Parking Scam?

germ73

1st post so here goes


I have just received a parking ticket on my van from a company that operate a private road( @Bristol complex) here in Bristol.

The ticket is not the normal parking services type.It says that the vehicle was parked in a private road on double yellow lines.Penalty of £75 reduced to £50 if paid within 21days.I was parked in the road doing some unloading/work in the precinct.I appreciate that these comapanies can clamp/tow you away but can they fine you for parking in this way?

yeslek

if your on double yellows i'm afraid your screwed

maninthestreet

yeslek wrote: »

if your on double yellows i'm afraid your screwed

Not if it's a private road. The OP hasn't been fined, only a court can do that, he has been given a penalty charge, and has no obligation to pay. Unless there are clear, legible signs on the entrance to this private road stating the penalty charges and when they apply, the penatly charge may not stand up to scrutiny in a court of law.

Blacksheep1979

It's a bill not a fine until as maninthestreet says the courts uphold it. Go have a look at the pepipoo forums they'll help you out. Btw in scotland clamping is the same as highway robbery - great eh?

smcaul

I think it is actually classed as an invoice - is up to them to prove you entered into a contract with them. I believe you can write to them and tell them to contact the driver, as the owner you are not responsible for the driver nor do you have to give out who was the driver at the time - as they are unlikely to be able to do this they are on a looser. This seems to be the general thoughts over a couple of different forums such as honestjohn.co.uk and pepipoo.

germ73

Thanks for the replies.

As a service engineer i get loads of penalty notices issued by official parking wardens etc and usually correspond with them and they show an understanding of my work and waiver them.
I cant stand these highway robers who tow and clamp at extortionate rates.

This is the company who operate the scheme.
http://www.car-park-enforcement.co.uk

Alias_Omega

As mentioned above, its an invoice for 'the charge'.

Ignore, they are out of pocket as they paid £3.50 to the DVLA to get your information.

hollydays

They say they are a member of the "Parking Enforcement Agency".That would be an official government run department would it..er no I thought not.

deanos

yeslek wrote: »

if your on double yellows i'm afraid your screwed

You can legally park on double yellow lines if you are unloading like the op stated on a public road.

trinidadone

As mentioned above, you CAN load/unload on double yellow lines, were there any blips on the kerb (two blips means no loading at any time). There is a unwritten rule that moterists can not spend more than 15-20 minutes loading/unloading. There should also be some form of timeplate displayed, was there any? also check the ticket, is the VRN, make of vehicle, location, time/date, colour, contravention correct? if any are wrong, the ticket is void.

was any observation time given on the ticket (there should be at least five minutes observed if there are no restrictions for loading/unloading) if there were two blips on the kerbside, you CAN get a instant ticket.

Also are the yellow lines correctly marked? there should be a T bar at the end of the yellow line?

superscaper

Lee_Dunford wrote: »

As mentioned above, you CAN load/unload on double yellow lines, were there any blips on the kerb (two blips means no loading at any time). There is a unwritten rule that moterists can not spend more than 15-20 minutes loading/unloading. There should also be some form of timeplate displayed, was there any? also check the ticket, is the VRN, make of vehicle, location, time/date, colour, contravention correct? if any are wrong, the ticket is void.

was any observation time given on the ticket (there should be at least five minutes observed if there are no restrictions for loading/unloading) if there were two blips on the kerbside, you CAN get a instant ticket.

Also are the yellow lines correctly marked? there should be a T bar at the end of the yellow line?

That's only for public roads. Private roads can make up whatever rules they want. As has been mentioned whether they could successfully take you to court over those rules is another matter.