Private Parking Ticket Megathread (Part 3)

[petemcewan]

There's an outfit in London operating under the title of PCM.

 

I had a "fine" stuck on my car whilst parked outside my friend's home.

I contacted my insurance legal Dept.

 

They explained that it is technically "breach of contract"

 

If they pursue you it becomes a "civil action " affair and can lead to Court.

 

I'm ignoring it.

 

The legal advice was to make a token offer of payment if it ends up in Court.

[peak4]

There's an outfit in London operating under the title of PCM.

 

I had a "fine" stuck on my car whilst parked outside my friend's home.

I contacted my insurance legal Dept.

 

They explained that it is technically "breach of contract"

 

If they pursue you it becomes a "civil action " affair and can lead to Court.

 

I'm ignoring it.

 

The legal advice was to make a token offer of payment if it ends up in Court.

 

They've already been to court 275 times so far this year.

 

I believe that current advice is not to make contact with them about the screen ticket, but to await the "notice to keeper (NTC)".

When it arrives, read up on the next course of action on one of the previous links in this thread, but do not identify the driver. There is always the chance that the NTC will not be POFA compliant, thus providing another means of defence during court action.

They are IPC rather than BPA affiliated, so it's widely reported that both their internal and external appeal service is little more than a kangaroo court.

A well crafted and robust response, to show that you're not an easy target, may lead to cancellation, but don't bank on it.

 

Good Luck

Edited May 8, 2018 by peak4

[petemcewan]

Peak4,

 

Thank you for that valuable advice. I shall follow it. I will not have any contact with them.

 

You are absolutely right about the appeals procedure.

[Albert smith]

As I previously posted: don't reply to them, don't pay, and don't be cowed by them.

But DO respond if proper Court proceedings actually begin- or else a Default Judgment will be entered against you.

Does this advice still stand ,I have just received a ticket for over staying in Aldi by 15 mins ,the letter is headed Parking Charge Notice from a company called

 

Parking Eye .

[peak4]

If you were genuinely shopping there, then Aldi should be able to get it cancelled.

Either speak directly to the shop manager, or I think there is a number on their web page for customer services.

[geared]

Who spends that long shopping in Aldi??

[Calahonda]

Who spends that long shopping in Aldi??

 

I was just thinking the same, however I often park in the Waitrose car park when not shopping there, albeit not for hours.

[Top Cats Hat]

I thought this had been done to death.

 

This is not actually a legal argument but one of the practical management of their invoicing.

 

Putting up a sign in a car park stating that 'by parking here you enter into a contract and agree to our Terms & Conditions' is legally very shaky, however once there is ANY contact initiated by you, the parking company can then argue in court that that contact is a recognition by you that they have a right to issue parking invoices.

 

That is why the 'bin it and forget it' advice still holds.

 

These companies are chasing literally thousands of unpaid invoices and it COSTS THEM MONEY so they need to decide who to persue.

 

Firstly they will chase people who admit parking, accept the charge, but claim that it is too much.

 

Secondly they will chase people who admit parking but challenge their right to levy a charge.

 

Thirdly they will chase people who have never accepted their right to levy a charge, may no longer live at the registered keeper's address, may have never existed or may even be dead.

 

The first two categories have a very high success rate for the parking companies. The last one has a low success rate. As thousands of new tickets are issued every day, with resources they have, they will always concentrate on the former two.

 

In the extremely unlikely case that you do receive a communication from a County Court, deal directly with the court and DO NOT contact the parking company.

[Waldo]

Well, in the next few days we'll be court. My first time in court and I have absolutely no idea what to expect. I'm not a lawyer, have zero legal training, and have felt totally overwhelmed by the amount of work required to understand all the legal ins and outs and prepare defence, witness statement, evidence, etc.

 

From a practical point of view (considering the time and energy I've invested in defending), I have to say it's just not worth fighting.

 

Will be very happy when it's all over.

[peak4]

Well, in the next few days we'll be court. My first time in court and I have absolutely no idea what to expect. I'm not a lawyer, have zero legal training, and have felt totally overwhelmed by the amount of work required to understand all the legal ins and outs and prepare defence, witness statement, evidence, etc.

 

From a practical point of view (considering the time and energy I've invested in defending), I have to say it's just not worth fighting.

 

Will be very happy when it's all over.

 

Good luck, I think it's a judge in a room, rather than a normal court appearance, though I've never been there myself.

Any chance of a link to your MSE thread, so we can all learn something, even just to prove that ignoring everything is no longer a good move.

All the best for your excursion.