Parking Charge Notice

taffy056

Trebor16 wrote: »

Why waste time contacting a solicitor or CAB? There are some seasoned campaigners here who know what they are talking about. CAB are unlikely to know the true position and you can't guarentee a solicitor will know either.

The trouble with CAB is that all their advice comes directly from the BPA who are the British Parking Association for those that don't know, they are the trade body of private parking companies, they are NOT a regulator , and they have on their board private parking company owners. So the advice from CAB is flawed as its like taking advice from the mob about the godfather.

Its about time Cab also watched the Watchdog videos and learned about this scam1

give_them_FA

Yes, some of the advice given by the Citizens' Advice Bureau is appalling because they have been advised themselves by the Crooks Guild, the BPA, who have no legal standing but are self-appointed. I have heard people say that the CAB has told them they must pay these "invoices", absolute rubbish.

Unfortunately the post I quoted by Davewinston above-

"unless ofcourse you are willing to guarantee that nothing will come of this letter and will offer to pay the fine in full should the OP choose to take your advice and ignore the letter and lands them selfs with a hefty fine, court costs and/or CCJs? Didnt think so"

sounds precisely the sort of thing a PPC troll WOULD say to undermine confidence in our advice- which didn't help his cause. Hence the suspicion of a few of the old hands who have seen this type of propaganda before.

Coupon-mad

Never ask the CAB about a private parking 'ticket' because - as others in the know have already said - their so-called standard advice template on the subject was actually written by the BPA. As was said on another thread, the BPA are like the Godfather in charge of the mob, not a regulator!

Goodness only knows why the CAB have never updated their 'info' but it still says the same old rubbish that suggests that there 'may' be a contract and that it would be a good idea to 'appeal'. The CAB has swallowed the idea that these 'companies' are not scammers! :rotfl:

Utter codswallop of course.

Anyway, back to topic, here's the answer in simple terms I think, relevant to the OP's case. This BBC article from 2 years ago:

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

'Neil Coyle, from the charity Disability Alliance, said: "Supermarkets need to acknowledge there is a problem, and secondly, very quickly they need to ensure their car parking procedures conform with the law. "You or I can stamp our feet and say how outrageous it is but at the end of the day there is a law that protects disabled people from this happening." He said the supermarkets needed to end the "unfair charges" or "they can wait until someone takes a legal case and potentially face a considerable compensation case". '

And that was said PRIOR to the Equality Act 2010 which has granted disabled people even more protection than the old DDA!

The big Supermarkets have been aware for years that they need to allow disabled people longer to park. See that article. Why not send it to the CEO of the Supermarket and ask why they are still allowing their parking agents to breach disability law? Under the Equality Act 2010, it's also now an offence to harass a disabled person for using a 'reasonable adjustment' (such as a disabled bay). Or for not allowing a 'reasonable adjustment' (such as more time in store, more time to park - as per the BBC article).

You were entitled to use the bay and to stay longer. You could sue the Supermarket (or was it another retail or entertainment complex?) and the PPC jointly for damages for this harassment. Why not start with a written complaint (not appeal) to the CEO of the retailer on site, as I say, enclosing that BBC article? Ask some pertinent, assertive questions about this unlawful practice that is being played out by PPCs in car parks every single day.

No PPC or Supermarket/landowner has been sued for a disability breach like this as far as we know...yet...

jimmyservis

Hello All

I have read this post, and find it quite reassuring after my events today, but i'd be interested in any specifics to my case;

In the center of Warwick, there is a small turning bay just off the highstreet. I think the floor has really faded yellow hatchings over it. I pulled up today, my friend ran into the shop, and i waited in the car (engine running). Within one minute, a man from the car behind got out, knocked on the window, and posted me a 'fine'/'invoice' for £100 - "no waiting mate, sign up there" - about 10foot high on the side the wall - and, to be fair, it did say No Parking/No waiting blah blah blah.

How can they do this, when i'm sat in my car - when does common sense prevail and they ask me to move?

Rather than even reading the fine slip, i actually just threw it out the window at him and drove off.

He says he has photographs, my registration and will persue through the DVLA & Small claims court. They are forever clamping vehicles in this space with a £140 release fee - people pay it instantly, because they have no other option to release their vehicle.

If it was £25 i would probably have paid it, but the amount is ridiculous, he was sat waiting for someone to stop. I think it was a set up to - there is space for 6 vehicles - he was in one, one was blocking a lower wall sign, two other vehicles with no clamps or fines - and then i pulled into the final space - and he got out and slapped a ticket on.

I really want it to go to court because i want a chance to dispute whoever is operating this. Can it really be legal? What are the chances of him taking it to court?

He was in just a bog standard car, wearing normal clothes and a mobile number circled on the fine. I didn't check it for company name etc.

taffy056

jimmyservis wrote: »

How can they do this, when i'm sat in my car - when does common sense prevail and they ask me to move?

Because then their scam wouldn't work if they just asked people to move, this is a money making exercise nothing else, they are trying to scam people out of their hard earned. If you read this thread you know what to do, and that is IGNORE the invoice and the junk mail to follow.

give_them_FA

Yes this is a particularly bad one, usually even the cowboys aren't quite that quick

But now you can laugh at them as they will waste £2.50 getting the registered keeper info from Swansea, then postage on a series of letters that you will TOTALLY IGNORE, before finally giving it up as a bad job having lost several pounds on their scamming attempt.

jimmyservis

Thanks both for the info! I do plan to ignore any information they send, and really hope i do get to go to court (although it sounds unlikely)!

I just wish i could help everyone else that gets caught there and ends up paying!!!!

give_them_FA

You can, Jimmy. Your mission now, (should you decide to accept it) is to:

1. Tell everyone you know that any ticket from any private company is an unenforceable scam and should be ignored,
2. Tell them all to pass the message on to everyone they know,
3. And so on, like a chain letter.

Unfortunately, you are not likely to have your wish granted, most of us here wish they would take us to court, but I am going to place more store in that lottery ticket I will buy tomorrow!

jimmyservis

Really interesting, albeit some might think sad. I have a couple questions though;

a) Because i was still in the car, they were unable to clamp my vehicle (although they normally do, and charge £140 release fee). Is this legal? How are you supposed to solve if you are clamped?

b) How can they continue to operate if its a scam? Is it worth reporting to the council, or can they do nothing?

Intrigued!

give_them_FA

They could not of course have tried to put a clamp on as I am sure you wouldn't have stayed still long enough. Had they done so, current advice here is to cut the thing off doing as little damage as possible and leave it there. With the pending illegality they are trying to make as much as they can in the brief time they have left.

If you cannot remove the clamp yourself and have to pay then the recourse is to sue the landowner. If more people did this enthusiasm for using clampers would evaporate overnight.

Unfortunately, although it is a scam, which sails very close to the wind, most of the time it is JUST legal in the sense that they send you an invoice which, despite their threats, you are under no obligation to pay- effectively a "try-on". It fools people because they do a good job at mimicking authority and people think it is akin to a genuine council/police fine- which it isn't.

If you are bold enough you can do what I did and sue them for harassment if they make unwarranted threats, but most people don't have the bottle to do that, so we just advise ignoring as it always succeeds in getting rid of them.