UKPC charge at McDonalds Services

Mrsarmstrong2011

Hi,
I have just received a letter from UKPC after a recent trip to McDonalds. I was meeting a work colleague for an early morning meeting before travelling to a customer site and did not see the notices for a maximum time. We were there for just short of 2 hours and were consuming tea/coffee on the premises.
Now they say I have to pay £50 reduced from £100. ?????
The letter shows 2 photos of my car with date and time stamped. Surely they can't fine me for being in the premises.

Please help as I don't know what to do for the best?

adouglasmhor

I would ignore it and any other correspondence from them and their agents. You can take a different course of action if you desire.

Kite2010

Ignore UKPC. Total loss to the landowner is zero.

Driver8

PRIVATE PARKING TICKETS - DON'T PAY!
IT IS NOT A FINE! YOU HAVE DONE NOTHING ILLEGAL!

This is an information page for the thousands of people who receive "tickets" from private companies in the UK ever day at supermarkets, retail parks, and in any other privately-owned carpark.

We are NOT encouraging anybody to openly flout parking restrictions on private land, or to refuse to pay reasonable charges for parking. Landowners have a right to make reasonable charges for the use of their land.

For advice specific to your case, you should visit the forums at http://forums.pepipoo.com or http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/parking-traffic-offences.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=163

1. What you should know about these companies

It is important to remember that private parking companies (or PPCs as they are often called) have NO OFFICIAL POWERS - that's right, none at all! They give out their "tickets" on the basis that you have seen the signs in their car park and that you have therefore agreed to a contract obliging you to pay a certain sum of money.


2. What happens to people who don't pay?

In 99.9% of cases, absolutely NOTHING! The company pays the DVLA £2.50 to get your address, and then sends lots of threatening letters. In the main, these letters can be safely IGNORED. The only way the company can actually force you to pay is by taking you to the small claims court, which costs them even more money. And they are by no means guaranteed to win! And they practically never do.

The two main reasons for this (among others) are the following:

- Only the person DRIVING the car could ever have agreed to any such parking contract. The company can only get the Registered Keeper's address from the DVLA: you don't have to tell them who was driving.

-Many of these charges are so extortionately high that they constitute a penalty, which is unenforceable in a consumer contract.


3. Can they affect my credit rating?

NO! The only way your credit rating could be affected by ignoring private parking companies is if you were taken to court, lost, and then still refused to pay. But they will not take you to court.


IN SHORT

The vast majority of the time, you can safely IGNORE tickets from private parking companies, they are not official fines.

The vast majority of the time, you can safely IGNORE the threatening letters, including those from debt collection agencies.

You DO NOT have to pay a penny of your hard-earned money to these companies. Remember that the chances of being taken to court are very slim indeed.

DO NOT IGNORE COURT PAPERS!
If you receive real court papers from a private parking company (very rare) then you should go to http://forums.pepipoo.com or http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/parking-traffic-offences for help defending the claim. Do not be afraid to sign up and ask questions regarding any paperwork you are not sure about.

Don’t believe the above? Watch a solicitor on Watchdog advising you what to do with the scam invoices.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAIcdi9niHA

THEY ARE NOT FINES

Only the Police, Courts or Council’s can fine you. NOT a private company, please remember that.

Crabman

Safe to ignore them unless court proceedings are issued (very unlikely as UKPC don't seem to do court, but if it happens, come back for advice on how to get the case dismissed).

In line with two recent court judgements (which are binding on lower courts) only the car park owner can take drivers to court.

Also, you say you were in McDonalds buying tea and coffee so it will be interesting to see them claim that you caused a £50/£100 loss to McDonalds by remaining in the car park for longer and buying McDonalds products.

P4ssword

I purchased a car 2 months back and i took my grandkids for a day trip out and ended up parking in McDonalds after a walk we went in to McDonalds to eat. Last week i received 2 (TWO) UKPC Parking fines from the person i bought the car off: the registration forms were at DVLC getting changed. i have just discovered that the fines are now £125.00 i e-mailed the company and admitted that i was the driver of the vehicle and did not receive the parking fine until now. I sent a letter to the appeals department explaining the situation and now they have sent me a new reminder for £50.00 i was just about to pay it off when i came across your website saying DO NOT PAY ANYTHING i don’t know what to do now with me admitting that i was the driver.

Regards

bargepole

P4ssword wrote: »

DO NOT PAY ANYTHING...

You've already answered your own question.

trisontana

Did you actually call them fines, when you wrote to the company?

HardWorker2010_2

P4ssword wrote: »

I purchased a car 2 months back and i took my grandkids for a day trip out and ended up parking in McDonalds after a walk we went in to McDonalds to eat. Last week i received 2 (TWO) UKPC Parking fines from the person i bought the car off: the registration forms were at DVLC getting changed. i have just discovered that the fines are now £125.00 i e-mailed the company and admitted that i was the driver of the vehicle and did not receive the parking fine until now. I sent a letter to the appeals department explaining the situation and now they have sent me a new reminder for £50.00 i was just about to pay it off when i came across your website saying DO NOT PAY ANYTHING i don’t know what to do now with me admitting that i was the driver.

Regards

If you were in a carpark owned by McDonalds the only McDonalds can take you to court.

ManxRed

Them knowing who the driver was doesn't make them any more enforceable.

They are still unenforceable contractual penalties, issued by a party that has no legal right to form any contract for parking services due to the fact that they are not the landowners.

You should cease correspondence with them, and ignore any letters they send you (apart from official stamped court papers), although as UKPC have never ever taken anyone to court in their history, this would be a first!

Stephen_Leak

Even if you’ve written and told them who the driver was, it just means that they can now harass the driver instead of harassing the registered keeper, and that the driver should now ignore them instead of the registered keeper.