NCP madness

Hambleden

I parked in an NCP carpark two weeks ago and got a dent in my passenger door on return from train. Next time I left some space from the next car in a half full carpark which meant i had wheels over a white line.
On return I had a ticket demanding £75 for parking a third way across another bay. I am refusing to pay on principle in a half empty car park and they have (naturally) turned down my appeal and threatening me with debt collectors. Am prepared to go to court if necessary it is so ridiculous.
Anyone got tips on how to deal with debt collector or any other advice?
Thanks...

msrisotto

God I hate people who park in more than one space, what is the need?

And if the place was half empty, why did you park next to someone at all?

trisontana

Debt collectors are private individuals with no special powers and can be ignored.

vax2002

I have some really bad news, they wont take you to court.
NCP are a private company and they can not issue fines or penalty charge notices.
So they issue fake ones instead called parking charge notices, which can be ignored.

Stephen_Leak

msrisotto wrote: »

God I hate people who park in more than one space, what is the need?

And if the place was half empty, why did you park next to someone at all?

We don't condone inconsiderate parking.

All the car park owner can claim from a driver in damages for any breach of contract is what they’ve lost as a result.

If the car park was full at any stage, then the OP does, strictly speaking, owe the car park owner (probably also NCP) a second fee for the use of the second bay, and they should write to them, offering this in “full and final settlement”.

However, if there was always at least one other space available, then this is £0.00.

Demanding more has been judged to be unreasonable and therefore an unfair contract penalty under the terms of The Unfair Contract Terms Act 1997, which is not legally enforceable. See Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co. Ltd. vs. New Garage & Motor Co. Ltd., House of Lords, 1914 and countless cases since.

Only councils, the police, train operators and Transport for London can impose legally enforceable fines or penalties. A private parking company (PPC) or an individual can't. Even PPCs call their tickets “Parking Charge Notices”, not “Penalty Charge Notices”. In law, they’re called “speculative invoices”.

What will they do to me?

The PPC, then a debt collector and then a solicitor will send you a series of letters. 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. 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.

give_them_FA

Yes, just ignore them. And often problems stem from the fact that spaces are too small. Anyway, most of the notices state "Park in marked bays only" That is marked bays, plural, not marked bay, singular. So I comply.

esmerobbo

msrisotto wrote: »

God I hate people who park in more than one space, what is the need?

How big are the bays? Considerate parking is the way to go, but the bays should be compliant to enable considerate parking!