Parking Fine - HELP and advice please. Im amazed!!

[e55nick]

Feel free to PM me and I will give you all the info you need. Seriously, do not waste any more time on these cowboys. Two organisations can take you to court, Police and Local Council, no-one else.

 

[flowrider]

Feel free to PM me and I will give you all the info you need. Seriously, do not waste any more time on these cowboys. Two organisations can take you to court, Police and Local Council, no-one else.

Anyone can take you to the small claims court. This would be a civil court not a criminal court.

 

[flango]

Feel free to PM me and I will give you all the info you need. Seriously, do not waste any more time on these cowboys. Two organisations can take you to court, Police and Local Council, no-one else.

That is not true Im afraid depends how the contract is written between the contracting company and contractor

There is already a post on this thread of someone been sued in court for this by a parking firm

Contractual law has changed ignore at your own risk you can no longer afford to throw these in the bin in the hope that it will go away

 

[Teflonso]

An article this week on the evening news. BBC Look Leeds I think it was. A man had gone all the way and challenged things, with the claimed sum in triple digits and well on the way to the big 1k. In his case, it was overstaying 2 hrs at the CoOp.

After having wiped the floor with them, the CoOp declared that they no longer had any relationship with the parking company. As others have said - speak to the NHS trust, and harry the chairman / CEO if you need to. Strictly speaking it isn't a CQC issue, but put a complaint on their website as well. Hospitals hate that sort of stuff.

Bottom line advice from a lawyer was that you can't ignore this sort of stuff but all they can realistically claim is for lost revenue (i.e. the parking charge). Anything much more than this and the price of a stamp is punitive and is likely to get thrown out of court.

But ........ if it goes all the way and you don't turn up to see the beak you deserve to cough up.


p.s. It's my (entirely unqualified) understanding that the nature of the contract between land owner and parking company is largely irrelevant. Although anyone can sue you for loss, it is only the contract or implied contract between you and whoever controls the land that is relevant. Since you did not sign anything, did not have the chance to review the small print and, in your haste, could not realistically have even reviewed terms on the notice board you quite probably have an unenforceable contract (i.e. no contract), certainly insofar as punitive costs are concerned.

Disclaimer - This legal advice is worth exactly as much as you paid for it.

p.p.s. Look on http://forums.pepipoo.com/ There's people at it all day long on there and there are some very good sticky threads on how to back heel charges.

p.p.p.s. And http://www.parking-prankster.com/

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[neilrr]

The ONLY place to go for info on handling any kind of parking charge or infraction is FightBack Forums . You wouldn't go to a parking ticket forum to get advice on your MB so........

A lot of the advice on here, well intentioned though it is, will be out of date, half right (& therefore half wrong) or just plain wrong.

Talk to the experts who handle this stuff all day long.

 

[prprandall51]

Bottom line advice from a lawyer was that you can't ignore this sort of stuff but all they can realistically claim is for lost revenue (i.e. the parking charge). Anything much more than this and the price of a stamp is punitive and is likely to get thrown out of court.

Lost revenue story:

The land that I own is crossed every morning at 6.00am by an articulated lorry that delivers to a branch of a national chain of high street shops. The shop has my permission to access their loading bay across my land.

Shortly before Christmas, due to someone parking selfishly and illegally for three consecutive days (they parked up and left their car there from Friday evening till Monday morning), the lorry could not make its delivery on Saturday, Sunday or Monday, leaving the shop without a significant proportion of its Christmas stock and without any newspapers for Saturday or Sunday. The cost to the shop in lost revenue was enormous, never mind the customer dissatisfaction (when their newsagent was out of papers).

The driver got fined £100, which they still haven't paid, I note. No doubt they are on the BMW forum right now whinging like a stuck pig about how unfair these parking "fines" are. No doubt there are a lot of other idiots posting stupid replies giving them the assurance that they can park where they like, when they like without fear of consequence.

Even if it comes to court, the driver will never truly know the consequences of their selfishness. But, hey, that's the "me" society will live in today.

