Driver/registered keeper under 18

jmccabe · 5 July 2018 at 12:03AM

Hi

My 17yr old daughter has just received a notice to keeper from Smart Parking in relation to an alleged parking infringement. If we assume, for the moment, that she was driving at the time, my understanding is that any assumed contract in relation to this is unenforceable in a court of law due to her age.

Should this be a simple matter of challenging the charge on the basis of her age via email?

Thanks
J.

KeithP · 5 July 2018 at 12:42AM

My understanding too is that a contract can be made with a person under eighteen, but is perhaps not enforcible. (there is some argument about this)

Sometime soon your daughter will be over eighteen at which time the contract becomes enforcible.

Remember, any creditor has up to six years to to chase a debt through the courts.

As it's Smart, I would suggest it would be a far simpler matter to challenge the charge via the tried and tested route described in post #1 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread.

waamo · 5 July 2018 at 4:48AM

If the ppc simply wait till she is 18 any rather suspect argument about enforceability will be out of the window.

I rather suspect that argument would fall flat in court anyway. If an under 18 enters into a contract that is deemed necessary it is enforceable. Contracts such as employment contracts are very much enforceable with under 18s.

I think you would be hard pressed to argue parking wasn't a necessity if you have been granted the right to drive.

The_Deep · 5 July 2018 at 7:27AM

This is an entirely unregulated industry which is scamming the public with inflated claims for minor breaches of contracts for alleged parking offences, aided and abetted by a handful of low-rent solicitors.

Parking Eye, CPM, Smart, and another company have already been named and shamed, as has Gladstones Solicitors, and BW Legal, (these two law firms take hundreds of these cases to court each year). They lose most of them, and have been reported to the regulatory authority by an M.P. for unprofessional conduct

Hospital car parks and residential complex tickets have been especially mentioned.

The problem has become so rampant that MPs have agreed to enact a Bill to regulate these scammers. Watch the video of the Second Reading in the HofC recently.

http://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/2f0384f2-eba5-4fff-ab07-cf24b6a22918?in=12:49:41

and complain in the most robust terms to your MP. With a fair wind they will be out of business by Christmas.

System · 5 July 2018 at 7:50AM

If an under 18 enters into a contract that is deemed necessary it is enforceable.

+1

What was the reason for the parking charge; is it valid; are they chasing her or the Keeper; and is it in England/Wales

fisherjim · 5 July 2018 at 9:51AM

I would forget about the age factor, she has an insurance contract doesn't she?

Get on reading the newbies thread and follow the advice there!

Loadsofchildren123 · 5 July 2018 at 11:22AM

http://www.lawandparents.co.uk/minors-entering-into-contracts.html

I think this classes as a "Necessaries" exception

I don't think you'd persuade a court that a 17 y/o mature enough to own and drive a car didn't understand the terms of the parking.

beamerguy · 5 July 2018 at 11:52AM

Loadsofchildren123 wrote: »

I don't think you'd persuade a court that a 17 y/o mature enough to own and drive a car didn't understand the terms of the parking.

Think you are right, if a driving licence is issued it would be
assumed that all aspects driving a car would be understood

Coupon-mad · 5 July 2018 at 4:13PM

Easy to beat just by using the template appeal in the NEWBIES thread, as long as the appeal goes in from the registered keeper. DO NOT add anything nor remove anything from the template.

jmccabe · 16 December 2018 at 6:31PM

Guys,

Thank you for your thoughts on this, and sorry I haven't replied sooner (I hadn't updated my email address on the forum so wasn't getting notifications!).

One point, first of all, though is that of this:

KeithP wrote: »

Sometime soon your daughter will be over eighteen at which time the contract becomes enforcible.

The "contract" of parking is relevant only to the period she was parked there. Unless she left the car there until she was over 18, the contract is, and always will be, with a minor.

In addition there is the question of "necessity". Having a contract with an insurance company is, clearly, a necessity to allow her to drive. While obviously ownership of a car means it's necessary to park it somewhere, that doesn't, as far as I'm concerned, make parking it in a retail park, subject to a "contract" she didn't understand the consequences of, a necessity. In relation to this,

Loadsofchildren123 wrote: »

<link to lawandparents[dot]co[dot]uk>

I think this classes as a "Necessaries" exception

that site states:

Necessaries
Another exception to the rule is that your child is bound to pay a reasonable price for any ‘necessaries’ accrued from a contract. Necessaries are defined as things without which a child cannot reasonably exist, such as clothes, food, etc. The higher your household income, the more likely the courts would rule that something is a necessary.

In answer to all the other questions, it was England, the original letter was to the registered keeper (who is my daughter), and I'm not aware of anything in the current driving test that addresses charges for parking on private land.

FWIW I am still contesting this so we'll see how it goes.

Half_way · 16 December 2018 at 6:35PM

The age thing, in most cases is a red herring.
As its Smart, they are relatively easy to beat.

Lets start here:

My 17yr old daughter has just received a notice to keeper from Smart Parking in relation to an alleged parking infringement.

What was this heinous infringement?

whos car park was this?

Answer the above, and the correct advice can be offered in how to proceed

Driver/registered keeper under 18

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free