APCOA Fine?

tjgr00me

OK, so looking on the site, the consensus seems to be ignore the fine.

I dont like having outstanding bills/debts that could come back to aunt me so i normally pay, however im livid that i have been fined for parking over two bays.

Now what i will admit is this, i did park over two bays (in a rush for the train) so ive got no argument there.
I havent looked at the signs to see what rules are clearly displayed.

I just think its a daft fine, the car park wasnt even full.

What has got me questioning it are the fact that its a civil parking notice not a fine.
The fine states that my car was first seen at 10.20 then the fine was issued at 11.19, why wait an hour to issue a ticket??

Its rental car, rented by my company then to me, so to track me down they will first have to go to the rental company, then to my company, then to me. (now an issue may be that the rental company pay the fine then charge my company who charge me)

The issue i have with ignorinig it is i dont want to end up with a court summons (or in this case county court), end up with a massive bill as i dont really have an argument for it.
I want to use the car park again (although i may have a different car in a few months) is there a risk of the car being clamped?
I used my card to pay for the daily ticket (now this isnt proof of who was driving but to me its a good argument as i dont have an alibi to say i wasnt driving)

My only worry is i dont have an argument for this case, and if it went to court i would probably lose.
So in short Pay or not to Pay?

few lot of words, thank you for reading and responding.

nomadjb

First it's not a "fine" only an officer of the law can do that...it's an invoice...not sure what the rental company will do,maybe pass on your companies details to APOCA then eventually it will come to you in which case I would still ignore it...

mrbadexample

You need to get in touch with the rental company and try to make sure that they don't pay it. Once they've paid it, they'll bill the company and you'll have lost out.

There's no risk to you or your company if you decline to pay. Your difficulty will be preventing the rental company from admitting guilt and liability on your behalf, and paying the [STRIKE]fine[/STRIKE] made up invoice. You could try telling them it's disputed and to send all paperwork directly to you (and then ignore it).

HappyMJ

tjgr00me wrote: »

OK, so looking on the site, the consensus seems to be ignore the fine.

I dont like having outstanding bills/debts that could come back to aunt me so i normally pay, however im livid that i have been fined for parking over two bays.

Now what i will admit is this, i did park over two bays (in a rush for the train) so ive got no argument there.
I havent looked at the signs to see what rules are clearly displayed.

I just think its a daft fine, the car park wasnt even full.

What has got me questioning it are the fact that its a civil parking notice not a fine.
The fine states that my car was first seen at 10.20 then the fine was issued at 11.19, why wait an hour to issue a ticket?? Why not...They may have seen the car on CCTV and only got around to sending someone out an hour later.

Its rental car, rented by my company then to me, so to track me down they will first have to go to the rental company, then to my company, then to me. (now an issue may be that the rental company pay the fine then charge my company who charge me)

The issue i have with ignorinig it is i dont want to end up with a court summons (or in this case county court), end up with a massive bill as i dont really have an argument for it.
I want to use the car park again (although i may have a different car in a few months) is there a risk of the car being clamped? No risk...the debt is now with head office the person who attaches the ticket to your car has no idea whether you have paid or not.
I used my card to pay for the daily ticket (now this isnt proof of who was driving but to me its a good argument as i dont have an alibi to say i wasnt driving) That's good of you...

My only worry is i dont have an argument for this case, and if it went to court i would probably lose.
So in short Pay or not to Pay?

few lot of words, thank you for reading and responding.

You need to make sure the rental company do not pay the "civil parking notice". It's just a request for money which they can only ask for but not expect. They could take you to court to recover their losses which would only be a few pounds so they don't usually bother. You or the car rental firm will get three or four letters then they will stop asking.

If they did take you to court you will probably win with any half reasonable defense.

In short...although the answer above is a bit long. Don't pay.

give_them_FA

This is one of their made up "offences" which has no foundation in law. If the car park was not full, you have caused them no loss, so they have nothing to take you to court over. Worst case scenario, if you rendered the adjoining space unusable, they could ask you to pay a fee for that equal to what you paid for your own space; but that is extremely unlikely.

What they cannot do is "fine" you and it simply won't stick. That isn't to say they won't try their hardest to scare you into paying with all manner of threats. But that is all they are, EMPTY threats. Ask yourself, if they could take some action, don't you think they would, instead of writing letters?

So just ignore the toilet paper. But the fly in the ointment here is the fact it's a rented car, and you have to address that. Otherwise, as you rightly suspect, the rental company may treat it as a legitimate fine (which it ain't) pay it, and try to recoup (usually plus their own charge) from your employer or you.

So you need to immediately put them both in the picture to avoid this happening. Make it clear it is NOT a fine or enforceable charge and they are NOT to pay it, and if they do, you will not accept any liability for it.

That's a matter of urgency. The parking company you can indeed ignore. I've never heard of APCOA taking anyone to court, never mind succeeding...

esmerobbo

As its a train station car park does it mention on the ticket "Railway byelaw 14"? Now Apcoa sometimes mention these on their Railway car park tickets as an intimidation, but never use it only chase payment in the usual way.
However if the rental company fall for the Byelaw 14 trick they may pay up!

tjgr00me

Hi all, this is an update from my original post, i ignored the fine and informed the car hire company that i was going to dispute it and i asked them to forward all correspondance to me.
Well this didnt happen, they received a letter from roxburghe threatening legal action, and this scared them and the hire company starting jumping up and down and i was forced to pay the 128 (well 131.75 as they charged my card although looking through there website there is no place where it states i will incur a charge).

I know i have been had, but once the hire company started shouting at my work, who started shouting at me, there wasnt much i could do, as if i didnt pay it the hire company would have and charged it back to my company who would then charge me.

So thank you all for the advice, its a lesson learnt dealing with parking fines and hire comapnies!

vax2002

You should sue the hire company for the return of your money, IMO it would be a very easy case to win.

Stephen_Leak

tjgr00me wrote: »

Hi all, this is an update from my original post, i ignored the fine and informed the car hire company that i was going to dispute it and i asked them to forward all correspondance to me.
Well this didnt happen, they received a letter from roxburghe threatening legal action, and this scared them and the hire company starting jumping up and down and i was forced to pay the 128 (well 131.75 as they charged my card although looking through there website there is no place where it states i will incur a charge).

I know i have been had, but once the hire company started shouting at my work, who started shouting at me, there wasnt much i could do, as if i didnt pay it the hire company would have and charged it back to my company who would then charge me.

So thank you all for the advice, its a lesson learnt dealing with parking fines and hire comapnies!

There are days when I wonder who are the bigger crooks.

It's not a fine. There are probably T&Cs in the hire contract, that the driver is responsible for all parking fines. That's fair enough. But fines are legally enforceable council/police/TfL fines.

But this is not a fine. They might have just as well paid a Nigerian scam e-mail and then charged you.

Therefore, the hire company has probably acted contrary to their own contract.

The British Vehicle Rental & Leasing Association (BVRLA) is quite clear on private parking tickets.

See http://lmgtfy.com/?q=bvrla+private+parking

I would therefore suggest writing to the hire company, advising them of this and asking for your money back, or else you'll report them to the BVLRA and/or sue them.

See https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome.

give_them_FA

Yes, a little Money Claim Online will cost you just £25. If this hire company is so frightened of legal action that it caved in to clowns like Roxburghe, imagine what a REAL claim from Northampton County Court will do.... one letter, then get in there.

if it is a credit card you could also ask for a chargeback as it was not a lawful contractual charge.