I can't help but dream of seeing that driver stuck with a £5000 bill for the inconvenience they caused, though. More than the price of a stamp, that's for sure.

 

[flango]

The ONLY place to go for info on handling any kind of parking charge or infraction is FightBack Forums . You wouldn't go to a parking ticket forum to get advice on your MB so........

A lot of the advice on here, well intentioned though it is, will be out of date, half right (& therefore half wrong) or just plain wrong.

Talk to the experts who handle this stuff all day long.

Be very careful on that forum there are just as many idiots on there as on here. I have lost count of the number of times SWMBO has had to jump in and rescue a case because it was wrongly taken in a certain direction by advice from that forum.

Legal advice is worth what you pay for it, unless you know the person posting on a forum personally or know of their reputation, then the advice is worthless, seek good professional advice

 

[lxi]

Lots of well meaning advice here, balanced by lots of heresay.

I've been where you are now. The company that went for me was Parking Eye, but that's academic.

I took all advice, trawled the forums, ignored the demands and they went away for about 12 months, then they started again.

I got a summons from the court. I challenged their right to invoice me as they were not the landowners. I argued all the normal stuff, excessive charges, whatever - they kept going.

Only after I had submitted my defence did they produce a bundle (a mountain actually) of documentation citing precedents etc but buried in the middle of this was a copy of the agreement between the landowner and Parking Eye that contractually passed responsibility to them.

As my wife had indeed overstayed the time limit, despite the fact she was shopping at the centre (Monk's Cross in York), despite the fact she hadn't noticed the time limit notices, they were there, so this was cut & dried - there was no defence.

You forgot to display your blue badge. You will have documentation to show you had an appointment. The company is, I guess (literally) trying it on at this point - there will have been no meeting with the PCT.

Bottom line though is you have no defence - you broke the rules. Write to the PCT, explain the circumstances, plead oversight, plead personal pressure, plead insanity if you like - at this stage the PCT should have power of veto and should be able to change the course of action taken by its subcontractors, but ignore it and it's odds on you will lose.

Take it from someone who's been there (although they will deal on settlement) - act now.

 

[prprandall51]

Be very careful on that forum there are just as many idiots on there as on here. I have lost count of the number of times SWMBO has had to jump in and rescue a case because it was wrongly taken in a certain direction by advice from that forum.

Legal advice is worth what you pay for it, unless you know the person posting on a forum personally or know of their reputation, then the advice is worthless, seek good professional advice

This is the only advice on this entire thread worth paying any attention to, including any that I may have given.

I used to think that legal guidance could be obtained from a variety of sources: friends, the web, my own common sense, even. But I have learned the hard way that you need to pay for it and only then it is usually worth following. And, despite lawyers' fees being sometimes seemingly disconnected from reality, I have also found that the more you pay, the better the advice normally is.

Anyone who has the threat of a court appearance hanging over them who then relies on the opinions of a load of unknown keyboard jockeys - even if they have gathered together on a site such as Pepipo (or whatever it is) - must be mad.

 

[boxbrownie]

this is the only advice on this entire thread worth paying any attention to, including any that i may have given.

I used to think that legal guidance could be obtained from a variety of sources: Friends, the web, my own common sense, even. But i have learned the hard way that you need to pay for it and only then it is usually worth following. And, despite lawyers' fees being sometimes seemingly disconnected from reality, i have also found that the more you pay, the better the advice normally is.

Anyone who has the threat of a court appearance hanging over them who then relies on the opinions of a load of unknown keyboard jockeys - even if they have gathered together on a site such as pepipo (or whatever it is) - must be mad.

++1

 

[Deleted member 6183]

At last some sense.

To recap, path of least resistance is to pay the £10 or whatever.
If you have the time and funds to follow your emotions then get a decent solicitor.

Funny how those who are most wrong shout the loudest, usually spotted by use of emotive language.

