Private Parking Tickets - can they be enforced??

MrPeevedOfEdinburgh

Hi guys.

Im a forum posting newbie so hopefully i have used the correct etiquitte here (but possiby the wrong spelling )

Firstly, im not trying to dodge paying if i am genuinely in the wrong...

i just finished work to find a lovely demand for £85 from a private parking fine company. i dont feel thay had the right to issue it and dont want to pay. in the past i have a had tickets and alwyas paid but i dont fel they have the right this time.

i parked on what i believed to be public grounds in Edinburgh. The public road leading to/thru/from the area is cobbled, as is the area where i parked. i know for a fact that at least SOME of the road is public unrestricted parking. where i parked is completely cobbled and there are no visable markings to show if it is private ground(or any distinction between road/pavement).

Across the road however i did notice a sign(partially obscured by scalffolding) saying something about "private land" and "the right to remove of fine folk". it did not indicate how far these private parkign rights extended.

where i was parked, there are NO signs to show private parking.

oh yeah, i am the registed owner/keeper of the car and i was driving it (but dont know how they could even prove it)

On the "licence to print money and harrass people"/parking charge the reason is NO PERMIT. it was issues by Central Ticketing/Central Ticketing Ltd with an edinburgh address.

1. Do these laws/rights cover Scotland as well as the rest of the UK.

2. DO I HAVE A RIGHT TO APPEAL?

Im hoping that somebdy can clarify that i dont have to pay and maybe give some advice on how to respond to these guys. also out of interest, do they have to advise where their boundaries lie?

Hopefully i can save myself from paying this massive fine...

Many thanks in advance and apologies if this is covering old ground on a different thread and you're having to repeat yourself.

Cheers :rotfl:

Mr Peeved

.... i now have 13 days to comply before the charge goes from £60 to £85....

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

www.pepipoo.com and ask there.

In England you can ignore them with impunity since they are invoices, not fines.

Conor_3

MrPeevedOfEdinburgh wrote: »

Many thanks in advance and apologies if this is covering old ground on a different thread and you're having to repeat yourself.

Cheers :rotfl:

Mr Peeved

.... i now have 13 days to comply before the charge goes from £60 to £85....

Would you mind if I come and park my lorry in your front garden next time I'm in Edinburgh? I know it belongs to you but seeing as you've demonstrated just how little regard you have for others property, I doubt you'll mind will you?

photome

Dont know if you are in the right or wrong.....maybe in the wrong if there was a sign across the road.

BUT dont listen to Conor, he is only a member on here to wind others up.

MrPeevedOfEdinburgh

Conor wrote: »

Would you mind if I come and park my lorry in your front garden next time I'm in Edinburgh? I know it belongs to you but seeing as you've demonstrated just how little regard you have for others property, I doubt you'll mind will you?

Conor:- if i had a garden to park in then i would certainly let you park in it. with all the tram works here in edinburgh, we need al the parking spaces we can get - unfortunately, i have NO garden. i do however have a residents permit for when i park outside my flat. if you let me knw when you are next in edinburgh i can ararnge a visitors permit for you

Pew Pew & PhotoMe: thanks for your advice/suggestions...

If i had known that i could get a Parking charge, then i would not have parked there. coming to work today i had a look around and there is only ONE averagely sized sign, obscrured by scaffolding on one side and nothing anywhere else. Again, it doesnt define the boundaries of the area that it covers.

from reading info in the link that Pew Pew posted i think i will be doing the following:

:mad: 1. wait to see if they contact the registered keeper of the vehicle(i.e. ME)
2. if they do, i'll advise them that as the registed keeper i have not entered into any contract with them(or the land owners) and that they should contact the DRIVER of the vehicle.
:T 3. if they cant provide/find details of the driver of the vehicle then then cant take it anyfurther and they should not contact me anymore regarding this matter.
4. if they can prove who the driver was (i assume they have to have evidence of you actually PARKING there) then i will continue to argue this on the grounds that there was inadequate signage
:eek: 5. if anything comes back to ma after that then i'll find a mate who is a lawyer...

This may be a moot point but if the ticketing person only had evidenc eof me driving AWAY, could that still be used? that wouldnt prove that it was ME that parked there, just ME that drove AWAY.......

What do you guys think??

Conor_3

MrPeevedOfEdinburgh wrote: »

Conor:- if i had a garden to park in then i would certainly let you park in it. with all the tram works here in edinburgh, we need al the parking spaces we can get - unfortunately, i have NO garden. i do however have a residents permit for when i park outside my flat. if you let me knw when you are next in edinburgh i can ararnge a visitors permit for you

Haha...

Seriously...

Go take as many photos as you can to prove there's no signage covering the area or that it was obstructed from view so it could not be "reasonably expected" to be able to see it. As others have said, it's not a legal fine. Just be grateful you're not in England where such companies are allowed to clamp vehicles.

In the future you know how bad parking is in Edinburgh - I know how bad parking is in Edinburgh and I don't live there - so next time you find somewhere to park that easily, ask yourself why.

custardy

whereabouts was it?

roddydogs

This type of thread has hundreds of replys elsewhere.
Has anyone actually had to pay up in the end?

g_parry

There are numerous companies who issue tickets on private land that appear to be of the same status as a Penalty Charge Notice as issued by the local authority. They hold the keeper responsible for any charge levied and will chase these tickets very aggressively.

If you received one of these tickets, there is no real requirement to pay it! There are a number of legal arguments in respect of signage but in a nutshell the company has to prove who parked the vehicle and there is no legislation that allows them to assume it was the registered keeper and no legislation requiring the keeper to give any information about who might have been the driver.

If they appoint a debt collector, even if they call themselves a bailiff, they have no powers to recover the money.

Private companies are able to clamp or remove on private land but these actions have to be carried out buy properly licensed contractors.

roddydogs

So its 100% definite, if you ignore it, you wont have to pay it?

Conor_3

No. They can still haul you through County Court and the judge can still find against you based more on contractual law than parking law.