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The Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999
The introduction of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 has brought about an anomaly that may not have been foreseen and which is a matter worthy of discussion. I refer to Schedule 4 in the matter of Keeper Liability for payment of parking charges when a driver fails to respond and the payment isn't fulfilled by that person.
It's a moot point as to whether a "proper" contract is formed by a driver simply by his or her entering a car park and parking up. Lots of discussion is undertaken on this matter on sites such as Pepipoo, the Consumer Action Groups and Money Saving Online and the general agreement is such that most supposed contracts are mostly unenforceable.
If the tickets for parking beyond a time limit or other infringement occurs are ignored then the Parking Management Company claims that a contractual agreement has been made by the driver and sends an invoice for quite a hefty sum. Notwithstanding the legality of this in Contract Law, PoFA does give a management company the right to lay the charge at the keeper for non payment by the driver.
A Parliamentary article on the implication of PoFA prior to its passage in law, makes it clear that failure of the driver to pay the said amount allows the management company the right to lay a charge at the keeper for " actual parking charges at the time of the issue of the ticket". This doesn't seem to stretch to any charge applied following discovery of a parking infringement.
My own reasoning on this is that if a driver overstays in a pay and display car park and therefore instigates an underpayment for the total time spent there, say at the normal £1 an hour, then this is the only ACTUAL PARKING RELATED CHARGE that can be passed on to the keeper. In fact we all know that the keeper is sent a demand for the contractual charge of, say £80 reduced to £60 for early payment.
This amount is for an alleged contract between the parking management company and the driver. The keeper is not a party to that contract, if it does in fact exist at all, and enjoys none of the benefits of the contract supposedly struck by the driver and management company.
It has been suggested on forums that a keeper may in fact be liable under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.
My own take on this is that the keeper has no part to play in the alleged contract, had no part in its agreement and doesn't take any benefit from it so the CRTPA doesn't stretch to this application. Or does it ?
Anyone ........
The introduction of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 has brought about an anomaly that may not have been foreseen and which is a matter worthy of discussion. I refer to Schedule 4 in the matter of Keeper Liability for payment of parking charges when a driver fails to respond and the payment isn't fulfilled by that person.
It's a moot point as to whether a "proper" contract is formed by a driver simply by his or her entering a car park and parking up. Lots of discussion is undertaken on this matter on sites such as Pepipoo, the Consumer Action Groups and Money Saving Online and the general agreement is such that most supposed contracts are mostly unenforceable.
If the tickets for parking beyond a time limit or other infringement occurs are ignored then the Parking Management Company claims that a contractual agreement has been made by the driver and sends an invoice for quite a hefty sum. Notwithstanding the legality of this in Contract Law, PoFA does give a management company the right to lay the charge at the keeper for non payment by the driver.
A Parliamentary article on the implication of PoFA prior to its passage in law, makes it clear that failure of the driver to pay the said amount allows the management company the right to lay a charge at the keeper for " actual parking charges at the time of the issue of the ticket". This doesn't seem to stretch to any charge applied following discovery of a parking infringement.
My own reasoning on this is that if a driver overstays in a pay and display car park and therefore instigates an underpayment for the total time spent there, say at the normal £1 an hour, then this is the only ACTUAL PARKING RELATED CHARGE that can be passed on to the keeper. In fact we all know that the keeper is sent a demand for the contractual charge of, say £80 reduced to £60 for early payment.
This amount is for an alleged contract between the parking management company and the driver. The keeper is not a party to that contract, if it does in fact exist at all, and enjoys none of the benefits of the contract supposedly struck by the driver and management company.
It has been suggested on forums that a keeper may in fact be liable under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.
My own take on this is that the keeper has no part to play in the alleged contract, had no part in its agreement and doesn't take any benefit from it so the CRTPA doesn't stretch to this application. Or does it ?
Anyone ........
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