Horizon fine (Tesco parking with varying restriction times)

Freeeeee

i have received a parking charge from Horizon due to an overstay at Tesco car park. I had no they had varying parking restrictions. 3 hours until 10pm then 1 hours from 10pm until suit closing at 12am. I arrived when it was dark and it is clearly dark in the APNR photos.

I was a genuine shopper, stayed for 1 hours 22 minutes and spend £100+ which to do a shop in a large tesco store and get through their self check outs (as manned tills are not open in the evening) seems very reasonable and i have no idea how they think 1 hour is reasonable. 

The Tesco store customer services and manager have refused to help saying it’s nothing to do with tesco and they couldn’t help even if they wanted to. I explained that the landowner has the ability to cancel parking tickets but they said they couldn’t so this and that head office wouldn’t be interested and that i just need to appeal with Horizon (which we all know how that will go with their pitiful appeal success rates!)

is there anything I can do with this as i obviously did overstay and not knowing about the differing restrictions periods would be seen as my responsibility? 

many thanks! 

Gr1pr

I would suggest that you complain directly to head office 

Car1980

Are there big green "Staying longer than 3 hours?" signs everywhere?

Horizon have difficulty enforcing these since Tesco got another company on board to try and make some cash out of app parking. In other words, how can restrictions of 60 minutes be clear when for every one of Horizon's signs there is an even more prominent bright green sign implying there is a 3 hour maximum stay in larger text?

Ralph-y

take as much of the shopping that is left and ask for a refund ..... leave nice feedback on social media .... then shop else where after telling the CEO such 

James_Poisson

But are there are loads of these on site it's saying you have to pay after three hours on site with no restrictions on time of day:

Ralph-y

why does any one shop at tescos these days ?

mrarmorris

Just wanted to share a win to encourage anyone fighting one of these, because the doom and gloom can get to you when the letters keep coming.

Horizon took me to the County Court over an alleged parking charge at a Tesco. Claim was for £164.15 all in (£80 charge, £70 "contractual costs", plus interest). I defended in person. Last week the judge dismissed the whole claim and ordered Horizon to pay my witness expenses.

What I think is useful for others is why it failed, because it wasn't one lucky point, it was several independent ones and any one of them was enough:

1. No contract proven between the landowner and Horizon. The judge couldn't find Horizon had standing to bring the claim at all, and the legal arguments they filed to get around this relied on case law with no proper law-report citation and no authorised transcript or report of the judgment. So the court gave it no weight.
2. No proof I was the driver. They couldn't establish it, and didn't pursue keeper liability properly.
3. The signage case fell apart. The judge was not satisfied the terms were displayed at the entrance or that they came to my attention before I'd supposedly agreed to them. Critically, there was no evidence of any sign near the disabled bay on the actual date of the alleged contravention saying parking there would trigger a fixed charge.
4. Their own numbers didn't add up. They claimed £80 but their own signage referred to £70. And they claimed £70 in costs with no contractual term anywhere in their photos to support it.
5. Their evidence was filed by a legal rep with no personal knowledge of the facts and was full of hearsay. The judge openly attached more weight to my evidence than to theirs.

Takeaways if you're in the same boat:

• Don't be intimidated into paying. Make them prove every element: the contract with the landowner, the signage on the relevant date and location, that you were the driver, and the basis for every pound they're claiming.
• Photograph the signage yourself, or note its absence.
• Push hard on the contract/standing point and on whether their cited authorities are even properly reported. A lot of their bundle is templated and won't survive scrutiny.
• Turn up in person if you can. A real person answering questions beats a hearsay witness statement from someone who's never seen the car park.

Didn't pay them a penny, and they're now paying me.

IMG_5694.jpeg

IMG_5695.jpeg

Coupon-mad

This is great to read and even better, you have shared with us a written judgment that other people can use for Gladstones Horizon claims.

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST!

Can we refer to this as Horizon v Morris?

As the case is concluded, please tell us the claim number so we can quote it in future!

Well done.

I've noticed before, that in most retail or supermarket car parks there is no contractual sign whatsoever in accessible bays. Literally nothing except a picture of a wheelchair user.

mrarmorris

It is very satisfying to see Horizon and Gladstones, despite all their arrogance and confidence, flounder and ultimately fail.

Yes, we can refer to the matter as Horizon Parking Ltd v Morris.

Claim Number: M5GF2Y6D.

Car1980

Would be a real shame if Tesco's legal department were alerted to this judgment…