Another PCN Parking Fine with a Question

ExtraCrunchy_2

Ok i have received one of these parking charge invoices. I have to say i hadn't heard about them before and after reading many of the posts here i am outraged at them being allowed to do this.

However before i go through the process of ignoring the letters, i'm just being cautious because it is my partners company car i was driving and i just need to make sure i am not going to get her into any trouble.

Could anyone please answer these questions.

Firstly I did not enter my registration details at any machine, i didn't even know that was what i needed to do? In fact i didn't even know that this Parking Eye company was looking after the car park or that you had to pay at all or register? (Admittedly I left the car there longer than I would have liked because i had to pop into another shop as well - but i guess because i didn't enter any details they are none the wiser about this).

So does this matter at all?

My second question is - the hire car company has given my partners details to them (we are checking to see if there was any handling fee) however she was not the driver I was. Is there anything in light of this that we need to be aware of?

My letter says that I should have entered my registration but by remaining in the car park longer that permitted my charge payable due to the terms & conditions on the sign (which i didn't see).

I would have happily paid a few quid to park but as far as i could tell it was a free car park.

Does these points make any difference to the ignore policy?

Thank you for anyone who has got the time to reply.

I'm actually concerned about giving any bank details to these crooks.

pogofish

You need to impress on the hire company that this is a scam and not any kind of legal ticket so they should not pay it and to simply to forward any letters to you for you to ignore.

ManxRed

Yes, check the hire company haven't charged you. They may be able to charge for official penalties issued by statutory authorities under traffic legislation, but these tickets don't qualify for that so if they have charged you then you need to check the Ts and Cs to see exactly what they say.

As for Parking Eye, ignore them completely. Do not write to them. Ignore the letters from them and the powerless Debt Collectors. In law, they haven't got a leg to stand on, and they know it, so court is not a place they want to go.

They will stick to trying to frighten you with scary letters. Eventually they'll give up and go away when they realise you won't play.

ExtraCrunchy_2

We are going to call the hire company tomorrow - but i guess they will just deal with us now as they have my partners name and address.

There was another article i read that i would like a second opinion on. As i was the driver thought my partner is the RK does she have to tell them who i am? can she just say i am not the driver?

I thought you could but then i read that it is now (from Oct 2012) illegal to refuse to say who the driver is......

It was on this site honestjohn.co.uk
"A new Law from 1st October 2012 changed liability for parking on private land from the driver of the vehicle to the vehicle’s registered keeper, unless the keeper clearly identifies who was driving the car at the time."

Oh and one more thing - just for my own piece of mind this was in an Aldi car park - does that mean they have given these scammers permission to do this? if so i will definitely not be shopping there again...

though i suppose if i am ignoring them this doesn't really matter

RENEGADE_2

As we all know the demand is unlawful, your best bet is to offload all the baggage by nominating yourself as soon as possible to get the company off your partner's back. Any stopping of wages will have severe consequences here provided you follow the correct procedure; best to avoid the route. Tell the world you were responsible for the vehicle, then write to deny the illegal charge...from that point, ignore all.

pogofish

ExtraCrunchy wrote: »

I thought you could but then i read that it is now (from Oct 2012) illegal to refuse to say who the driver is......

It was on this site honestjohn.co.uk
"A new Law from 1st October 2012 changed liability for parking on private land from the driver of the vehicle to the vehicle’s registered keeper, unless the keeper clearly identifies who was driving the car at the time."

Nope - All that change means is that they can address their empty threats to the RK.

However, the tickets and demands themselves are just as illegal as they were before, so they can still be ignored.

Its up to the RK to declare the driver, or not - there is no requirement and frankly, the less communication the better - they will give-up on the scam sooner.