3 parking charges - Scotland

frozentea

Hi,

So my wife parked in Tesco (Scotland) on a few occasions and received 3 parking charge notices all within the space on the month.

Shes from England but lives in Scotland now, but the parking charges were sent to her old address in England, even though the incidents occured in Scotland

Given she has 3 parking charge notices, what is the likely outcome here, is it worth their time to pursue or ignore?

FYI - she received a parking charge a couple years ago when she was visiting her parents in England and the letter was sent to her old address in England and she was taken to court and ordered to pay.

Any advice would be much appreciated

Gr1pr

She is under a legal obligation to the dvla to change the address promptly, or risk prosecution, so should do so ASAP

She should email the DPO at the parking company with the current address for the service of papers as a DATA RECTIFICATION NOTICE and provide proof of that current address, ideally the new V5c document after receiving it

No paying

Ignore the powerless debt collectors letters too

Complain about the pcns as keeper and as a valid customer, with proof of patronage and club card details etc, insisting on them being cancelled ASAP, to the head office in Dundee

frozentea

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82100754#Comment_82100754

Thank you so much for your response. That's very helpful. Out of the 3 parking charge notices, 2 of them are with Horizan and one with DCBL. Just worried as she has 3 parking charges they might think it's a worthwhile pursuit?

Vitor

The parking events took place in Scotland, so the fact that the notices were sent to an English address does not bring them under English law. Scotland currently has no equivalent in force to Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, so the parking company cannot normally transfer the driver’s liability to the registered keeper. It would need evidence of who was driving.

However, three charges could be combined into one Scottish Simple Procedure claim, making court action more worthwhile. Do not assume they will not pursue them, and never ignore genuine court papers.

The old address is the immediate danger. The keeper should:

Update the vehicle’s V5C with DVLA immediately. Updating a driving licence does not update the V5C.
Tell the parking company, and any debt collector, the keeper’s current Scottish address for service. Require the old address to be erased. Do not identify the driver.
Complain firmly to the Tesco store manager and Tesco customer service, providing receipts or Clubcard evidence and asking Tesco to cancel all three charges (assuming parking was to shop in Tesco and not just to avoid station parking charges etc.)
Keep copies and proof of sending.

The previous English case is separate and does not determine these Scottish charges.

Gr1pr

Nothing you can do about future intentions, especially in Scotland, so deal with the here and now, following our advice

Definitely ignore the powerless debt collectors letters

frozentea

Thanks both for your input, makes a lot of sense. A key piece I have left out is she was parked for 4 hours in the Tesco carpark as she was attending a class (Tesco is in the same vicinity as a shopping centre and classes she takes). And the signs do state maximum stay of 2 hours

Gr1pr

In which case its fly parking and Tesco wont cancel the pcn , the car park is for their customers, not local businesses ! ( so the invoices were correctly issued. )

Next year after the new Code of Practice is in force, so possibly after New Year, people in Scotland will get a rude awakening in these parking matters, with possible court cases via the Sheriff system ( simple procedures. )

I suggest that she starts to learn to comply with signs, or avoid getting pcns due to a behaviour change

Brie

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82100831#Comment_82100831

Unless like a couple of our local Tesco the car park provided by Tesco is there also for the use of customers to other businesses including, in one case, an art centre where people attend things for the entire day. One does not have any signs about about parking limits but the other does. Basically Tesco was allowed to build there by providing parking to the community. I'd say it's still worth an ask or at least find out what the situation is.

Gr1pr

Yep , same thing with my local Morrissons, although private parking companies dont give a monkeys. !

But once the new Code of Practice is in force, we will see the floodgates open from our friends in Scotland who are used to the historic " IGNORE, they cant do anything" option

Coupon-mad

Waaaaait!

All she needs to do is update her address to the Scottish address on the DCB Ltd portal.

Don't ignore it and leave them with the English address! Game over. They can't pursue her.

frozentea

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82101209#Comment_82101209

So make sure she's updated her address to the Scotland address and we should be good? (I've told her umpteen times to do so, might just do it myself for her)