NCP ticket in ASDA car park

merryck

Hi All,

My first post, but I've used this forum a few times for advice, so thanks for that!

Basically the deal is thus. I parked in the car park at my local ASDA store which is a pay and display car park run by NCP. I didn't realise that it was pay and display (should have really, I walked right past a machine, but must have been in a world of my own). I came back and had a notice on my car. The guy was on the next car giving them a ticket, so I went up to him and asked him why I had a ticket, I'd parked on the end bay and thought it might have been a sneaky non-use bay.

In horribly broken English he told me that I didn't have a ticket. Instantly I realised my mistake, and also that it was a private car park and walked away, I knew if he couldn't identify the driver then I'd have the advantage.

Anyway. I checked the ticket and it says;

Time of issue: 1116 (I'm taking as 11:16).
First seen at: 1308 (taking as 13:08).

I turned up at 13:16. My car was parked there at about 12:55, so I couldn't possibly have been there that early, I was at work in a meeting. Though I've heard entering into their appeals process is bad news, so I'm not sure I'd want to follow this up.

Now, the issue is that I was driving my fiancee's car, so I'm posting this for her benefit. I've already dealt with the lovely people who run the McDonald's car park at Gatwick and not heard anything from them for a couple of years, but I'm worried that she'll not want to deal with this.

So basically what I want to hear from you guys is that;

It's a private car park so I don't have to pay their 'fine' as it's an invoice and I always sign my contracts and spit 'n' shake before I consider it a deal - driving past a small sign isn't sufficient.

As long as we don't tell them who was driving they're powerless.

They're unlikely to ever take us to court.

Even if they do, the ticket is incorrect.

Even if the court side with them and pretend the ticket is fine and dandy, and ALL of the worst luck is visited upon us and they're considered in the right we'd only have to pay the amount it would've cost for parking (I was actually an ASDA customer, so they couldn't even claim that I lost them revenue).

If you made it to the bottom of this broken rambling mess, then thank you! If you're able to give me a little peace of mind then thank you again!

bondy_lad

ok, you did not pay your car park fee,naughty, naughty,,we always advise folk to pay this,,,having said that,, providing your,,ticket,,if it is in fact a ticket,,says,, parking charge notice,,it is quite safe to ignore and all the threat o grams to follow,providing it says parking charge notice,then your ticket becomes a fake,,worry not.court will not be an option with these clowns,,they know,we know,now you do,if it ever came to that they would get spanked.

pogofish

Strictly, to be totally right you should offer them the parking fee and that is all they would be able to claim for in any action anyway.

But they won't be that reasonable, so you should ignore their ever-increaing demands.

Or your fiancee could just send them the outstanding in a "Full and final settlement" letter, without identifing the driver and then Ignore them totally!"

Stephen_Leak

Firstly, the boring legal stuff.

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

All the car park owner can claim from the driver in damages for a 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. Asking for more has been judged to be unreasonable and therefore an unfair contract penalty (The Unfair Contract Terms Act 1997), which is not legally enforceable. (Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co. Ltd. vs. New Garage & Motor Co. Ltd., House of Lords, 1914 and countless cases since.)

What do I do now?

We don’t condone not paying or overstaying in a pay & display car park. If you do still owe the car park owner anything, then you should write to them, offering this in “full and final settlement”. That ought to be enough to make them call off the PPC.

There’s no point in appealing to the PPC. They always reject them. What’s in it for them to let anyone off?

Actually, there is something in it for them: 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 who was 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 told them who the driver was, it doesn’t make their actions any less unlawful. It just means that instead of harassing the registered keeper, they can now harass the driver.

What will they do to me?

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

But, they can't actually do anything, for the same reason that a Nigerian e-mail scammer couldn't sue anyone who didn’t pay them.

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, and stop throwing good money after bad.

merryck

FANTASTIC.

Just what I wanted to hear.

I know I should have paid, and I would have had I realised. It was an honest mistake, and I don't see a problem with paying someone 40p for providing me with a relatively safe and easy environment for me to park my car.

As I said in my post above, I just wanted a bit of peace of mind. I know they're a scam, but there's always that little bit of you that thinks "what if this time it's not?".

Thanks again!

taffy056

Its disgraceful that a supermarket charges to park in their car park, a couple of them do it my area including ASDA in LLanelli, I never pay such fees as I am not paying to park to shop in their own store! I know you claim it back at the till, but I am sorry its carp

Stephen_Leak

merryck wrote: »

<snip> I know they're a scam, but there's always that little bit of you that thinks "what if this time it's not?".

Thanks again!

Once a scam, always a scam.

give_them_FA

There are no private car parking companies that have any backing of statute law. NCP are a high profile company, but the basic scam is still the same as the smallest cowboy firm. Claim a charge and try to enforce it with threats. At least they are far too intelligent to try taking anyone to Court. So do not worry.

Stephen_Leak

taffy056 wrote: »

Its disgraceful that a supermarket charges to park in their car park, a couple of them do it my area including ASDA in LLanelli, I never pay such fees as I am not paying to park to shop in their own store! I know you claim it back at the till, but I am sorry its carp

I respect your right to hold your views.

However, we must be very careful on here not to condone not paying in a pay car park. The car park owner has every right to levy reasonable charges and to reasonably enforce them, if necessary.

I have every sympathy for a car park owner, who finds the facility, that they've paid good money to provide for their customers, being used by everyone else.

But allowing a PPC to infest their car park isn't the answer.

give_them_FA

Barriers to control the exit do the job perfectly, and ultimately will cost less than the PPC killing off your trade.

laurentium92

Hi Guys,

Was just wanting some advice....

Earlier today i went to do my usual weekly shop at ASDA, was in their less than an hour and spent nearly £100. Went out to my car and noticed a Parking fine had been stuck to my window by TCP for £60. I know that there are signs in ASDA about parking charges, there always has been but ive always assumed that those parking charges are for people using the car park but not actually using the supermarket.

I put the shopping into the boot and then went back inside Asda to talk to the manager, he really wasnt helpful and just made me even more furious. Anyway, he just basically said that the parking policy has been in force for years. But i and so have my family and friends shopped at this asda for over 10years and have never known anyone either to pay for their parking or to get a parking fine!

So i calmly told the manager that if he couldn't resolve this then i would go back to my car and get the shopping i had just bought and return everything. He didnt want to do anything so i returned everything...and went straight to Tesco to get my shopping again and i can safely say i wont be using Asda again even if it is that bit cheaper.

But...i'm still left with a £60 parking fine. What do i do? Just ignore it and keep recieving threatening letters and bailiffs???

HELP PLEASE