Asda car parking fine.. is it legal?

Lord_Lardington

Lee_Dunford wrote: »

Is it legal, who cares

Well, I think I do So I can enter a supermarket carpark and implicitly agree to a £40 "get out of the carpark fee" can I? To be honest you're just reiteriating what everyone else has said. I've tried to remove the morality question in my previous post and nobody reading any of this thread will tell you that OP did the right thing by using the disabled space. But does that mean that "they" (ASDA in this case) can do whatever they like to you? My opinion is no.

Lord_Lardington

You know what, I'm sounding more serious that I feel. I just want to know, opinions/emotions aside, what the legalities are.

Stephen_Leak

An individual or company cannot issue a punative charge, or fine.

The OP broke the terms & conditions of a deemed contract (ie. Don't park in the disabled bays, unless you've got a badge). There were penalty clauses in that contract (ie. If you do, we will charge you £20).

However, the "agreived" party can only legally recover any expense resulting from the breach of the contract, no more. If it does cost them £20 per ticket issued (ie. the costs of employing parking attendants divided by the number of tickets issued, in the most simplest of terms), then no part of the charge is punative and it is legal. If it costs them less than £20, then a part of the charge is punative and that part of the charge is illegal.

The practical problem they may have is, if it doesn't cost very much to issue a ticket (ie. £2), that this figure isn't going to be much of a deterrent.

Conor_3

the_devil_made_me_do_it wrote: »

Thing is I'm not asking whether I was wrong, I'm asking whether it's legal for a private company to fine me.

Yes. By using the car park, you are deemed to have accepted the terms of its usage which involves a £20 "charge" for using a disabled bay which you're not entitled to. You'll find it says "charge" and not fine. Certainly says "charge" on the signs at my local Tesco.

And they can charge that if they want and if you don't pay, take action to recover the money as in any other civil matter resulting in CCJ with costs added.

Lord_Lardington

Hey, I think we're there. Question answered, Happy days.

If anyone fancies watching or joining in with anothjer fight, the "Police Stopped me ..." one is still going strong on this board.

martinbuckley

the_devil_made_me_do_it wrote: »

I haven't got a problem with PAYING UP.

I was asking whether Asda and other supermarkets ect.. are within their rights to fine people.

They may well not have. However if you feel that way, ignore the fine and see if it comes to court. If it does, you'll end up with your name & address in the local paper so that all your neighbours know what you did.

the_devil_made_me_do_it

martinbuckley wrote: »

They may well not have. However if you feel that way, ignore the fine and see if it comes to court. If it does, you'll end up with your name & address in the local paper so that all your neighbours know what you did.

I'm not remotely bothered by what my neighbours or the rest of the town think/know.

It does seem that my question has been answered tho'. Thanks

LilMissEmmylou

i actually complained about a couple the other day who got mouthy when my oh asked them to not park in a P&B space as the clearly didnt need it and we did to get the car seat out. There was empty spaces in the next row. Anyway the guys at Asda told me they r bringing in a new thing to fine up to £60 i believe it was for people who park in marked spaces when they dont need to. Too bloody right if u ask me.

Adzha

Asda tend to use companies, which clearly sign any fines.
Your lucky its not an £80 fine or clamping!

Adzha

You can pay online HERE