Parking ticket as foreigners in a rental car

N.a.n.n.a

Hi everyone,
I hope it is okay to ask here, I haven't had much luck googling and reading, as there seems to be shockingly little about the particulars of this problem, which is: What to do if you got a parking ticket as a foreigner.

Short story is: We visited the UK from Germany in March, and drove around in a rental car. We got a ticket from Secure-A-Space LTD in Ipswich, in a well-frequented row of parking spots next to the street in front of our hotel. There were no signs or other indications that the spot was somehow not meant for parking, and we checked! We had no idea that things like these private parking firms even exist, so imagine our surprise the next day with the windshield ticket! (The issue time of 2 am already told us that this was nothing official...) So now there are letters and letters and letters, which we chose to ignore.

I wouldn't worry about this much, but the thing is, I am planning to return to the UK next year for a few months on a scientific exchange fellowship, and I don't want to do anything to jeopardize that. I'm not familiar with the UK systems of parking tickets and appealing, and if they even apply to me, as a German citizen. I don't want to break the law, but I don't want to throw good money at a fraud either.

Any advice? Thank you!
Nanna

pogofish

You have not broken any laws - these are private invoices, not legal fines.

The main thing you have to worry about is the rental company paying the invoice, then charging it on to you, with a hefty admin fee added but if you are getting letters, it seems you have avoided that nicely.

There is no chance of a UK PPC raising actions against you abroad. They and their fake "debt collectors" will send you several months worth of increasingly scary letters though.

Do not make them aware of your UK dress when you return.

Fruitcake

The easiest thing to do is to contact the parking company and tell them the name and address of the driver then ignore anything and everything you get from these scammers.
The important thing is to make sure the rental company doesn't pay this fake unenforceable speculate for you, so you need to tell them as well that you have discharged your obligation to them by telling the parking company the driver's details.


There is no link between the parking company's scam and UK border control so it cannot affect your entry to the UK at a later date.

N.a.n.n.a

Thank you, that is reassuring :-) We can deal with the letters, no problem! The name and address have hilariously wrong spelling, it's a miracle they even reach us!

Yeah, I was worried about the rental car company (Europcar for us) as well, but it seems, they only gave address details and nothing more. Phew, I guess! ;-)

N.a.n.n.a

The driver is my husband, I don't think he would appreciate it if I would rat him out to these frauds

enfield_freddy

umm , what can they do?


they cannot use a county court in Germany

Double_V

Just ignore.
And they don't control Border Control/Immigration, there is no link whatsoever.

Don't worry. And no need to give driver details either.
They cannot force it in Germany.

The_Deep

You are not ratting on your husband, you are ensuring that the hire company do not pay it and charge back on your credit card.

hoohoo

If the rental was in your name then no need to rat you husband out - just keep everything in your name.

I would write once and state that the debt is denied because the signage was not sufficient and that the charge is too high.

State that you are willing to use alternate dispute resolution.

By the way the law on making a hirer liable is quite complex and as far as I know no parking company has ever served the right paperwork. You as hirer are therefore not liable. Your husband as driver is liable, but only if conditions such as reasonable signage and cost are met...which they were not