Parking Eye (few mins overstay)

icecube2T8

Hey people
Just got home to find a Penalty charge letter from the parkingEye

Am I right into thinking this is another chain letter like the rest of you guys and girls have been getting for over staying the stated time in car parks?
It says we over stayed by a few mins in a one hour stay car park!
and it has picture of us entering and leaving,
but only of the cars number plate?
I can post a picture of the letter if it's of any use,
Thanks

trisontana

You one small point. It's not a "penalty charge notice" but an unenforceable invoice.

Coupon-mad

The operative words are 'parking charge' (it's not a penalty charge notice).

You are right in thinking that you can ignore it. As long as the registered keeper is you or OH then you can just play snap with the letters and ignore it all, yes.

Tick off the threatening letters here.

Watchdog clip with expert Solicitor's opinion here.

Barrister's opinion here.

You should find your letter - and a preview of the next ones - on that first link. Don't just look at the Parking Eye listing when you get debt collector letters, come back and look at any other firm which uses the same debt collector threatograms and you will find each and every letter.

Nothing else happens, no effect on your credit rating, NOWT BAD.

icecube2T8

Cool
Thanks for the reply people and crabman...
Funny as I was driving the mrs's car at the time of the ticket!
Lol

Anyways is it worth me posting a picture of the letter for other people to use a reference ?

As the rest are going to be "filed" in the kitchen bin lol

If so can anybody link me to the right place to upload it please.

devonlad

Yeah ignore and ignore the follow up debt collector letters. I got two letter chains on the go now. Got tickets even though I have a permit. It's easy to slap a yellow packet on a car and on the whole easy money as people pay up. They get more money by inflating the amount and intimidating the public with court etc.
Appeal to them just means a delay to the money they get so they add more costs. Read the stickys for what to expect and the letters you will! Receive

minik

Please can someone help, I've read some of the posts but just need some confirmation as I range the Consumer Advice Bureau and they advised to email The debt recovery agency and Parking Eye as T&Cs have been broken...

I received a letter from the debt recover agency for £140 for not paying to park in the Fistral beach car park at Newquay car park 22 mins. I emailed them that i had never previously received any letters for the fine/charge, and we only stopped there for 22 mins to allow a passenger to be sick. (I did a news article online that they would allow a 20 mins grace period).

I've read they are cowboys, but can they pursue it legally if i haven't paid to park there in the first place? What should i do as i don't want to get a bad credit rating. Thank you

The_Slithy_Tove

In theory, they can pursue it legally, but only for the actual losses (e.g. 1 hour's parking, a quid or two), and anyway, only the landowner can do that, not the PPC. So you are safe to ignore it completely. You'd get loads of warning and opportunity to avoid damage to your credit rating, i.e. they'd need to actually take you to court (which they won't do), win (which they wouldn't even if they tried), and you would have to fail to pay up within 28 days. It's just not going to happen.

Stephen_Leak

minik wrote: »

Please can someone help, I've read some of the posts but just need some confirmation as I range the Consumer Advice Bureau and they advised to email The debt recovery agency and Parking Eye as T&Cs have been broken...

I received a letter from the debt recover agency for £140 for not paying to park in the Fistral beach car park at Newquay car park 22 mins. I emailed them that i had never previously received any letters for the fine/charge, and we only stopped there for 22 mins to allow a passenger to be sick. (I did a news article online that they would allow a 20 mins grace period).

I've read they are cowboys, but can they pursue it legally if i haven't paid to park there in the first place? What should i do as i don't want to get a bad credit rating. Thank you

The CAB went to the British Parking Association for guidance, so it's no surprise to us that they consider private ticketing companies' actions are legitimate.

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 1977 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 1977. 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.

We don’t condone not paying or overstaying in a pay car park. If you owe the car park owner anything, then you ought to write to them, offering this in “full and final settlement”.

In any event, 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.

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

The private ticketing company, then a debt collector and then a solicitor will each send you a couple of letters. The debt collector and solicitor are usually the same people, but using different headed paper. Unfortunately, these letters will threaten you with every kind of financial and legal unpleasantness imaginable to try and intimidate you into paying.

The final but more unpleasant threats usually include mentioning that, if the case goes to court, a county court judgement (CCJ) may be issued, that bailiffs may be appointed and that your credit rating may be ruined. For things to actually get to this stage, the car park owner would have to take you to court and win the case. Then, you would have to refuse to pay, to get a CCJ issued after 28 days. Then, you would have to still refuse to pay, to get bailiffs appointed.

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

Nozone

icecube2T8 wrote: »

Cool
Thanks for the reply people and crabman...
Funny as I was driving the mrs's car at the time of the ticket!
Lol

Anyways is it worth me posting a picture of the letter for other people to use a reference ?

As the rest are going to be "filed" in the kitchen bin lol

If so can anybody link me to the right place to upload it please.

I hope you mean metaphorically! You should always keep any correspondence from these PPC goons, as you may in future want to sue them for harrassment or something. Whilst it is tempting when you run out of toilet roll or whatever, try and resist the urge!