Parking Eye - Parking Charge Notice received today - HELP Please!!

nigelbb

trisontana wrote: »

I wonder if that £30 is some sort of "secret clause" in the contract between the PPC and the store. That may be why PE are reluctant to show POPLA the contract. Just like the "don't prosecute any of our customers" clause that Somerfield had with PE and which came out in the famous court case.

I am sure that it is as it would seriously damage PE's takings from parking charges if such secret clauses were made public. A 'no court' clause would at a stroke reveal their threats & those of their debt collectors as completely empty & in fact would render them liable for prosecution for unfair commercial practices (threatening court when they are forbidden to take anyone to court). Knowing that a minimum spend of £30 was a 'Get Out Of Jail Free Card' would mean that people who realised that they had overstayed would just pop into the store & spend £30 to avoid a PE 'fine' of £70 or more.

PE's only income is from parking charges as they receive no retainer from their employers for managing the parking so it's in their interests to maximise the number of 'offences' & thus their income.

rew37

nigelbb wrote: »

I am sure that it is as it would seriously damage PE's takings from parking charges if such secret clauses were made public. A 'no court' clause would at a stroke reveal their threats & those of their debt collectors as completely empty & in fact would render them liable for prosecution for unfair commercial practices (threatening court when they are forbidden to take anyone to court). Knowing that a minimum spend of £30 was a 'Get Out Of Jail Free Card' would mean that people who realised that they had overstayed would just pop into the store & spend £30 to avoid a PE 'fine' of £70 or more.

PE's only income is from parking charges as they receive no retainer from their employers for managing the parking so it's in their interests to maximise the number of 'offences' & thus their income.

And at place such as Motorway Service stations, where free parking with no obligation to purchase is a regulatory requirement, could potentially open their clients up to legal action as well.

trisontana

Actually a PPC can never make a profit from their current business model if they don't receive any fees from the landowner. Theoretically any money they demand must only reflect the true loss suffered by the landowner and thus must be cost negative. If they do make a profit, then that money would be considered an unfair penalty and is against the law.

nigelbb

trisontana wrote: »

Actually a PPC can never make a profit from their current business model if they don't receive any fees from the landowner. Theoretically any money they demand must only reflect the true loss suffered by the landowner and thus must be cost negative. If they do make a profit, then that money would be considered an unfair penalty and is against the law.

It depends on the PPC's business model.

Parking Eye claim that the charge are for breaching the T&Cs of a contract & these must indeed be a genuine pre-estimate of losses.

However other PPCs claim that the money they demand is a contractual sum e.g. up to 2 hours parking free, over two hours parking £100. This argument can be demolished pretty easily though as they don't provide a VAT receipt & don't provide the opportunity to pay the £100. It becomes even more ludicrous to argue it's a contractual sum when the "offence" is not displaying a permit or parking outside a marked bay as though the driver would choose to spend £100 for the privilege of straddling a white line. Finally the contractual sum argument falls foul of Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 as it is so one sided to the detriment of the consumer.

trisontana

And they usually forget to but an upper time-limit when you have paid that £100. So, theoretically, once you have paid that sum then you can park there for ever.

Coupon-mad

rew37 wrote: »

Can I ask where this £30 came from? Was that on the signs in the car park or have the scammers just made that up? I need to check (or perhaps someone knows). but I'm fairly certain that Motorway Service areas have to offer free parking for rest brakes, there is no minimum spend, I'm also fairly certain they have to allow you refuge in the event of a breakdown. Even if that isn't the case, you have nothing to worry about, this is clearly a penalty charge that would be laughed out of court and they know it.

http://www.highways.gov.uk/our-road-network/motorway-service-areas-and-roadside-facilities/

Yep there at the bottom - no obligation to make a purchase!

Here at item 71 about broken down vehicles:

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20111205181832/http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roads/network/policy/roadfacilitiespolicy.pdf

I think you could easily argue that's two hours from when the AA arrive. If it was me, I'd send them the £10 (or whatever the over 2hr normal charge is) as a gesture of goodwill to be passed to the landowner. Deny any contract or liability and head the letter 'without prejudice'. If they cash the cheque, Bingo! You can continue to ignore as any further cash is a clear penalty should they be stupid enough to try court, or, follow Coupon's advice to try POPLA - she really does know what she's talking about!

Those are very useful links - thanks for posting that from the Highways Agency.

:T

rew37

I've spent the last couple of hours fruitlessly trying to find any regulations around what Motorway Service Stations are allowed to charge for parking over the 2 hour free period - it doesn't seem to be easily obtainable in the public domain. I wonder why?

Computersaysno

Because it doesn't exist.

Same as there are no regs saying what they are allowed to charge for a bottle of water.

rew37

I'm not so sure, everything about Motorway Service Stations is highly regulated - that's why they're so expensive to cover the cost of regulation. I just can't believe the cost of parking over 2 hrs isn't regulated in some way.

Stroma

The highway agency said that a minimum of two hours must be given for free, and left the door open for scammer like CP Plus to interpret that into lets scam people who stop for more than that. This is where I endorse people to stop for as long as needed, safety first ALWAYS!

If someone falls asleep there for 5 hours so be it they needed that, the alternative could be for someone falling asleep behind the wheel. The consequences of that doesn't need to be pointed out. IMO park and screw the scammers!