Euro car park Parking fine

John2705

Dear All

I would appreciate some advice. I was travelling for work and for a quick evening meal parked in a car park next to a well know public restaurant. It was at night and I did not see any signs. More importantly there was no prompting for me to register my car from the restaurant staff. A few weeks later I received a parking fine of £100 which is ludicrous. I was in the restaurant for about 30 minutes. I looked online and saw social posts of 'scams in Noble Comb Shipley' regarding Euro car parks.

I 'appealed' to the company by email which was rejected. I provided evidence that there were no signs or warnings from the restaurant staff which is in contrast to other private car parks I have used previously and a subsequent one from the same company Euro Car Park, where the restaurant in this case had a touch screen on the reception desk. I also did not receive an offer to pay early and half the fine.

I appealed via POPLA and despite providing a lot of evidence they sided with the car park organisation. I received an email from POPLA on Dec 6 to indicate that my appeal was unsuccessful. I did not receive any follow up letter by Euro Car Parks. Today (Jan 11th) I receive a letter from a debt recovery agency requesting £170. The cost is going up and up.

I am prepared to go to court and represent my case as I have not been treated fairly. I am an honest person, if I had chanced a quick park on a double yellow line and got caught I would accept this was my fault and accept the fine. It is dishonest to trick people into thinking a car park next to a chain restaurant would be a private car park. 

However I do not want to throw good money after bad. What are my chances in court and what could the worst case financial outcome be if I lose the case. Should I just ignore the debt recovery request and accept Euro Car Parks will take me to court?

Thanks in advance for your help.Another business trip where I have lost money!

regards

John

Mark_d

You were busy and stopping for a quick meal.  You didn't notice any signs in the car park.  The restaurant didn't ask you about parking - but are they obliged to?

Personally I don't like your chances if this goes to court.  If you lose then you might have to pay court costs and legal fees, as well as the amount claimed.

Fruitcake

It is not a fine.

What happened when you complained to the landowner/restaurant manager, and your MP? That is always Plan A and it is never too late to do so.

Debt collectors are powerless and can safely be ignored.

Apart from complaints you are now in ignore mode unless you get a letter of/before claim or a court claim within six years from the date of the alleged event. If you move home in that time, send a rectification notice to the DPO of the PPC telling them to erase your data and replace it with your new address for service.

If it went to court and you won, it would cost you nothing and you might get up to £95 from the claimant. If you lost, it would be £100 plus the fixed permitted court costs, so not much more than the current demand that includes a fake £70 that the PPC has not incurred.

Coupon-mad

Mark_d said:

You were busy and stopping for a quick meal.  You didn't notice any signs in the car park.  The restaurant didn't ask you about parking - but are they obliged to?

Personally I don't like your chances if this goes to court.  If you lose then you might have to pay court costs and legal fees, as well as the amount claimed.

This is wrong advice.

We continue to win 99% of cases & unlit signs is an absolute humdinger defence.

Worst case scenario up to £200 instead of £170 - a complete no-brainer NOT TO PAY.

John2705

Thank you all for your help, it very much appreciated. I am new to the site so please accept my apologies for my delayed response.
Kind regards
John

Coupon-mad

John2705 said:

Thank you all for your help, it very much appreciated. I am new to the site so please accept my apologies for my delayed response.
Kind regards
John

That's fine John.  Just don't go paying it!

womanhateseurocarparks

I live in Scotland and advice given a number of times was to ignore and said that car parking charges from there couldn’t become debt. Fast forward 10 years and with every single Letter and charge having the completely wrong name they have arrested my wages!!! With a 10,000 bill!! I tried to appeal to Gordon and noble for a suspension for 8 weeks to let me seek advice and try to make an arrangement, I advised them every single letter was wrong name completely and got a really cheeky reply. I’m at a complete loss. It’s a ridiculously high amount and it’s their fault that they had the name completely wrong although they did try to blame the dvla for that 

Coupon-mad

You need a Scottish solicitor, not a forum.

J_WIGHT

Hi there, I live on the Isle of Wight, I parked in Euro Park M&S and went off shopping. I use a mobility scooter and whilst out, my key broke and I needed my husband to bring another down to me as I don’t carry a spare. 

I ended up in the car park for  1 hr 33 minutes. 

My blue badge was in my window, I didn’t get a ticket because I never have and didn’t plan being longer than the hour. Also I didn’t let anyone in the shop know that this had happened. 

I want to ignore it but I can’t cope with any stress that I know it will cause 

I’d appreciate advice, huge thanks in advance. 

fisherjim

J_WIGHT said:

Hi there, I live on the Isle of Wight, I parked in Euro Park M&S and went off shopping. I use a mobility scooter and whilst out, my key broke and I needed my husband to bring another down to me as I don’t carry a spare. 

I ended up in the car park for  1 hr 33 minutes. 

My blue badge was in my window, I didn’t get a ticket because I never have and didn’t plan being longer than the hour. Also I didn’t let anyone in the shop know that this had happened. 

I want to ignore it but I can’t cope with any stress that I know it will cause 

I’d appreciate advice, huge thanks in advance. 

Why have you tacked this on to an old thread that has nothing to do with your situation, you should start a new thread.

Coupon-mad

J_WIGHT said:

Hi there, I live on the Isle of Wight, I parked in Euro Park M&S and went off shopping. I use a mobility scooter and whilst out, my key broke and I needed my husband to bring another down to me as I don’t carry a spare. 

I ended up in the car park for  1 hr 33 minutes. 

My blue badge was in my window, I didn’t get a ticket because I never have and didn’t plan being longer than the hour. Also I didn’t let anyone in the shop know that this had happened. 

I want to ignore it but I can’t cope with any stress that I know it will cause 

I’d appreciate advice, huge thanks in advance. 

The parking charge (in your case) is illegal under the Equality Act 2010 because you are entitled to more time.

Complain immediately to the M&S manager who can cancel it.  Do NOT pay it.