Parking ticket from Meadowhall

[Cyclone]

From that site..

 

"For example, if you park over a white line, what losses have you caused? Zero"

 

This may not be true, for example,if by parking over a line you stop someone else form using the space next to you you may have lost the car park owner a customer...

 

and again from the same page

 

"If parking is £1 an hour and you stay and extra 20 minutes, what losses have you caused? 20 pence"

 

Not necessarily correct ..the fact your car was there may have stopped someone from parking there for 5 hours so you could have cost the owner more than 20 pence...

 

Have the details on the site been checked..do they have any legal standing.? I'm not saying it's incorrect but it doesn't seem very robust..are the answers to the self imposed FAQs legally correct?

 

But the damages have to be real and proven.

 

So they might be able to take you to court for 20p, if every other space in the car park was full, but they couldn't prove that someone would have stayed 5 hours, so they can't prove £5 worth of damages. And they certainly can't prove the random punitive amounts that they attempt to charge.

[Walkley Dave]

I've just stumbled on this thread whilst searching google to see whether or not the parking ticket I received at Meadowhall today was enforceable or not.

 

Basically my husband and I and our 3 year old son went to Meadowhall today, and as my husband IS disabled, and DOES have a blue badge, I parked in a disabled parking bay.

Unfortunately, like the wally that I am, I forgot to put the badge on the dashboard *smacks forehead* - I put this down to pregnancy forgetfulness (I'm 15 weeks pregnant at the moment - though unlike the OP's friend, I wasn't feeling unwell.)

 

I genuinely had no idea I had forgotten to display the badge, until we returned to the car and found a parking ticket slapped on the windscreen. £57 if paid within 14 days, rising to £95 thereafter (up to 28 days).

 

I really don't have the money to pay this, and it isn't as though we weren't entitled to park there, it's just that I'm clearly a forgetful silly person who forgot to put the badge up. It was right there, in the car, just not on display

 

I've read through this thread and understand now that private property parking tickets are unenforceable, in theory, but I've also been searching online and see that there is the possibility of being taken to court, and there's no way I can afford court fees if that happens, so I'm in a dilemma as to what to do.

 

I know the chances of being taken to court might be slim, but what if it happens? Knowing my luck, I'll be one of the few that it actually happens to. And I can't even dispute the fact that they have claimed :

 

Breach : "Parked in a disabled bay not clearly displaying a valid disabled badge / permit"

 

I fully admit the bloody thing wasn't displayed, because I'm a plonker who forgot to put the ruddy thing on the dashboard, so if they provide "photographic evidence" (as the ticket states that they have got some) to prove their point, what on earth would I do to contest this?

 

Any advice?

 

First of all - markings on private land are mere graffiti.

 

Do not contact them. At all. Imagine all their letters are telling you you have won the lottery and and all you have to do is to tell them your bank account number. These are just the same - hamster bedding.

 

In 2010 - 2011 there were 1.8 million tickets issued and only 49 got to court, although despite those odds everyone thinks they will be one of the 49. Of those the private parking companies lost 25.

 

They are a private parking company who have no right to "fine" or "ticket" anyone with the expectation of being paid.

 

Ignore everything and eventually they will go away.

[Penistone999]

PCM Parking Control Management (UK) Ltd.

 

It says they are a BPA Approved Operator

 

---------- Post added 08-01-2013 at 17:06 ----------

 

Just to add - the car does have a disabled class tax disc displayed on the window. You'd think that would have been enough proof that there was somebody disabled using the space, but clearly not.

 

I wouldnt worry about PCM taking you to court, although they will no doubt send you a fake solicitors letter threatening court action. The BPA is self regulated ,and just because a company is approved by them it means nothing ,they are still cowboys . You have NOTHING to pay .

[Rare2344]

If you were with her and she doesn't normally park in disabled spaces because she knows it is wrong then why didn't you just wait with the car if she was less than 10mins? Seems to me like you have created your own issues here!

[Penistone999]

If you were with her and she doesn't normally park in disabled spaces because she knows it is wrong then why didn't you just wait with the car if she was less than 10mins? Seems to me like you have created your own issues here!

 

There are no issues , the invoice is unenforcable .

[NatGos]

Thank you to those who have advised me.

 

I must admit I'm still a little worried, but I'm just going to ignore the ticket and hope nothing too horrendous happens!

[Dannyno]

Rhetoric aside, it's not *completely* impossible for one of these companies to win a case, since after all they are acting on behalf of the landowners who do have legal rights, but the hurdles they have to jump through (establishing contract etc etc, all explained well on the sites posted) to do so are high and involve them in wasting time and money. So they are unlikely to bother, since they make enough money from those who are scared and do pay. A tiny number of cases ever reach court.

 

I received a demand once. I parked in a carpark in the morning, left, and then came back later in the afternoon, and then left again. The photos they kindly sent me showed my car arriving in the carpark in the morning, and leaving the carpark in the afternoon. Hence overstaying the allowed time!

 

I considered sending them an FOI request for all records relating to my car entering and leaving the carpark that day, but in the end just decided not to waste my time and ignored all subsequent communications. They went away, and the company contracting them lost some of my business.

[Garbo]

Rhetoric aside, it's not *completely* impossible for one of these companies to win a case, since after all they are acting on behalf of the landowners who do have legal rights, but the hurdles they have to jump through (establishing contract etc etc, all explained well on the sites posted) to do so are high and involve them in wasting time and money. So they are unlikely to bother, since they make enough money from those who are scared and do pay. A tiny number of cases ever reach court.

 

I received a demand once. I parked in a carpark in the morning, left, and then came back later in the afternoon, and then left again. The photos they kindly sent me showed my car arriving in the carpark in the morning, and leaving the carpark in the afternoon. Hence overstaying the allowed time!

 

I considered sending them an FOI request for all records relating to my car entering and leaving the carpark that day, but in the end just decided not to waste my time and ignored all subsequent communications. They went away, and the company contracting them lost some of my business.

 

they do occasionally take people to court and occasionally do win, but its barely double figures

[Dannyno]

Thank you to those who have advised me.

 

I must admit I'm still a little worried, but I'm just going to ignore the ticket and hope nothing too horrendous happens!

 

You will get progressively more intimidating letters. They will worry you more, I expect. It is unlikely you will get anything that it is in your interests to do anything other than ignore.

 

All the information you need is here: http://www.popla.me.uk (though I think some of their rhetoric runs away with itself, the actual advice is sound).

[Eckolad]

when will people learn about the truth about private parking invoices

 

 

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