Private Parking Charge

Umkomaas

On another point, the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Associations guide to Parking Offences and Charges, revised May 2017,  (Inserted Below, bottom of page 11 ) states that only British Parking Association members are accredited to receive vehicle details from DVLA. Is this still the case, 'cause, in my case District Enforcement Ltd are  currently only International Parking Community accredited ?

Previously known as Independent Parking Community. You're snatching at gnats. 

The BVRLA are all over the shop with that advice in one breath saying there is only one ATA, yet in another confirming that both the BPA and IPC exist.  

In addition, the private sector has no locus in the context of Road Traffic Offences.

if you want to read a more pertinent BVRLA document, read this:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/9b0iavad3aqeh28/BPA%20BVRLA%20MoU.pdf?dl=0

Coupon-mad

If you want to understand the contract law point of 'acceptance of terms by a driver in an ANPR car park', read the Supreme Court judgment in ParkingEye v Beavis [2015] UKSC 67. 

In summary, the conduct of parking on private land with 'very clear' signs that are 'bound to be seen' is the acceptance of those terms, which can set out a 'total stay' rather than just parking time.

SalveForOldSores

I'll have a look at Beavis (I presume a Scottish case, from the reference),  plus its antecedents and obiter dictum (If any)

Normal car parks have boards displaying both the charge rates and times and, sometimes the  detailed terms and conditions in small print.

The boards at Burnham have none of these . . . . just a message  stating that parking conditions apply, a charge of £70 can be levied for non-payment of the parking ticket fee and Direct Enforcements Ltd' s contact details.

Where's the equity between  the parties ? How can members of the general public have the ability and capacity to contract  if  access  to the terms and conditions, which are exclusively the product of the offerer and the essence of the contract, are not available to view at the time the contract is completed (By payment) ?

I found that reference to the some of the charge rates is made on Lord Corporation's website . . . but that should also be echoed on the boards located at Burnham.

Accordingly, I've written to Direct Enforcement Limited asking for a copy of the T&Cs applicable to parking contracts made at the Lord  Mayor's Drive car Parks at Burnham Beeches.

This should be good.

KeithP

SalveForOldSores said:

I'll have a look at Beavis (I presume a Scottish case, from the reference),  plus its antecedents and obiter dictum (If any)

UKSC = UK Supreme Court i.e. the highest court in the land.

SalveForOldSores

KeithP said:

SalveForOldSores said:

I'll have a look at Beavis (I presume a Scottish case, from the reference),  plus its antecedents and obiter dictum (If any)

UKSC = UK Supreme Court i.e. the highest court in the land.

Are they infallible ? 
I don't like law by financial exclusion myself.
It may well be that's appeallable to the European Court, even for something that happened post Brexit

Coupon-mad

It's not appealable, it's binding case law from the English Supreme Court from 2015, all about an ANPR car park and how a £85 parking charge was considered by the Judges not to offend against the penalty rule.   They placed a ludicrous amount of trust in the BPA Code of Practice and twisted the law on penalties to suit the corporate, against the consumer. 

Please just read it, you are going off on tangents about signage again which doesn't get you anywhere because you paid your PCN and your only options are what we've already told you.

We know what we are doing and some of us have done this for well over a decade, even before clamping was banned in 2012.  We've seen it all.

ParkerstNick

SalveForOldSores said:

But how is point 4, unqualified acceptance,  ascertained ?
Hence as one previous poster has said, surely a notice placed in one of the car's windows or on the roof of the car, so that ANPR can capture it,  stating that you only accept on a qualified basis and you you state the qualification, e.g. that the offer is accepted on the basis that quantum meruit applies to all charges, then the Parking Control Company would have to respond else the formation of a contract would be defeated ? 

Interesting point, but I suspect the timing is the problem here. Your qualified acceptance, or perhaps offer of a new contract on different terms, is not communicated to the PPC until they look at the ANPR photos some time later, by which point you have already been deemed to have accepted their terms by your actions in staying in the car park. Would be interesting if you were being watched by CCTV in real time, in which case you would have to show that your counter-offer had been seen by the PPC and accepted in some way. Or if there was a parking attendant on site you could present your qualified acceptance to them, in which case they would presumably reject it and re-iterate the original offer terms. If you then don't accept their offer and refuse to leave private land, their only recourse would be to have you removed for trespass, but only the landowner can do that.

I have wondered whether if everyone wrote, recorded delivery, to the PPC at their local supermarket and explicitly offered different terms to their parking contract, they would either have to write back to everyone to explicitly reject that offer, or make arrangements to stop people trespassing in the car park. Either way the disruption to their operations would be worth seeing.

ParkingMad

Also, do I take it that car park  charging schemes that employ ANPR systems and no barriers, rely on a deeming provision obtained from prior legal authority (Statute or case law), which says that as soon as you enter some private land where a parking contractor is operating you are deemed to have entered into a contract with the Parking Contractor on their terms and conditions ?

These BPA guides explains contract law as it applies to a parking situation:

https://www.britishparking.co.uk/write/Documents/AOS/AOS%20Operators%20Good%20Practice%20Guide%20-%20Nov%202011.pdf

https://www.britishparking.co.uk/write/Documents/AOS/AOS%20Operators%20Legislation%20Guide%20Nov%202011.pdf

CarParkingWars

Really helpful thread. I hope this advice was taken 

Umkomaas

CarParkingWars said:

Really helpful thread. I hope this advice was taken 

Who knows, we never received any further update.  A 'left hanging' thread rarely helps anyone. The OPs last visit to MSE was over 14 months ago.