Parking Charge Notice - in my own carpark! Please advise

cookiexcat

Hi everyone,

I have read lots of threads on here regarding Parking Charge Notices but I just wanted some additional advice to put my mind at rest.

I am a tenant in a building comprising of 6 flats. We have an area of concrete which is used as a carpark for the tenants. In our contract each flat is allowed to park one car in this space.

Because the area is filled with lots of students there have been problems in the past of lots of cars parking in this area which do not belong to tenants of the building, and consequently when i get home from work sometimes there is no space for me to park my car which is annoying seeing as i pay rent which should include a space for my car. Due to this i kept complaining to the owner of the property to enforce some kind of car parking scheme or put signs up to deter non residents from parking. Eventually the landlord said they had agreed with a car parking management company to sort the issue out. Car Parking Solutions Ltd of Nottingham. Basically we were all given some permits and asked for our registration number. Any cars found parking in the spaec without a permit would be ticketed.

Anyway, roll on a few months, yesterday i go out to my car and see a ticket has been issued. The reason - because my permit was not displayed. I rang the number to dispute this and told the guy that i am a tenant of the building and as such i have full legal right to park there! He got shirty with me and said it didnt matter, that if my permit wasnt displayed i owe £75 within 7 days.

Im ethier going to ignore it....or write a letter saying that i have full legal rights to park in this area due to being a tenant and that i have not entered into a contract with this company. I will not pay the charge and if they wish to pursue it they can see me in court. Also with something saying if they continue to write to me i will report them for harrasssment.

Hopefully it will go away.....

Just still slightly unsure as i was the person nagging the landlord to enforce parking, so maybe this is bad karma for me? I do feel though that as a tenant it surely doesnt matter if i displayed my permit correctly or not.

Thoughts?

AlexisV

See what happens when you invite a private parking company in.

You willingly entered a contract which burdened you with thinking you have to display permission for something you don't need permission for.

Simply ignore the ticket and the company. You'll get some junk mail but they'll go away eventually.

Inflatable_Armadillo

As Alexis has posted... this what PPC are all about. This is not about about parking prevention for you and your fellow residents, it is about making money. Nothing more or nothing less! So, they have your registration, they probably issued you with the 'permit'... but you contravened the T&C's of the contract because you didn't display your valid permit! They have reason, in their eyes to chase you for money.

This is a dirty game and unfortunately, you have been had!

However, the advice is, as always, just ignore them. They will stop sending you invoices after a while and go away. I don't think they will clamp or tow you if you just ignore them and don't slip up again, but you never know!!!

cookiexcat

Well ive put my permit back on display....i dont want more tickets.

Are they even legally allowed to come back at a later date and clamp/tow my car if i dont pay the fine?

I didnt ask my landlord to get a company like this in, they initially put signs up stating it was private car park to deter people and gave us laminated permits to make others think we had to display them, and then when that didnt put people off parking they then got this company in.

peter_the_piper

""Due to this i kept complaining to the owner of the property to enforce some kind of car parking scheme""
Rising bollards or a gate would have been preferable. PPC's have got to make money somehow and once the students kept away then you were their next targets. Its a fact of life.

Anyway, as your lease says you are entitled to a space then the ppc can go hang.

robredz

Stop referring to the unenforceable Invoice as a FINE, and as you have the right to park there if you get clamped you would be entitled to declamp the vehicle using the services of Mr A Grinder imho.

vax2002

What did you think would happen when scammers, crooks, liars and cheats were invited to prowl your car park ?
They know you have a right to park there, they dont care, they are lying crooks who want you to work all day and then give the money to lazy crooks who can not be bothered with that working malarkey.
do you think it is a coincidence they give you a permit that does not stick in the windscreen and you have to mess about putting on the dash ? its as good as money in the bank !
All you will by by writing is get hooked in a dialogue.
Thats how these scams work, by giving you some bait to bite on.
IGNORE,

Coupon-mad

cookiexcat wrote: »

Well ive put my permit back on display....i dont want more tickets.

Are they even legally allowed to come back at a later date and clamp/tow my car if i dont pay the fine?

I didnt ask my landlord to get a company like this in, they initially put signs up stating it was private car park to deter people and gave us laminated permits to make others think we had to display them, and then when that didnt put people off parking they then got this company in.

Very little sympathy, sorry. You know as well as we do that it was because of you that this protection racket is happening and now you are dancing to their fiddle, literally, by accepting an unneeded permit scheme.

You did ask your landlord to sort out the issue and this is what landlords & managing agents think is the answer. And PPCs are always dodgy and always pick on residents, taxis, deliverymen - you name it, your visitors will stop calling in the end due to this extortion. And then your permit will expire and you will get 'done' again with another fake ticket and scary letters, then your car will be in for a service and the courtesy car will get a ticket which the garage might pay and then demand from you, no car is safe. Until you get rid of the firm the scam will continue - ad infinitum.

Why the sledgehammer to crack a nut? Why not just put notes on the students cars at the time, polite(ish) notes saying their car reg details 'have been noted' and thanking them for not parking there again. Works for me round here, never see the same annoying car twice. I do glare at them as well if it's before or after work and I see the drivers getting in or out of their car (works a treat!).

Ignore the fake ticket & scary letters but lobby for the flippin scammers to be kicked out.

Inflatable_Armadillo

cookiexcat wrote: »

Well ive put my permit back on display....i dont want more tickets.

Are they even legally allowed to come back at a later date and clamp/tow my car if i dont pay the fine?

I didnt ask my landlord to get a company like this in, they initially put signs up stating it was private car park to deter people and gave us laminated permits to make others think we had to display them, and then when that didnt put people off parking they then got this company in.

No, but it doesn't stop some of them doing just that occasionally and once they have your car then you have to deal with it via a court injunction or paying up and then suing them... and possibly your landlord!

Now, I am going to give you and your landlord the benefit of the doubt here because it does sound like you and he tried to 'sort of' handle this before getting a PPC in and also suspect that your landlord has been taken in by their sales spiel.

So, here is what you do. Explain to the landlord the situation you find yourself in and also that you now understand about how the majority of private parking companies operate and you think he possible should consider telling them that their services are no longer required. Despite you pressuring him, apologise and say you made a huge mistake and ask the landlord to install some sort of barrier, gates or bollard system for the parking spaces instead, if possible.

As for "I didnt ask my landlord to get a company like this in..." unfortunately, the vast majority of PPC's are like this!!!

esmerobbo

The problem with any parasites its only interest is it's own, and not it's host's! :cool:

scheming_gypsy

cookiexcat wrote: »

Any cars found parking in the spaec without a permit would be ticketed.


I do feel though that as a tenant it surely doesnt matter if i displayed my permit correctly or not.

Thoughts?

thoughts? if it didn't matter about having a permit why do you think they gave you one and told you that any cars parked without one would be ticketed.

Although personally I'm not 100% sure it's always the best idea to ignore tickets outside your house. If you keep ignoring it then they know exactly where to find your car if they want to clamp it.
I'd say to pester the management company to have the invoice cancelled rather than deal with the parking company.