Car Parking Partnership at university

Clairyt

Hi - I am new here and I wondered if you would mind giving me some advise.

I currently study at *** University. On more than one occasion I have parked "outside of a bay" for one reason or other - usually because the car next to me has done the same or because the car park was full and I didn't have time to go elsewhere. I have paid the £2 for a parking ticket on these occasions. I have now been issued with a few parking tickets - £20 within 14 days £40 thereafter etc.... I haven't paid them anything and have no intention of doing so despite their follow up letters. Today however the parking attendant (who wears a flourescent 'security' jacket) asked me for proof of my identity as a student and stupidly I showed my ID card. He asked me if I had paid any of my fines and I said no and that I have no intention of doing so. He said that the university can withhold my degree certificate and prevent me from graduating as it will be seen as a debt to the university. Is this true? And should I be worried that he saw my id card/student number?(He saw me today but I didn't actually admit to being the driver of the car at any time) Any payment I would make goes directly to CPP so I don't see how it is in anyway linked to the university?

Any advise you have would be greatly appreciated. I have told fellow students who have had tickets not to pay and I know that they haven't - I am now slightly worried that when it comes to graduation we will all be in trouble.

Thank you all for your help

Coupon-mad

Nope they cannot withhold a degree for that, although we have seen it said before. You could ask a law student about this aspect of contract law, they should know about it! As you say it's not a fine anyway and not a debt to the Uni. They have no proof who was driving and CPP don't do Court, just letters/threats as shown in the top thread.

Carry on ignoring it completely.

I did just Google for other results about CPP and Universities, of which you may want to read a few forums with similar threads:

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=University+Car+parking+Partnership+PCN

The result shown from Manchester MET University made me LOL! They say that 'Car Parking Partnership [are] specialist car park operators'...:rotfl:And if you click on their link, apparently 'If you don’t have a permit for your car and you park on either campus, you will be fined up to £70.' Yeah, a fine, of course you have the authority to fine people MMU!!

peter_the_piper

Any imagined debt is with CPP and not the University so there should be no problems. Check out the student union.

taffy056

No they can't withhold your degree on this matter, and they will in whole heap of trouble if they attempted to do so. They are a third party (CCP) contractor trying to scam you, pay them no heed, you have paid to park there , so make sure you keep al;l your tickets for doing so, this clearly is a penalty which is not legal!

vax2002

I think you have given the thick !!!!!! in the green jacket to much importance.
If he had any say or authority in anything he would not be stood outside freezing his backside off on minimum wage pretending to be important.

Kite2010

IanManc wrote: »

Owing a debt to a university can stop you graduating.

However, you're right not to take the word of a parking attendant in a fluourescent jacket about the university's rules.

Why not get in touch with the welfare/NUS person in your Students' Union and ask them if they know the answer, or to find it out - they wouldn't reveal your name to the university, and you'd get a conclusive answer.

And, of course, as you've paid for a ticket on each occasion, the parking company have no financial loss to pursue.

Owing a debt to a university can stop you graduating, as in library fees, but the debt is real & is owed to the university directly. The "alleged" debt in this case is owned by a 3rd party contractor.

Coupon-mad

IanManc wrote: »

Owing a debt to a university can stop you graduating.

However, you're right not to take the word of a parking attendant in a fluourescent jacket about the university's rules.

Why not get in touch with the welfare/NUS person in your Students' Union and ask them if they know the answer, or to find it out - they wouldn't reveal your name to the university, and you'd get a conclusive answer as to whether it is a debt to the university or not.

And, of course, as you've paid for a ticket on each occasion, the parking company have no financial loss to pursue.

This isn't a debt to the university and this is a myth, they cannot 'stop you graduating' unless you actually owe a proper debt like for the tuition fees relating to the degree.

A fake PCN is issued by a private company and they do not know for sure who was driving - so they are stuffed, they can just go swivel for their fake 'fine'! It's not any money that the Uni is owed at all, and it's a scam to boot!

To the OP it might be a laugh to see what the SU think about these charges though, if only to teach them a thing or two if they actually believe a University or its agent can 'fine' people!

Clairyt

Thank you. It does seem that there is no link between CPP and the University. I wonder if anyone has actually ever heard of someone being denied their degree because of unpaid parking fines?

pogofish

PPC contracts are nearly, if not always ex gratia, so there is no direct contractural link between any "debt" to a PPC and the Uni/client.

So just ignore away!

Coupon-mad

Clairyt wrote: »

Thank you. It does seem that there is no link between CPP and the University. I wonder if anyone has actually ever heard of someone being denied their degree because of unpaid parking fines?

No but I have read threads where it has been threatened by some idiot jobsworth who knows no better, either a CPP employee or a University employee who isn't top of the food chain.

Really don't worry about it at all, but maybe 'sound out' the SU and/or a law student, out of interest, would be fun to see if they know the truth about these unenforceable invoices?!

Coupon-mad

IanManc wrote: »

That's not true.

I know of people who have been threatened with the witholding of their degree until they paid other debts to the university, specifically the replacement cost of missing library books and unpaid accommodation bills for university residences. The can stop you graduating if you owe any debt to the university.

The issue here is whether this is a debt to the univeristy, and so far every poster has thought that it isn't - including me.

Yep I have read similar threads, on pepipoo and CAG.

And when the student threatens to sue, they get their degree of course. The Uni cannot actually withhold a degree because money is owed unless the t&cs in their 'contract' with the student are very watertight indeed! I have certainly seen it stated though, on forums like this - never ever seen the Uni get away with it when seriously challenged by someone getting help from CAG forums etc.

Generally, even if a Uni t&cs state something along these lines, I suspect a Court might well declare it to be an unfair contract (even if the t&cs include such an assertion, it doesn't make it enforceable of course).

Anyway I think we are all agreeing that CPP are a private bunch of chancers and there's no money owed anyway!