I guess I knew this would happen one day

roobarbncustard

Hi everyone - this is my first post ever following much lurking. I hope you can advise.
A couple of days ago, I parked on the pavement in a NHS hospital car park which is 'run' by one of our highly respected private parking companies. I did it because there were no other spaces and I was in a tearing hurry as usual.:(

When I got back I had received a nice present of a 'parking charge' for 'parking causing an obstruction'. I chucked it in the back with the empty crisp packets (told you I was a lurker). But now I am getting a bit worried because
a) it is my workplace
b) I always leave my contact details displayed on the dash when at work in case I need to move the car
c) I was parked badly- but have done this before and got away with it , see b) above.

So.... shall I ignore the ticket or should I say its a fair cop and cough up in order to not worry about any potential slur on my record? Could my employers (the Trust) find out if I am pursued by the parking co?

Grateful for any thoughts/ advice.

Half_way

Ignore, they might get in toich with you and start to issue threatening letters, if that happens continue to ignore. Keep posting on your progress...

roobarbncustard

Hi Half_Way thanks for your quick reply.
I guess what troubles me is that I did not park in a legitimate bay but was bumped up on the kerb. Does this change anything?

halibut2209

Nooooooooooooo
(extra 'o's because of mimimum character limit)

give_them_FA

No, it changes nothing. On private land (such as a hospital) managed by a private parking company (such as whatever) then the rules which apply on public highways, do not apply.

It matters not if you left your contact details, whether or not the drone noted them, you have committed no offence except in their imagination, and they don't have the power or the right to fine you.

So put it down to the fact that if you do a useful job there and the parking is insufficient, it should be the less productive who should be walking.

Like the parking company nerk- I bet they reserve a place for him!

Anyway, at the end of this essay, the advice is, simply ignore. As it's a scam the details of what you did are irrelevant.

AlexisV

I was parked badly

So you agreed to a contract that offered the service of parking your car on some tarmac in some sort of unspecified, but presumably naughty manner, in exchange for sixty odd quid?

Do they offer the service of walking through the door in accordance to the guidelines of the Ministry of Silly Walks in exchange for a few notes?

Stephen_Leak

Firstly, the legal stuff.

Any warning signs are usually so badly positioned and worded, that they won’t have created a fair and legally binding deemed contract between the car park owner and the driver in the first place. (The Unfair Contract Terms Act 1997.)

Even if there is a contract, all the car park owner can claim from the driver in damages for any breach of contract is what they’ve lost as a result. If this is a free car park or they paid, this is £0.00. By asking you for more, which is unreasonable, it’s become an unfair contract penalty, which is not legally enforceable. (Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co. Ltd. vs. New Garage & Motor Co. Ltd., House of Lords, 1914.)

Only councils, the police, train operators and Transport for London can impose legally enforceable fines or penalties. Private parking companies can't.

What do I do now?

Don’t appeal. They always reject them. What’s in it for them to let anyone off?

What’s in it for them is information. They need to know the identity of the driver of the vehicle involved at the time, because that’s who the alleged contract was with. If they don’t know who the driver was, they have to make do with chasing the registered keeper.

With windscreen notices, an appeal letter will tell them your name and address, and maybe that you were driving at the time. If they don’t know who the driver was, they have to buy the details of registered keeper from the DVLA.

With postal notices, they’ve done this already. But they still need to know the identity of the driver.

They sometimes say that they have the right to ask for this information. This doesn’t mean that you have to tell them.

However, even if you’ve written and confirmed who the driver was, it doesn’t make their actions any less unlawful. It just means that instead of unlawfully harassing the registered keeper, they can now unlawfully harass the driver.

What will they do to me?

They will send you a series of letters, then a debt collector and then a solicitor. The debt collector and solicitor are usually also the PPC, but using different headed paper. These will threaten you with all sorts of financial and legal unpleasantness, to intimidate you into paying.

But, they can't actually do anything, for the same reason that a blackmailer couldn't sue their victim if they didn’t pay.

What should I do then?

Continue to ignore everything you get from the PPC and their aliases. Yes, it does seem counter-intuitive to deal with something by ignoring it. Eventually, they will run out of empty threats to intimidate you with, and stop throwing good money after bad.

JimmyTheWig

This all seems to be general advice on private car park penalties. No reference to the fact that the OP works there.

The contact details and/or the car might be traceable to an employee. Presumably the PPC could inform the Trust of this. Could that get the OP into trouble?

I believe that the OP is fully aware that if they get a ticket in a supermarket, for example, they can ignore it. But is it a different story as it is at his own workplace?

bondy_lad

ignore these morons, they have zero powers so you have zero worrys,full stop, the end.finito.jobs a good un.have worked in a hospital till this jan for over 30 years,, they try it on,, doesnt matter if they know your collar size,,nout can be done legally, a bunch of clowns/morons/scumbags,treat it just like the supermarket con/fake ticket.

Stephen_Leak

Being scammed and harassed by a PPC on behalf of your employer and being shown just how much (or not) they value you as an employee, is different to being scammed and harrassed by a PPC on behalf of a retailer and being shown just how much (or not) they value you as a customer.

roobarbncustard

Yes, our entire team has ongoing issues with the lack of parking as we are required to use our cars for work and transport stuff at times (forgive the vagueness, would not want to be identified). This contributes to feeling 'valued' LOL, but that's another story.
What do you think of JimmyTheWig's comment?
I have to decide whether to take a deep breath and ignore the ticket but as a fully paid up wuss I shall find it hard to laugh at any threatening letters that might be coming my way.