Parking eye

safc247mick

Hi,

I would also like some advice regarding Parking Eye please.

I took my Grandparent to a hospital appointment and dropped him and my Gran off at the door as my Grandad is blind. I then stopped my car in a quiet area of the car park and waited in my car for my Grandparents to call when the appointment was over. I did not park in any bay etc and simply waited with my car. I did not pay for parking as I did not believe I had to when I wasnt leaving my car or parking up in a bay.

I have now received two letters from Parking Eye demanding I pay £40 or £60 after a particular date.

What do I do? Ignore them or pay? I have read other posts regarding this company but the normal queries seem to be people over staying what they paid for etc. Where do I stand with my query?

I would very much appreciate any advice people could give me.

Thank you,
safc247mick

Coupon-mad

My advice - read other posts, NOT just about this company!

Basically you must ignore ANY fake PCN which you get under any circumstances at all. They are always a scam even if you have broken their made up rules.

See my signature and click back one click to see the whole forum view, not just this thread. Read any you like about any PPC and you will find situations like yours. But first read the top thread so you are ready for the threatograms and can just play snap with them. And to watch the funny Watchdog clip on that thread.

Top of the parking forum 'PPC letters & threats' is the place to start.

safc247mick

Thank you for that advise Coupon Mad.

I am just worried that something will happen ie court etc over this if I do ignore them. I know many others feel the same as me but it is reassuring that so many people are willing to offer advice on here.

Thanks again.

give_them_FA

If you are worried and want to cover yourself then proceed as follows.

Work out how much you should have paid to park had you paid and displayed. £2 - £3 maybe?

Make out a cheque for this amount. Send it to them with a letter which states that you are enclosing your cheque in full and final settlement of any and all liability due to them in respect of parking at (place) by (vehicle registration number) on (date) and as referred to by their Notice (reference number) of (date).

State that whilst you are in receipt of what purports to be a penalty charge, you have no intention of paying it as it is unlawful and you have discharged your obligations by paying them all that they would be entitled to recover in accordance with the decision in Parking Eye v Smith, Manchester County Court, 2011.

Yours faithfully..............

and from then on ignore. Nothing will happen as they will see you know what you are talking about and cannot be conned.

polyplastic

To the OP
If they take you to court then first of all they have to satisfy the court that they entered into a contract with you when you parked your car. For Parking Eye to be able to contract with you they have to have the legal capacity to do so. Parking Eye do not have any legal interest in the car park (either as freeholder or leaseholder or otherwise) so cannot contract with you in that sort of capacity. e.g just as you cannot contract with someone to allow them to park on your neighbours drive. There is case law to back this up.

The contract that parking Eye has with the lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA) to manage the car park includes a non agency clause. This means that Parking eye cannot contract with you as agent for that local Authority. Again case law backs this up.

On the face of it Parking Eye cannot legally contract with anyone to allow them to park in a LDNPA car park. Of course Parking Eye or the LDNPA could refute that (with evidence) on here if they are brave enough

The lake District National Park Authority confirms that you contract with Parking Eye and that Parking Eye sues for a breach of contract rather than seeking to recover a "fine". (See the web site "whatdo theyknow") However the Park Authority cannot proove that Parking Eye has any legal capcity to enter into a contract. It claims that its contract with Parking Eye includes a clause which enables Parking Eye to contract with motorists but will not say how. Seems that as there is no land ownership nor any agency their options are, how shall we say, dead. However, if you ask it for a copy of that clause they will not provide it, hiding behind a defence in the Freedom Of information Act that such disclosure would breach a commercial interest of parking Eye. Yet oddly enough they disclose that such a clause exists, so how is not confidential to disclose its existence but a breach of confidence to disclose a copy of it? Playing games methinks. Perhaps that commercial interest is the fact that it cannot legally contract with anyone using the car park, and if that is made known publicly then Parking Eye would lose all their court cases and everyone would have the simplest of defences to any demands for money.

Parking Eye keeps all the penalty charges it collects as its fee for managing the LDNPA car parks. Hence it is in their commercial interests to be able to recover those charges!!!

Interestingly the contract between Parking Eye and the LDNPA was not the subject of any competitive tender and that is a whole different challenge that the Tax Payers of the lake District may like to investigate.

For any cases Parking Eye take to court, they sign a statement of truth. In the Lake District it would be to the effect that they have a contract with each driver they sue. If they have no legal capacity to contract then such a statement of truth is a contempt of court. This may lead to another piece of speculation. If they demand money they know they are not entitled to is that contrary to s2 of the Fraud Act 2006? If it is and the LDNPA has set up this arrangement is it not conspiring to commit a fraud? Musing further, if that is the case, does that give folk ground for demanding the return of any money they have paid? Not suggesting that there is any fraud, but if Parking Eye cannot enter into contracts then something is wrong.

So, if you are sued you should be asking Parking Eye to proove to the court that they have the legal capacity to contract with people to allow then to park in the LDNPA car parks.

Perhaps issue a witness summons to a Solicitor of the Authority to get an admission under oath that Parking Eye cannot contract with a motorist using a car park. They may not disclose information under the Freedom of Information Act but they would have to under oath.

Cut and paste and pass to your Solicitor if you receive any court papers for him to pursue this with the LDNPA and to do the arguing.

Cheers.

Lindsey125

I just felt compelled to answer this post - my resounding advice, like others, is IGNORE THEM.

You make a valid point that you hadn't overstayed you ticket but like others have said companies like these are barely more than a scam and are not worth worrying about. I have had two 'fines' from parking eye and not parted with a penny - I suggest you do the same. They will send you 2 or 3 letters then !!!!!! off. Just make sure you don't contact them, as then they have your phone number, etc in order to bug you with.

Just to emphasize - DON'T pay it, ignore them and enjoy not throwing your money down the toilet. The end!