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Legal status of car park management companies

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  • Legal status of car park management companies

    I'm getting myself organised against the car park companies such as UKPC, Town and Country etc.
    I would like opinions on the legal status of these companies to pursue for the payment of an alleged parking infringement; Better known as a speculative invoice.
    The issue of an invoice cannot be justified given the ruling shown in blue below so what we have here is a company making illegal threats for the collection of a debt.
    Such companies are not entitled to charge for use of a car park anyway (I quote from another forum here and use the words of a member called Broadsword)

    The Upper Tier Tax Tribunal case of VCS v HMRC, in which the ruling was that Private Parking Companies cannot lawfully make an offer of parking, or levy charges, unless they have a proprietary interest in the land. This is binding on lower courts, including the Small Claims Court, and has been ratified by an internal memo from the Ministry of Justice to all Courts in England & Wales. The records show that UKPC have no proprietary interest in Wycombe Retail Park, therefore rendering your notices and charges unlawful and unenforceable.

    It's my contention that since no offer of parking can be made by them, and they aren't allowed to levy charges, which in itself is mind blowing, they are acting solely as debt collectors. Even if they aren't and since they have been found out by the above ruling, they are still making illegal payment demands under the Consumer Credit Act.
    Firstly they aren't justified in demanding payment as found from the above ruling, and secondly since they only send a demand to a registered keeper they are breaking the law again as the CCA only allows a demand to be sent to the actual person identified as being responsible, ie the driver whose details they rarely have.

    It's this activity that I'm needing opinion on.
    If they are able to be identified as debt collectors I can pretty much guarantee they don't have a Consumer Credit License for Debt Collection. In that case they are committing a criminal offence.
    This is a simple point but one I would like to pursue to the OFT if my suspicions are well founded.
    Tags: None

  • #2
    Re: Legal status of car park management companies

    Interesting, but they aren't acting under the CCA at all. I'm unclear as to where that tenuous connection has been drawn.

    PPC's operate under implied contract law..

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Legal status of car park management companies

      I thought that since the car parking company cannot issue an invoice personally or even enter into a contractual arrangement with the drivers then all they are doing is pursuing a debt on behalf of the landowner client.
      The money isn't owed to the car parking management company so they must be trying to collect on behalf of the landowner.
      The fact that it's for an alleged breach of Contract is only of persuasion if it was the landowner taking direct action. Since the collection of money is handed to their agent VCS I cannot easily see why they aren't debt collectors.
      Yeah - Nay?
      The ruling against VCS is here

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Legal status of car park management companies

        In order to legitimately pursue a motorist, the landowner would first have to prove that they had suffered some sort of loss as a result of the motorist's breach of any alleged parking violation. If the car park had a Pay & Display machine and the motorist didn't purchase a ticket or overstayed, then the landowner has a claim, but only in respect of the Pay & Display fee. Any "penalty" would be unenforceable under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999. Parking Eye found this out to their cost. Penalties can only be imposed by statute. Any attempt by the landowner or PPC to obtain an unenforceable penalty would expose them to criminal prosecution and, possibly, civil litigation, also.

        It is an offence at law to make an unwarranted demand and, at the time of doing so, use menaces as a means of enforcing the demand. The onus is on the person making the demand to prove they have a right in law to make the demand and that the use of menaces is a proper means of enforcing the demand.

        It is also an offence at law to dishonestly make a false misrepresentation as to a matter of fact or law, whether deliberately or recklessly, with intent to cause loss to another or expose another to loss or the risk of loss. Furthermore is is an offence at law to be in possession of an article and to make an article for use in connection with a fraud.
        Life is a journey on which we all travel, sometimes together, but never alone.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Legal status of car park management companies

          Hi, I just posted in the New Members welcome section, I am fighting a scandalous ticket issued by UKPC Ltd outside a block of flats I was delivering some kids clothes to. I just searched on UKPC Ltd and found this. I'm responding to 'Debt Recovery Plus Ltd's' letter demanding £150.00 and have written the following, any guidance would be much appreciated;

          Dear Ms_____
          Your client fraudulently placed a ticket on my windscreen, since the terms and conditions of parking on the road, or the fact that it was a private road and not a public road were not clearly displayed at the time I parked there. Therefore they attempt to obtain money from me by deception. Even their own photos of my vehicle parked there they took show that the road is not adequately signed as being private (I was parked temporarily I might add, for a matter of a handful of minutes as I was delivering a bag of childs clothes to someone living in the block of flats there, a block that contained 285 flats and I was delivering to a flat on the top floor, which took some finding –no time had elapsed from point of the ticket being issued from when it was first seen)
          The reason payment has not been received by your client is because they shouldn’t be claiming it in the first place. Where do the Royal Mail park at that address when they are delivering? There is more than one block of flats at the site and each has 285 appartments, the only parking there is for residents which is why I parked in the road. Can Wycombe Retail Park justify not providing delivering vehicles spaces to park temporarily (I was only there a matter of minutes while I delivered the clothes), or some visitor specific parking when that many people have residence there?
          Section 4 of Schedule 4 of The Protection Of Freedoms Act 2012 cannot be relevant where the fact that the land was private or that there were parking restrictions in force was so poorly signed. To all intents and purposes it appears to be a normal residential road and the signage is not obvious at all, indeed as stated it does not even appear in the photos they took of my car, it simply isn’t visible and there are no yellow lines painted on the road. Your understanding is incorrect.

          In addition the appeal I made to UK Parking Control Ltd was not responded to within 28 days ( that they themselves specify as a satisfactory time frame within which to make a response). Therefore I concluded that they must have used their common sense and realised it was not enforceable in the first place because of; the non –visible signage, the fact that I was not parked there for more than a few minutes, the fact that no provision has been made for visitor parking at a block of 285 flats and they fact that the road does not appear to be a private one ( it is not a gated development or signposted as being private) .

          At that point it was perfectly reasonable for me to conclude that the matter was over and done with. They then wrote three days outside their promised time-frame - on the 27th November - yet have the gaul to tell me I have a limited amount of time to pay the ticket. Accompanying that correspondence was paperwork detailing a further appeals procedure to ‘Popla’ which I made online and did not have a response to . When I failed to obtain a response I forwarded the correspondence to
          web@londoncouncils.gov.uk asking them to forward to ‘Popla’ as the London councils have a contract to run that scheme. A catalogue of failures by all parties other than myself.


          Under the data protection ACT 1998 I request that UK Parking control Ltd send me with their files with all information pertaining relating to my case including any photos taken of my vehicle.
          By all means pass the matter to the landholders solicitor I will be more than happy to meet them with my legal representation in the county court.

          I will then take legal action of my own against Wycombe Retail Park and UK Parking Control Ltd.

          Yours sincerely


          If anyone has any further ideas on how I can sort this nonsense out It would be much appreciated. Many thanks for any help you can give. regards Ian

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Legal status of car park management companies

            The simplest way to deal with PPC's is to IGNORE them.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Legal status of car park management companies

              Unless Debt Recovery Plus can provide irrefutable evidence that the landowner has suffered actual loss, follow Curlyben's advice.
              Life is a journey on which we all travel, sometimes together, but never alone.

              Comment

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