Asda Car parking ticket

sarahg1969

bookemdano wrote: »

Oh just go away if you don't like the cold hard facts.

Hmm. Interesting. The "cold hard facts" are that the OP's wife hasn't been fined, and is probably under no obligation to pay the invoice that has been placed on her vehicle.

marleyboy

sarahg1969 wrote: »

Hmm. Interesting. The "cold hard facts" are that the OP's wife hasn't been fined, and is probably under no obligation to pay the invoice that has been placed on her vehicle.

You do have a point that it is not a fine but an invoice, commonly known as a PENALTY, as fines can only be issued via a court i.e Council, Parking inspectors or Police.

But your wrong to assume she was under no obligation to pay. Especially if there was signposts scattered around the car park informing her that there was a parking fee and failure to pay for the (refundable or not) ticket will incur a penalty.

That she chose to ignore the sign's meant she took the risk, £50 is an excessive amount to have to pay, but if the signs said £50 penalty, the risk she took for just a couple of minutes was a whopping £50.

Wheel clampers have a feild day at private car parks, after so long your car is towed to a depot. Invoice or not, if you want your car back, or unclamped, your going to have to pay.

The same equivalent is of someone parking at a parking meter in the City Centre and not inserting any money, then seeing the Ticket Inspector and running upto them saying "I just went to get some change for the meter". Do you really think the inspector will say "oh thats ok then, ill just rip this up"?

sarahg1969

marleyboy wrote: »

You do have a point that it is not a fine but an invoice, commonly known as a PENALTY, as fines can only be issued via a court i.e Council, Parking inspectors or Police.

But your wrong to assume she was under no obligation to pay. Especially if there was signposts scattered around the car park informing her that there was a parking fee and failure to pay for the (refundable or not) ticket will incur a penalty.

That she chose to ignore the sign's meant she took the risk, £50 is an excessive amount to have to pay, but if the signs said £50 penalty, the risk she took for just a couple of minutes was a whopping £50.

Wheel clampers have a feild day at private car parks, after so long your car is towed to a depot. Invoice or not, if you want your car back, or unclamped, your going to have to pay.

The same equivalent is of someone parking at a parking meter in the City Centre and not inserting any money, then seeing the Ticket Inspector and running upto them saying "I just went to get some change for the meter". Do you really think the inspector will say "oh thats ok then, ill just rip this up"?

It's not the same as not putting money in a meter on the street. In relation to on-street parking (under council rules), the RK is liable for any penalties, even if he/she was not the driver and knew nothing about the violation. This is not the case with a private car park, which relies on the driver (and the driver alone) having agreed to enter into a contract.

On-street parking and council car parking are dealt with under the RTA and council regulations. Not so with a private car parks.

The contract for parking on a private car park first and foremost has to assume that the driver has seen any signs and agreed to abide by them. Then, the wording also has to be correct. I have seen signs that say "any vehicle parked here agrees to pay a fee of ...." - can a vehicle enter into a contract? Also, the damages to which the landowner would be entitled are limited to their losses - either nothing for free parking, or the cost of a ticket.

Turning to clamping, if your vehicle is clamped, you have a several options. You can accept the charge and pay up, walk away and forget it. You can remove the clamp yourself. Or, you can pay up and instigate court proceedings for the return of the money if you feel you have been unfairly penalised. This is a simple process and very often (see pepipoo) a successful one.

The simple fact is that this company is unlikely to issue Court proceedings to recover their "losses". They rely on drivers to be intimidated into paying. Those who do not are unlikely to receive a summons on their doormat. And if they do, well - the Claimant is unlikely to be successful. They have to find the driver first off (how will they do that?); secondly, they have to prove the driver saw the signs and agreed to enter into a contract, and thirdly, they have to convince a Judge that they lost £50 as a result of the Defendant parking on their land. I have not yet seen one single case where a parking company has been successful in a defended claim.

goshdarnit

Honeydog wrote: »

Pay up and consider it a lesson learnt.

Lol. With an attitude like that its no wonder companies can take the ****

We tend to work under UK law in this country, not intimidation and threats. If you could point to one instance where a company such as this has gone to court then I may take you seriously.

Due to the fact the companies themselves know they are on very dodgy ground, not one instance exists of a company pursuing this in court and winning.

consultant31

I think I must be a bit dense, I always pay if there are signs saying I can't park without doing so!!

If I owned a piece of land I wouldn't expect other people to park on it without my consent and it sounds as if most of you think it would be fine to do just that.

What would happen if someone came and parked on your driveway saying that they were just visiting a neighbour and wouldn't be long? Would you be happy or is it just because this thread is about Asda and they should be happy to allow all and sundry to use their facilities while possibly not shopping with them.

I see that the OP was actually shopping there and I really do think that on production of a receipt to prove this, she should have the fine/fee/penalty (whatever it's called) removed.

Please don't shoot me down, I genuinely don't understand the reasoning behind the posters saying that anything goes in a car-park, and so far I haven't seen anything to make me see where it's ok to park where I like without a penalty.

goshdarnit

consultant31 wrote: »

Please don't shoot me down, I genuinely don't understand the reasoning behind the posters saying that anything goes in a car-park, and so far I haven't seen anything to make me see where it's ok to park where I like without a penalty.

I never once said it was ok, however, the law on this one favours NOT paying, and as such, thats what I stated.

My own opinions are just that, my own, and weren't expressed here. We tend to operate under UK law in this country, and if places like Tescos, asda etc want to get the law tightened up then their are processes in place for them to do so.

The fact remains there is, as far as I am aware, not one case of someone being pursued for this in court successfully.

marleyboy

I havent heard of any succesful or unsuccesful cases regarding parking fines, but I would assume that she knew of the parking fee, and chose to ignore it. My Asda supermarket doesnt charge a fee, but signs are posted regarding people parking in the car park and not shopping there. Which I think is fair and justifiable. I certainly would not be happy if someone parked their car on my driveway, maybe i cant issue them with a fine, but would gladly have it removed, with no remorse for the owner.

That there were signs posted, tells me that she was aware, so the sympathy goes out of the window, maybe her receipt could invalidate the penalty. Ultimatley she took the risk for a £50 penalty, so why not take the risk in not paying and ultimatley incur a heavier penalty, personally, I would accept that I was in the wrong and pay up rather than risking the penalty turning into a fine.

goshdarnit

marleyboy wrote: »

personally, I would accept that I was in the wrong and pay up

Which is your decision. However, no one can force you to pay it and you will be paying it because you want to, not because you have to.

As the original question was

Simiont wrote: »

can they make me pay the fine ?

the answer is no, they can't.

chocolatechipcookies

bestyman wrote: »

I once went shopping in the city centre on saturday afternoon and didnt have any change to buy a ticket . When I returned from shopping a traffic warden had put a ticket on my windscreen ....bloody jobsworth.
I explained to him that I had no change and he didn`t seem to care.
Whats the counrty coming to when we are expected to carry change for parking?
They`ll be fining us for not paying council tax because we cannot find our cheque books next.

Not sure of this is sarcasm or not, I hope so.

chocolatechipcookies

goshdarnit wrote: »

Lol. With an attitude like that its no wonder companies can take the ****

We tend to work under UK law in this country, not intimidation and threats. If you could point to one instance where a company such as this has gone to court then I may take you seriously.

Due to the fact the companies themselves know they are on very dodgy ground, not one instance exists of a company pursuing this in court and winning.

No. It's the attitude of people who think they can do what they want and get away with it. If you know that you have to pay to park somewhere and you choose to ignore that, it is your fault. If you don't want to pay to park, don't park.