£100 parking charge for stopping near Bristol Airport

Deltona

A few months ago I drove up to the barriers of a hotel carpark in the grounds of BA. I paused to read the sign about the rules and costs etc before taking a ticket at the machine, entering and parking up. Whilst I was doing that a small van drove behind me and got a pic of me as you can see. VCS now want £100 parking charges - note they don't call it a fine. I've appealed twice to the IAS, below is they wrote. They are now threatening to take me to court if I don't cough up. Should I pay it? I don't want to as it's the principle of the thing - charging someone for pausing to read a sign, it's almost entrapment. Is there professional body I can discuss this with for free? Obviously if I've got to pay a solicitor I might aswell pay the fine.
Should I have my day in court? 

Redx

No , nothing you can do

The time to discuss it is in court , with a judge , under the small claims MCOL court system

It's not worth paying and not worth paying a lawyer either

Stand your ground and let a judge decide the outcome

Your case is no different to all the other VCS airport threads on here , like LJLA , RHA , Southend etc

Meanwhile , complain by email to your local MP

Umkomaas

VCS seem to be extremely reluctant to pursue airport stopping charges, quite disproportionately to their other car parking cases. Stand your ground, you've done your appeals (nothing surprising about their outcomes - they all fail), see what VCS's next move is. Always support here as you travel this road (we don't charge you for stopping by! 🙂)

Coupon-mad

Is there professional body I can discuss this with for free?

Us.  This will be easy to defend and why not counterclaim as well, using Simon Clay v CEL as an example (he sued CEL, another parking firm, for misuse of data and got £200 bcause they had no reasonable cause to have his data).

But why not complain to Bristol Airport owners (do that now) and your local paper?  Quite clearly this is a scam ticket.

Obviously if I've got to pay a solicitor I might as well pay the fine.

You don't!  We do this all the time, no need for any legal advice.

Should I have my day in court? 

Yep, see above re suggested counterclaim.  You stopped due to the barrier and read the signs beside the machine.  As I said, quite clearly this is a scam ticket.

beamerguy

VCS must be very desperate for money to even think a court would support them. 
COVID JOKERS 

Deltona

Thanks for the replies, where do you think the courtroom will be? I'm in Yorks, no-where near Bristol, do they take that into account?

KeithP

It will be at your local county court. As an individual, you get to choose the court later in the process.

Anywhere near Skipton? They understand these parking company's tricks.

D_P_Dance

Nine times out of ten these tickets are scams, so consider complaining to your MP., it can cause the scammer extra costs, and in some cases, cancellation. 

Parliament is well aware of the MO of these private parking companies, many of whom are former clampers, 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 later this year,

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

Redx

VCS are near Sheffield , you are in York's , as a private individual you choose your local civil court , so Bristol is irrelevant other than where the incident occurred.

Deltona

Sheffield is in Yorks  Anyhow, as you say it doesn't matter where I am.

Redx

it can certainly matter where you are, because your local court may be one that is wise to their tricks, like Skipton for example

if you were in Harrogate or York or wherever then its that one that you choose, whereas if you are near Sheffield then that is the court VCS would prefer due to being their local court. A simple google search and adding your postcode to the courtfinder service tells you your nearest county court for civil matters

location matters, so dont dismiss the significance of it, but in any case your distance to Bristol has no relevance here at all , if it had been Southend airport it gain woiuld not matter, the incident location in England or Wales is irrelevant, but being airport land subject to bylaws is extremely relevant