda employees who may think this is a real 'fine' or may say it's nothing to do with them. It's very muich to do with them when there's a DDA breach in their car park and they are then condoning harassment by letters, on top of that! If no joy at branch level write to or email the Asda CEO (ask the Store Manager for his details).

This situation is crying out for someone to sue a supermarket. If I had more spare time I woud do so myself with a disabled relative, deliberately.

trisontana

Why is a satirical magazine going into the private parking business? I assume you mean Parking Eye.