Private Parking-A real shock in store!!!!!

linthorpe

You may already be aware, but here goes anyway. There is a proposed new Bill to go before Parliament called(laughably) 'The Protection of Freedoms Bill'. All well and good until you come to Section2:Clause56. This nasty little piece hidden deep in the Bill means that our own Government intends to empower the members of the 'British Parking Association' to pursue the registered keeper of any vehicle breaking their so called rules. This means they have the power either to make you incriminate the driver, if you know who it is, or take the 'fine' yourself as the keeper. Guilty until proved innocent I believe this is called. The law turned on its head. Furthermore this BPA or Sharks R Us, will have unrestricted access to our data via the DVLA, no doubt paying a tidy fee to our Government for the favour. Can you believe our own Government is about to let these scammers loose upon its own citizens to persecute and harrass them for money? Well, yes actually, I can. Unlike the police and local authorities these parking scammers have one sole purpose; to raise money for themselves. The only way they can raise it is to 'fine' the unwary motorist. Not really a good incentive for best practice or being fair. I urge everyone to write to their MP, the Minister for Transport-Phillip Hammond MP and anyone else they think they need to object to. Doing nothing is NOT an option. Do nothing and we will sleep walk into this and it will be too late. Let us strangle this evil piece of anti-freedom legislation at birth. There will soon be a blog called 'parkinginjustice' to attract support for opposition also an e petition is being set up. Please support these organised methods of opposition. This will be another motoring tax by the back door. 30 million motorists, most with a vote, we must have a voice. Thanks Linthorpe

shortchanged_2

linthorpe wrote: »

Can you believe our own Government is about to let these scammers loose upon its own citizens to persecute and harrass them for money?

As you also state linthorpe yes I can. This is a tory government now and they are all for so called private enterprise so I'm sure they see no wrong in what these scammers do.

vax2002

we have all the weapons we need at our disposal.
Where you see a fake parking ticket company operating, you shop elsewhere.
They will soon get the message, dont preach, don't moan, just do it. Everybody

bargepole

linthorpe wrote: »

.... This nasty little piece hidden deep in the Bill means that our own Government intends to empower the members of the 'British Parking Association' to pursue the registered keeper of any vehicle breaking their so called rules. ...

The proposed legislation only says that they may "pursue" the RK for a legitimate parking charge, although there is no definition of what constitutes a legitimate charge.

But recent court decisions, particularly the one from the Thurlow case in Worcester, have confirmed that PPC so-called "fines" are nothing more than unenforceable penalty charges, bearing no relation to the actual loss suffered. So the only bit that might be considered legitimate, would be the £1 per hour or whatever the standard charge for that car park is.

In any case, Schedule 4 part 56 won't be enacted until there is a proper independent appeals process - not going to happen any time soon.

RENEGADE_2

linthorpe wrote: »

This means they have the power either to make you incriminate the driver, if you know who it is, or take the 'fine' yourself as the keeper.

Not so. Read on.

bargepole wrote: »

The proposed legislation only says that they may "pursue" the RK for a legitimate parking charge, although there is no definition of what constitutes a legitimate charge.

A legitimate charge is only too well defined, it is one that compensates for landowner's losses resulting from the driver's action. This is already in force if only these disciples of the system bothered to pursue the matter properly. They're already paid at one end to manage the car parks so they have the means to fund their field crew; their problem is that no amount is high enough for them and they have no morals regarding how low they stoop to try for this reward.

There is no incrimination as this remains within Contract Law. In the end of the day, having a face to go after doesn't bring a PPC closer to its goal. We've had thousands of cases where the unsuspecting driver has initially appealed before consulting these forums. After appearing here, they usually amend tactics and begin to ignore. Being able to pursue the driver does not mean pressing him for a demand that exceeds landowner's losses. There is still the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 which has yet to be repealed.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1977/50

esmerobbo

If you read the clause, it would read as if it was designed for P&D car park because it states the RK would be liable for "Parking Charges" All it would achieve is a legitimate charge could be claimed and a reasonable admin fee!

So possibly if you didn't pay a £5 fee they could claim £5 and say £10/12 admin. I don't think the author meant the silly charges made by PPC's for contrived conventions.

Hopefully at later readings and then the passage through the house of Lords some will pick up on this and amend accordingly!

trisontana

That's probably down to PPCs who call their tickets "parking charge notices" so they can mimic council PCNs.

esmerobbo

trisontana wrote: »

That's probably down to PPCs who call their tickets "parking charge notices" so they can mimic council PCNs.

If it goes through unchanged I can see some interesting cases coming up! It would take some explaining how a offer of free parking suddenly became a charge of £75 for having a wheel outside of a bay?:cool:

bromsgrovebarry

Not very well thought out is it? It reminds me of the Home Imformation Packs fiasco brought in by the last shower. If the bill is passed, I see it being becoming unworkable after a mauling in the court.

HO87

Whether Clause 56 and Schedule 4 are ever enacted remains to be seen and whether they actually provide real, legal teeth to PPC's also remains to be seen. The one thing that you can be sure of is the the PPC's will absolutely claim that it does.

We see here on this board - almost on a weekly basis - certain representatives of PPC World making claims for the status of certain cases that are utterly, utterly baseless - doesn't stop them making the claims even to the extent of trying to impress the so-called judgments on judges (thankfully one of whom has now invited them to take a hike). The point is that innocent members of the public will be suckered and that will be good enough for the PPC's.

And whilst things may not appear well thought out the nub of it is that the PPC lobby succeeded in getting there. We should be wondering how our political leaders allowed themselves to be hoodwinked but then how many of us ever really thought they lived in the real world? Having said all of that unless we register our disgust at this with the politicians then it will be passed. Do as the OP suggests and write to your MP's and the Transport Minister.

bromsgrovebarry

We assume that the ruling class are clever- recent events here and abroad should remind us that they are not. As well as trying to influence MPs, we should remember that consumers hold the utimate weapon- the ability where and when we spend our money. If push comes to shove, could enough of us influence retailers to stop selling customer goodwill to a bunch of scammers? I can only speak for myself but I could easily boycott ppc 'managed' car parks. .