Scotland Parking Ticket from G24 and Court Threatened, Retailer not interested

Monsterlime

I have read the FAQ and the part about Scotland, but my wife is still concerned.

Earlier this year, we recieved a parking notice from G24 Ltd for overstaying the parking time at a small retail park (2 premises, 1 large national budget retailer and a small coffee firm). The large retailer was not visited, but the smaller coffee place was. For various reasons, the stay at the coffee place was just over 2 hours (they serve lunch etc as well).

The coffee place offers 3 hours parking, but unknown to us at the time, you had to "validate" it, on a screen that is fairly hidden away and was not publicised. They have since advertised it etc.

As per the FAQ advice, we have ignored the letters which are now from Debt Recovery Plus and the last is indicating court action to follow. We have been in contact with both the coffee place (who have been helpful and have said they have contact the parking firm to try and get it cancelled) and the large retailer who have been decidedly unhelpful (going as far to say that only customers of their store are allowed to park in this shared car park, which I suspect is a surprise to the coffee firm).

Is this a case of continuing to ignore the letters and hope they don't try and take us to court? If they do, what defence do we have (the FAQ wasn't clear on this) as the letters are addressed to the keeper of the vehicle (and we have not confirmed who the driver was, or spoken to the parking/debt company at all)?

Thank you!

The_Deep

Failure to enter a VRN is regarded by some/many judges as a trifling matter, not a real BOC at all, and a waste of court time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_minimis

Were they to take this to court they might struggle. Especially in Scotland where POFA does not apply. This is clearly explained in the stickies

Write bad stuff on the large retailer's (is it B&M?), website and Facebook page if they are unco-operative.

Nine times out of ten these tickets are scams so complain to your MP.

Parliament is well aware of the MO of these private parking companies, and on 15th March 2019 a Bill was enacted to curb the excesses of these shysters. Codes of Practice are being drawn up, an independent appeals service will be set up, and access to the DVLA's date base more rigorously policed, persistent offenders denied access to the DVLA database and unable to operate.

Hopefully life will become impossible for the worst of these scammers, but until this is done you should still complain to your MP, citing the new legislation.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2019/8/contents/enacted

Just as the clampers were finally closed down, so hopefully will many of these Private Parking Companies.

Quentin

Yes continue to ignore

Always ignore debt collectors!

Umkomaas

DRP can't take you to court, G24 have never, ever taken anyone to court (and it's an easier proposition for them south of the border than north of it), so your wife has no cause for concern.

No defence needs to be contemplated - you'll never need one.

Ebe_Scrooge

Who are they going to take to court ? They can only go after the driver - if you haven't told them who that was, then they're a bit snookered :-)

Monsterlime

Thank you! This is what I thought, but wanted to reassure my wife. And yes, it is B&M. While the coffee chain is small here, they are not small elsewhere, so am going to let them know about B&M's view that their customers are not permitted to use the car park.

I shall also complain to our MP!

The_Deep

Ebe_Scrooge wrote: »

Who are they going to take to court ? They can only go after the driver - if you haven't told them who that was, then they're a bit snookered :-)

Can they not take the keeper to court then under Schedule 4 of POFA?

Fruitcake

If you want to take this further, contact the local planning office to see what it says about the site with regards to parking.

Was planning approved for parking only by motorists using the large retail outfit, or for anyone to park and use other shops nearby in order to support local businesses?

If ANPR scameras are used, do they have planning permission?

Was Advertising Consent approved for the signs? Not having this is a criminal offence.

Complain to the council if any of the above is not being complied with, and also complain to the big retailer if you find they are telling porky pies.

Definitely complain to your MP about this unregulated scam, especially if they are breaching any planning regulations.

Coupon-mad

The forum advice for Scotland = ignore

The forum advice for debt collector letters = ignore (see NEWBIES post #4)

The forum advice for G24, if the retailers have not stepped in = ignore.

So you are on a safe footing, to ignore this one!

But up the ante with the retail park complaints, to whoever runs the place, and on social media for the National stores there. As seen in the link in the NEWBIES thread to 'Successful Complaints About PPCs', G24 scam PCNs are cancelled all the time by the likes of Halfords, Wickes, Homebase etc.

DoaM

The_Deep wrote: »

Can they not take the keeper to court then under Schedule 4 of POFA?

Oh come now TD ... surely you haven't forgotten that POFA is not law in Scotland therefore cannot be used as the basis for a claim.