 

[brucemillar]

Lost revenue story:

The land that I own is crossed every morning at 6.00am by an articulated lorry that delivers to a branch of a national chain of high street shops. The shop has my permission to access their loading bay across my land.

Shortly before Christmas, due to someone parking selfishly and illegally for three consecutive days (they parked up and left their car there from Friday evening till Monday morning), the lorry could not make its delivery on Saturday, Sunday or Monday, leaving the shop without a significant proportion of its Christmas stock and without any newspapers for Saturday or Sunday. The cost to the shop in lost revenue was enormous, never mind the customer dissatisfaction (when their newsagent was out of papers).

The driver got fined £100, which they still haven't paid, I note. No doubt they are on the BMW forum right now whinging like a stuck pig about how unfair these parking "fines" are. No doubt there are a lot of other idiots posting stupid replies giving them the assurance that they can park where they like, when they like without fear of consequence.

Even if it comes to court, the driver will never truly know the consequences of their selfishness. But, hey, that's the "me" society will live in today.

I can't help but dream of seeing that driver stuck with a £5000 bill for the inconvenience they caused, though. More than the price of a stamp, that's for sure.

Where I live we have problems with people who car share, parking up from early morning until they return late evening to collect their cars. Some leave their cars all week. There are no parking restriction marked on the roads and no signs. However when an artic could not get through because of the parked cars and then could not reverse out (safely). The Police were called. Within minutes they had called a local recovery firm who proceeded to quiet literally drag the cars onto a fleet of flatbed trailers where they were removed the local car pound. The owners then had to pay have their cars released.

I questioned the Police on the legality of this and was told that they considered that the cars were "obstructing the queens highway" and could be legally removed at the owners cost.

Shocked me but not as much as the angry owners who immediately assumed that myself or my neighbours had complained (we had not).

If the BMW was on your land? Could you not have simply dragged it off your land?

 

[prprandall51]

Where I live we have problems with people who car share, parking up from early morning until they return late evening to collect their cars. Some leave their cars all week. There are no parking restriction marked on the roads and no signs. However when an artic could not get through because of the parked cars and then could not reverse out (safely). The Police were called. Within minutes they had called a local recovery firm who proceeded to quiet literally drag the cars onto a fleet of flatbed trailers where they were removed the local car pound. The owners then had to pay have their cars released.

I questioned the Police on the legality of this and was told that they considered that the cars were "obstructing the queens highway" and could be legally removed at the owners cost.

Shocked me but not as much as the angry owners who immediately assumed that myself or my neighbours had complained (we had not).

If the BMW was on your land? Could you not have simply dragged it off your land?

There are two issues:
1) I don't want an enraged car owner (who - surprise, surprise - will only see that his pride and joy has been dragged out of the way, not that he was blocking an essential route over private land) ranting at me / attacking me - especially as I work in the building next to the land and so he will know where to find me.
2) I don't know the legality of doing that - I would need to consult a lawyer

 

[brucemillar]

There are two issues:
1) I don't want an enraged car owner (who - surprise, surprise - will only see that his pride and joy has been dragged out of the way, not that he was blocking an essential route over private land) ranting at me / attacking me - especially as I work in the building next to the land and so he will know where to find me.
2) I don't know the legality of doing that - I would need to consult a lawyer

Your points are valid.

The people whom the Police had dragged away in my story blamed me and my neighbours and took some convincing (by the Police) that it was actually the Police who responded to the calls from irate motorists stuck behind the now wedged artic. FYI: I was told that the recovery costs to them were in excess of £125.

 

[boxbrownie]

Your points are valid.

The people whom the Police had dragged away in my story blamed me and my neighbours and took some convincing (by the Police) that it was actually the Police who responded to the calls from irate motorists stuck behind the now wedged artic. FYI: I was told that the recovery costs to them were in excess of £125.

But did it stop them parking there?

 

[tali]

I got fine for overstay at supermarket car park.I wrote to them stating Joe Blogs of Acacia Avenue was the driver and they should not correspond with me any further.Never heard from them again.

 

[brucemillar]

But did it stop them parking there?

