Parking eye ticket in blackpool

mickthemod

hi ,my wife went to blackpool,sunday 14th oct.2012. and i have just received a parking charge notice from Parking Eye for £60,if paid after 3rd nov. it goes up to £100 to be paid before 17th nov.
i have the letter here with me with two photo's on it of my car entering the car park at 851am and leaving at 2331.since the law changed on the 1st october do i have to pay the charge?
Also why is it a charge and not a fine?

thanks mickthemod

esmerobbo

What was the parking charge issued for?

Its a charge not a fine because only courts can fine you!

Depending on why it was issued, you can choose to ignore it, or appeal to them then POPLA and then if its found against you ignore it! The latter will have the effect of costing them £27 plus VAT!

mickthemod

it doesn't really say why it was issued just says......''by either not purchasing the appropriate parking time or by remaining at the car park for longer than permitted''..........
surely they should know why theyare issuing the charge?

thanks again mickthemod

Coupon-mad

mickthemod wrote: »

hi ,my wife went to blackpool,sunday 14th oct.2012. and i have just received a parking charge notice from Parking Eye for £60,if paid after 3rd nov. it goes up to £100 to be paid before 17th nov.
i have the letter here with me with two photo's on it of my car entering the car park at 851am and leaving at 2331.since the law changed on the 1st october do i have to pay the charge?
Also why is it a charge and not a fine?

thanks mickthemod

No of course you don't have to pay the charge. And they are not allowed to use the word 'fine' or 'penalty' purely because it isn't one!

You do not even have a real parking ticket, it's just a piece of rubbish. Like all the other posters on this board, you have a fake PCN. As long as it's not a company/hire/lease car (which I assume it's not as they sent the fake PCN to you) then you can just ignore it and ignore the other letters that will arrive. The letters are easy to ignore and laugh at, when they arrive at the address of someone who knows it's all hogwash and not a real parking ticket at all.

The whole scam of fake PCNs relies firstly on people's ignorance of the fact that a random private company can't fine anyone, and secondly on their natural fear of parking tickets and the escalating costs/bailiff scenario. So PPCs copy the look of a real parking ticket and - hey presto! - the cash rolls in from victims who know no better.

There is no fine, no CCJ, no bailiff, no debt, no effect on credit rating, no Court, no repercussions at all.

Tick off the threatening letters here.

Watchdog clip with expert Solicitor's opinion here.

Barrister's opinion here.

Your other option if you are so minded, is to cost Parking Eye £32+ by appealing the fake ticket, then appealing it further to the very new (untried but free and independent) POPLA appeals service. The decision is only binding on the PPC and costs them money either way - so us regulars would do that and then we'd go back to ignoring the PPC afterwards if POPLA didn't order the fake PCN to be cancelled!

But if you would rather just play snap with the threatograms from debt collectors then go immediately for the 'ignore and laugh at the scammer and their attempt to extort money' option. It's like deleting obvious phishing emails from your 'Bank'; it's a very similar con based on impersonation of authority.


HTH

esmerobbo

Well if it was a pay and display car park and you did not pay then you owe them the fee for parking. You don't owe them what they are asking for.

If it was a free car park with a time limit, and you overstayed then you owe them nothing.

The problem is if it is the former then you cant pay what you owe they want more! They did take someone to court a while back for not paying a P&D fee. They won but the judge awarded them 2 X £5 parking fees and 2 X £2.50 DVLA Fees a whole £15. Plus they were refused legal costs which they tried to claim of £4500. I doubt even with the new legislation they will be rushing to try it again.

mickthemod

even with the new law from 1st oct. they still can't do anything?

thanks mickthemod

esmerobbo

mickthemod wrote: »

even with the new law from 1st oct. they still can't do anything?

thanks mickthemod

They can recover their loses! They always could, since 1st Oct they could attempt to recover them from the keeper. I doubt they would really want to be the first too try!;)

Coupon-mad

mickthemod wrote: »

even with the new law from 1st oct. they still can't do anything?

thanks mickthemod

Why not search the forum for 'new legislation October' (not the whole MSE forum, just this parking forum)? Dozens of people have already asked this.

Blackpool_Saver

where was this please?

mickthemod

Blackpool_Saver wrote: »

where was this please?

it was at the car park at caunce street/church street,it says on the letter.

thanks

Coupon-mad

Doesn't matter where, when or why. Always ignore a private parking ticket unless you want to try the POPLA appeals system, then ignore anyway.:)