Private Parking Fine

anewman

bambam69 wrote: »

But 70 quid each in a university car park is a bit much no? So that in mind I wanted to know where I stood legally, not morally( but even morally have my transgretions caused 140 quid of damage, or are they merely trying to make money out of people who can ill afford it?).

If you cannot afford it you should have realised the first time and taken notice of the thing put on your windscreen saying exactly what would happen. You ignored the first one and you did not park within the rules after getting the first one. You also ignored the fact that the fine would increase if you did not pay up.

Also if you cannot afford £140, how can you afford the £135 or so road tax when that comes up? Seems to me like you can afford what you need to but not what you don't want to.

You could have been treated even worse. Your car could have been clamped and if you didn't pay then your car could have been towed away. I personally think you're getting off quite lightly.

ckerrd

Thanks Herbie for being the only one who actually gave me the information I was asking for.

Sorry if I misunderstood you, but in the original post you asked what you should do - and many people gave you advice. Pay the fines.

If you want a different answer, ask a different question.

reduceditem

Private firms running wild charging parking fines and clamping people on a THIRD PARTY'S land will enjoy reading this thread to know they can continue this ludicrous practice with the approval of so many!

If you do not reply in writing or by telephone to the demands you cannot be prosecuted. They need you to confirm your address as the DVLA info is not sufficient. My advice is that you do not confirm it to them....you are under no legal obligation to do so.

Parking fines from a local authority incurred on the public road are another matter and should be paid if correctly issued.

Optimist

ckerrd wrote: »

Thanks Herbie for being the only one who actually gave me the information I was asking for.

Sorry if I misunderstood you, but in the original post you asked what you should do - and many people gave you advice. Pay the fines.

If you want a different answer, ask a different question.

Very true the OP asked a question and Herbie gave the answer that the OP agreed with, not the answer that was necessarily correct. If you do decide to ignore the letters you received then I hope you come back at a later date and let us know how much you finally had to pay.

reduceditem

The DVLA can confirm who is the current registered keeper of a car, that is all. Legally this means precisely nothing, it's just an indicator. A private parking firm cannot proceed against you (other than sending threatening letters) until they verify these details and that can only be done by somebody replying to them or phoning them up. Not responding will have one sure outcome...you will pay nothing. I have received probably about 5 'fines' from firms like these over the years...I have paid nothing, never been 'taken to court' and my credit rating is unaffected. These firms rely on bullying and fear to extort money....I see no reason to comply.

If you turned your car on my drive and as you paused to shift gear I ran out and slapped a piece of paper on your car saying that you owe me £60 would you pay it?

Its only when they bolt a clamp onto your wheel that they've really got you by the goolies.

ckerrd

reduceditem wrote: »

Private firms running wild charging parking fines and clamping people on a THIRD PARTY'S land will enjoy reading this thread to know they can continue this ludicrous practice with the approval of so many!

If you do not reply in writing or by telephone to the demands you cannot be prosecuted. They need you to confirm your address as the DVLA info is not sufficient. My advice is that you do not confirm it to them....you are under no legal obligation to do so.

Parking fines from a local authority incurred on the public road are another matter and should be paid if correctly issued.

I am not sure I understand.

It seems perfectly reasonable to me that if I was a landlord and decided to use some of my land as a car park then I could expect to charge people for parking there. I would also wish to penalise in some way those who ignored the parking charges. Employing a firm who would patrol and serve fine/penalties/notices also seems sensible.

Is it the legality of employing another firm to do this that is in question, or the charges themselves?

Timmne

bambam69 wrote: »

A minor fine or whatever, ok. But 70 quid each in a university car park is a bit much no?

I tried to stay away from posting but I must - my guess is that if you'd have paid the fines when they were due they wouldn't be £70 each, probably more like £35 with a 100% increase if you don't pay within 14 days.

I got a fine a while ago - it was my fault for not topping up the meter early enough so what did I do? I PAID IT!!

I'm certainly not wealthy but I know that if someone needs paying they're not just going to disappear and it'll always end up costing you more when you do eventually pay it.

Last point - parking "just for five minutes" is like driving at 33mph in a 30mph zone - it's wrong! You see it as "only just" breaking the rules but it's either breaking them or it's not - there's no inbetween.

herbie-152

Please note, I am only talking here about private firms - this is not a rant against parking wardens or on-street parking tickets or anything to do with parking meters.

I think its important here to differentiate between our legal and moral position. We could argue for ever about the morality of this situation but what concerns me is the legal position of these private companies giving out "fines" at their sole discretion and the DVLA potentially giving out my details without my permission.

What still concerns me is that private firms are penalising consumers who have not broken any law. If they haven't broken the law then either these companies are trying to demand money with menaces - blackmail - or are trying to exercise a penalty clause under contract law. In this regard, I still think this is very similar to the excess bank charge situation. There is very little difference here between accidentally going £10 overdrawn and being penalised £38 and being accidentally 10 minutes late back to your car and being penalised £30.

If these fines were backed up by the law, I would not be arguing my point on this thread. The point that is being missed here time and again is that people are being fined without having broken any law by an organisation that they cannot influence directly (unlike local or national government). This is bullying. ckerrd comments below that he would expect to be able to do the same but that is not the case. If someone parked on your drive without permission, you would have legal recourse, but not an ability to fine them. Likewise, the DVLA would not give you the details of the registered owner.

Some of you may argue that everyone should park pretty and keep within the time limits. In a perfect world I agree: but in a perfect world no-one would exceed their overdraft limit and private companies wouldn't get away with fining the public because they fancy it. Unfortunately we don't live in a perfect world, but at least as this site has shown, we don't just have to lie down and let these companies walk all over us.

Timmne

They may not have broken the LAW but have broken RULES - it's private property!

If someone constantly parked on your front lawn you'd be pretty quick to find a solution at a guess - the most efficient way is to introduce fining.

Just because it's a university in question rather than your front lawn doesn't make any difference. It's still private property and the land owners are free to do what they want to stop people using it as their own parking areas!

reduceditem

ckerrd....I'm not challenging the legality of anything (we could do that on another thread). I'm simply stating the legal position on enforcement of these 'fines' as it relates to the issuer and the person who receives it.