UK CPS Ticket @ Chatham Dockyard Retail Park

Grey_Ghost13

I know the general advice about these "fake" PCN's from Private Firms is to ignore them. But I wanted to check if my case warrants ignoring.

Went to Chatham Dockside Retail Park to the Odeon Cinema last night around half six, it's a free Car Park for at least the first 2 hours. Retail park website indicates 2 hours, Odeon’s 4!

Parked up at the end of a row in a bay that I thought was for normal vehicles, bay was confusing. It looked like two bays painted over each other with only some of the lines partially painted black.

When I got back to my car, drove off and then my wife saw a Parking Charge Notice on the windscreen from UK CPS ltd. It was stuck over where the tax disk is displayed so you could hardly see it from inside the car.

The ticket is barely legible, poor carbon copy print version.

Went back to the bay to take a picture and then noticed that the bay had Coach Only written in it, but again with a white bay marking through it. Didn't see that from the direction I pulled into the bay.

Phoned the company today to see why I had got a ticket, couldn't tell from the ticket, and they said it was because I was in a Coach Bay. Told them I had taken a picture and that the bay wasn't marked out clearly and that I wouldn't be paying. They said to send them the picture and appeal in writing.

Now, do I write to them and appeal or do I ignore it? Do I have a case for apeal, or should I wait until I start recieving letters in the post? The "Fine" is £60 if paid within 14 days, if not £100.

Thanks in advance for any advice,
Marc

Stephen_Leak

Only councils, the police, some train operators and Transport for London can issue legally enforceable fines or penalties. A private ticketing company can't. What they issue are “speculative invoices”.

Any warning signs are usually so badly positioned and worded, that they won’t have created a fair and legally binding deemed contract with a driver entering the car park in the first place. See The Unfair Contract Terms Act 1997 and Excel Parking Services vs. Cutts, Stockport, 2011.

If we assume that there is a contract, all the car park owner can claim from a driver in damages for an alleged breach of a contract is what they’ve lost as a result. If it’s in a free car park or the driver paid, 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. See Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co. Ltd. vs. New Garage & Motor Co. Ltd., House of Lords, 1914 and countless cases since.

There are also now landmark court cases, VCS Parking Control vs. Ronald Ibbotson, S!!!!horpe, 2012, HM Revenue & Customs vs. VCS Parking Control, Lower Tax Tribunal, 2012 and VCS Parking Control vs. HM Revenue & Customs (Appeal), Upper Tax Tribunal, 2012. In these cases, the judges ruled that only the car park owner can charge for parking and take alleged offenders to court. The Upper Tax Tribunal is equivalent to the High Court and, therefore, its judgements set legal precedents. No private ticketing company or car park owner has taken any alleged offender to court since.

There's no point in appealling to the private ticketing company. They usually reject them. What’s in it for them to let anyone off?

You should write to the car park owner, advising them that they’re "jointly and severally liable" for the actions of their agents and that any further actions by the private ticketing company would be regarded as harassment under the terms of The Protection from Harassment Act 1997. This ought to make the car park owner call off the private ticketing company and, maybe, also realise the potential cost of doing business with one.

If it doesn't, then the private ticketing company, then a debt collector and then a solicitor will send you a series of letters. The debt collector and solicitor are usually the same people, but using different headed paper. These letters will threaten you with every kind of financial and legal unpleasantness imaginable to try and intimidate you into paying.

Continue to ignore everything you get from them. Eventually, they’ll run out of empty threats and stop throwing good money after bad.

Grey_Ghost13

Wow, thank you Stephen for such a comprehensive reply so quickly., it's put my mind at ease.

I'm unsure who though, has the partnership with CPS UK, it could be Odeon or the Retail Park side, should I write to both jointly do you think? and would an e-mail surfice?

I've managed to find an e-mail address for the retail agency, but cannot find anything directly for Odeon at Chatham, just they're head offices or usual braod contact e-mail address.

Stephen_Leak

Copy and paste works wonders.

Finding the owner of a car park can be tricky. Sometimes, it's a completely unrelated company, like a pension provider. Sometimes, a "scatter gun" approach works and one of the firms on site will either be the right target or tell you who the real owners are.

In any event, contact the CEO. Their names, etc. are usually in the public domain somewhere. If complaints go anywhere further down the chain of command, you just get a standard reply and the matter goes no further.

BASFORDLAD

Don't bother appealing
Haswell at ukcps doesn't do appeals. Also change your title as haswell prowls these forums. You can do it under advanced

fivetide

Stephen_Leak wrote: »

Copy and paste works wonders.

Which should reassure you that the advice given is spot on and no different to thousands of others.

:beer:

5t.

pogofish

Grey_Ghost13 wrote: »

But I wanted to check if my case warrants ignoring.

So maybe you couls tell us what makes you exempt from the laws that make these scam tickets unenforcable for the rest of us?

Stephen_Leak

fivetide wrote: »

Which should reassure you that the advice given is spot on and no different to thousands of others.

:beer:

5t.

I do amend the master copy as things change.

Sometimes, when I'm editing a bit of it to suit a particular victim's circumstances, the new version is better than the old one and I copy it back.

Unfortunately, I also tinker with it for no good reason.

fivetide

Stephen_Leak wrote: »

Unfortunately, I also tinker with it for no good reason.

Ah the sign of the true perfectionist!

5t