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LukeLee

RANT: Bastard car parking fines

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Okay, I needed to rant. So yesterday I get home from work and i've got two letters, i open them to find out they are 'reminders' for parking fines, one in early march, one in mid april.

 

But this is the first I've heard of them. I've never found a ticket on my car and I was never sent an initial notification of the fine back at those dates. So they want to charge me £50 for each ticket, plus £20 each for each reminder. Totalling £140.

 

What fucks me off is this is the first I've heard of it, 3 months later for one of the incidents. So either its a stupid parking attendent not putting the tickets on or someone taking them off before I get back to my car. Cos its so old the cctv probably has been destroyed now. So i'm pretty fucked off with this out of the blue. I had to ask them over the phone today that there wasnt any other fines they were going to surprise on me.

 

Annoys me, they could easily invent these dates and just use my registration number, there will be no proof a ticket was put on my car, not this late on.

 

Thing is, if they did their job properly and put a ticket on and sent out a letter at the time, i'd of had a £50 but would of known what I did wrong and be able to avoid doing it again and likewise avoid the additional reminder fees.

 

So anyway, I've had to send a letter explaining all this to someone in the debt department.

 

Northern rail. The dirty bastards!

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Northern rail. The dirty bastards!

 

Did you phone the right people? :confused:

 

Anywhoo when paying,why not send them an official letter of complaint or something?

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Did they not send photographs? Im prity sure they need a photo. This is to stop them just inventing fines as you say.

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Aye, ask for proof. PRRROOOOFFFFF.

 

(If not the ticket, then proof of postage for the initial letters)

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This happened to my dad. I don't know if you'll get the same treatment, but check on the website, and write in the objections part of the letter that you admit that you were illegally parked, but didn't have a ticket when you returned to the car, and are willing to pay, but would you be able to pay the reduced rate as you were unaware. They only charged him the reduced rate, which is fair enough.

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This happened to my dad. I don't know if you'll get the same treatment, but check on the website, and write in the objections part of the letter that you admit that you were illegally parked, but didn't have a ticket when you returned to the car, and are willing to pay, but would you be able to pay the reduced rate as you were unaware. They only charged him the reduced rate, which is fair enough.

 

whats the reduced rate?

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whats the reduced rate?

 

Last time I checked, it was £40 if you own up the first time, and if you don't pay, it's £60. I don't drive, It's probably changed without my knowledge...

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No no no no no!

 

Don't pay it if it was on private land - they have no legal grounds to fine you.

 

If it was issued by the council though, that's a different matter.

 

I'm pretty knowledgeable on parking laws, but you haven't said why you were given a ticket...did you overstay, park over two bays, park in a disabled bay...?

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No no no no no!

 

Don't pay it if it was on private land - they have no legal grounds to fine you.

 

If it was issued by the council though, that's a different matter.

 

I'm pretty knowledgeable on parking laws, but you haven't said why you were given a ticket...did you overstay, park over two bays, park in a disabled bay...?

 

it happened 3 months ao / 1 and a half months ago. When I called up they said it was down to causing an obstruction, not that I can really remember.

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Hi Luke, This may help:

 

Tickets issued by private companies

Private companies can issue tickets to drivers parked on their property, but the rules are not the same as local authorities.

If you receive a ticket in a private car park, such as a supermarket car park, or private multi-story car park, remember that it is not criminal law, but contract law that applies. The driver enters into a contract with the landowner when they driver into the car park.

 

This means that it is only the driver that can be subject to a ticket from a private company. If they do not know who the driver was, they cannot claim a penalty. They have no legal right to demand that you identify the driver.

 

If you are approached by a member of staff inside a private car park there is no obligation for you to assist them in any way

 

If the company wish to pursue a claim in the small claims court, they have to prove that you were the driver of the car. Any comments that you make may assist them in this aim, so best to say nothing.

 

If you refuse to pay, the private company has to pursue you through the small claims court. It is up to them to prove a breach of contract so look at the terms carefully. These are usually printed on a sign at the entrance to the car park.

 

Additionally, you may be able to reduce any fine issued by a private company. Under contract law, they can only claim for any loss they have suffered because of your offence. They may try to claim a penalty of, say, £100, but in law they may only be entitled to any revenue they had lost. So, if you pay £2 to park for one hour, but stay for three hours, they can only claim for two hours of lost revenue, which is £4.

 

I'd go to your local CAB if I were you.

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Yeah, was going to chime in and say the burden of proof lies with them, and that if they are a private company, fuck that.

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Yer i would defo say ask for some kind of proof. I would wanna see proof if they claimed to have sent me reminder letters and never recieved them but yet they want me to pay £140!!!

 

The cheek!

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This was on Watchdog a while ago.

 

Its the bastards at the DVLA that help them get away with this. The car park themselves have no legal grounds to send you fines without proof, yet they can ring the DVLA up and get all your imformation by just supplying your license plate number.

 

But a quick google says this:

 

Unlike penalty charges from the police or councils, you’re not legally obliged to pay them. He says that if they charge is unreasonable you shouldn’t pay, “If you get a parking charge notice you haven’t broken the law; you’ve committed no offence.”

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