Parking Ticket Hell

mickyd21

Hi All,

I have a quick question, My Girlfriend got a car parking ticket in a local Sainsbury for apparently being parked in a Disabled bay. Which she is adiment she wasnt. We wrote a few letters to the company how have now said if she doesnt pay by the 18th April then they will take us to court. But in the same letter they say they have no PHOTOGRAHIC evidence she was there. Does anyone know where we stand ??? What are a rights

MarkyMarkD

They would have to satisfy a magistrate that, on the balance of probabilities, she WAS doing what they claim.

Photographic evidence isn't a statutory requirement for anything like this but it obviously helps their case.

Why didn't she query the parking ticket on the day when it would have been obvious to the shop staff where she was parked? This would have helped resolve the matter a lot sooner. If I was wrongfully ticketed in a store car park I would want a senior shop member of staff to agree, in writing, that it was an error.

Zelie

Sounds like you'll just have to let them take it further and have the Adjudicator decide. On balance, if there is no photographic evidence it's your word against theirs and it would depend who presented/wrote the best case.

I find it interesting that they claim to have no photographic evidence. Ask them what else they have and whether their CCTV was operating at the time. You could claim access to footage on the day your gf was there under DPA but the costs probably outweigh the benefit. Perhaps phone them up and ask to view the footage instore?

Forreal

You don't say who issued the ticket - was it Sainsburys or another authority?

MarkyMarkD

I would bet £10 to 1p that it was a contractor appointed to the task by Sainsbury's.

p1an0player

It seems that this happened on private property.

My very basic understanding would be that unless your girlfriend knowingly entered into a contract with the owner of the land to pay something for parking there that day, any penalty the company wants to charge would not be legally enforceable.

Read the forums on pepipoo where you will find people who know about these things; especially the thread on the BP petrol station at Gatwick airport and its 20-minute limit.

Note that council parking tickets differ greatly in law from penalty charges issued by private companies on private land.

p1an0player

Sorry but I don't believe that the stuff about adjudicators and magistrates shown above is really relevant to this situation.

I think Adjudicators are for parking tickets issued by councils on council-owned land.
And magistrates would be more for driving offences, either from speed/traffic light cameras or when a driver is stopped by the police.

geo555

Write back requesting photgraphic evidence of the alledged offence and add that if you fail to do so, I will assume the matter is closed and any further attempt to extort money from yourself will be treated as hassasment.

MarkyMarkD

p1an0player wrote: »

Sorry but I don't believe that the stuff about adjudicators and magistrates shown above is really relevant to this situation.

I think Adjudicators are for parking tickets issued by councils on council-owned land.
And magistrates would be more for driving offences, either from speed/traffic light cameras or when a driver is stopped by the police.

I agree with you regarding adjudicators; I don't agree with you regarding magistrates (apart from the fact that I should have said 'judge' not 'magistrate'). If they seek recovery of a civil debt (i.e. the agreed charge for parking in an inappropriate space) then the case would end up in front of a judge.

You are also correct about "knowingly entering into a contract" but they could have met that standard by displaying signs either at the entrance to the car park or above the disabled parking spaces. I would imagine there would have been a sign at the entrance of the car park as there often is.

MABLE

I parked my car in one of those retail parks. It was very wet Sunday pm and thought I would park the furtherst point from Cannons HC. There was no other cars in the park but because the front wheel was slightly on the white line I was awarded an £80.00 parking ticket. The reason being I was causing an obstruction. What w...kers

General_Accident

MABLE wrote: »

I parked my car in one of those retail parks. It was very wet Sunday pm and thought I would park the furtherst point from Cannons HC. There was no other cars in the park but because the front wheel was slightly on the white line I was awarded an £80.00 parking ticket. The reason being I was causing an obstruction. What w...kers

That's just petty!