It actually did/has. I have to say I had some (not a lot) of sympathy with the people who were parking as there were/are no parking restrictions. It is however a country lane and not an overflow car-park.

 

[219]

There are two issues:
1) I don't want an enraged car owner (who - surprise, surprise - will only see that his pride and joy has been dragged out of the way, not that he was blocking an essential route over private land) ranting at me / attacking me - especially as I work in the building next to the land and so he will know where to find me.
2) I don't know the legality of doing that - I would need to consult a lawyer

Taking the usual analogy of a car dumped on my drive / in my garden , I really would have no personal problem in moving it ( whether by jacking up and rolling , towing or whatever ; taking reasonable care not to damage it , but if you had to , for example , break a quarter light to open the door and let the handbrake off , I'd see that as just tough luck for the driver ) .

In the case of the car on your land causing considerable loss of revenue , I might be inclined to just get a private contractor to remove it ( their fee would be less than the loss in revenue ) and just leave it in the street outside ( again taking reasonable care not to damage said vehicle ) . Mind you , even if damage did occur , I doubt you have any duty of care towards the unwanted vehicle .

In general , if a parked vehicle is blocking another IN , the council will remove it , but not if it is blocking access and preventing entry .

On the other hand , I could take the view that a car left on my private property without any communication was a gift to me and mine to dispose of as I saw fit

I doubt there is any legal reason a landowner cannot remove any unwanted items left on his property without permission .

 

[Davo]

A quick anecdote break -

Many years ago, car locks aren't what they are now, and if you had a Ford key, with patience and a bit of jiggling you could get into any other Ford, even if you couldn't get the steering lock off. (Worn BL locks you could open with a lolly stick).

I came back to my company Ford to find a Granada had completely blocked it in by an owner just being bloody mined and inconsiderate. A bit of jiggling with my key (no CCTV in those days either) got the door unlocked - I couldn't get the steering lock off though, but I was able to put it in neutral, release the handbrake and push it out of the way of my car so I could get out.

I then put the Granada back in gear, handbrake on, locked it up again and drove off.

I wondered what the owner must have made of it when he came back to his car, locked as he left it, but now at a jaunty angle, half on the pavement and half in the road. (But not blocking the traffic, before anyone asks)

 

[Teflonso]

Lost revenue story:

................ No doubt there are a lot of other idiots posting stupid replies giving them the assurance that they can park where they like, .........

Your story, although truly heartbreaking for anyone who was desperate to read the Sunday supplement but couldn't get hold of a paper, is about as far from the OPs original question as it is possible to get.

A hospital, with a car park, has effectively provided an invitation to park and moreover, actually invited the OP to visit for an appointment. There is a set price for parking there and this is displayed for users to see. Filling a space without paying exposes the provider to the loss of that set price revenue, although if you were truly mischievous you could argue that if the car park was never full there was actually no loss.

In contrast, your land (presumably) was properly signposted as private and having a right and need for 24 access? You had established the proper contracts with the store, with an appropriate consideration being paid, even if this was only £1 to cover the legal niceties? You, and the store (if the contract was correctly written) had recourse to have the car removed at the expense of the offender. You chose not to resolve the matter and the store either lacked the gumption to sort matters at their own expense or else were not terribly inconvenienced by the situation so put up with it.

If my understanding of the situation is not correct, then quit whinging and get your affairs in order. Also, the major high street chain store ought to have their legal advisers flogged within an inch of their lives, because you own a ransom strip that could put them out of business on your whim.

I used to be very, very familiar with the concept of damages at large, liquidated damages, etc. but that's only because I used to negotiate multi £M contracts with providers who could severely disadvantage our business. I know precious little about how the law applies to trespass, torts and so on, so I offer no advice other than to suspect that someone might have had a claim for rather more than the cost of a stamp if they had actually got their act together.

As you will deduce, I'm no idiot and I posted no reply assuring anyone of carte blanch parking immunity, so I trust your barb was intended for someone else.

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