Didn't think private parking guys worked early on a Sunday...

[bluebottle]

Re: Didn't think private parking guys worked early on a Sunday...

We have Europarks at our local Sainsburys,,,never a more neanderthal scruffy oik did you ever wish to see. Every time we go to the car park my OH drives very slowly before pulling into a blue badge holders space,he gets out,,and every time ,without fail,Yetiman (as we affectionately name him),starts meandering towards our car,I wait till he is within punching distance before putting my badge up,,his little face drops every time. Either he doesn't recognise my car,,,,,,or he is living in hope that one day I might forget.......he will be a very brave Yetiman if he ever touches my car

He might be an extinct Yetiman if he's not careful. Lol!

[Inca]

Re: Didn't think private parking guys worked early on a Sunday...

If he even looked smart it would help his cause BB,,but h He is scruffy,unshaven,coat all mucky..hardly authorative. He must get really bored cos I don't live in the biggest village in the world.We only have one supermarket,the rest of the shops are either coffee shops or Olde Worlde,,and pubs !! (we have plenty of pubs lol)

[bluebottle]

Re: Didn't think private parking guys worked early on a Sunday...

If he even looked smart it would help his cause BB,,but h He is scruffy,unshaven,coat all mucky..hardly authorative. He must get really bored cos I don't live in the biggest village in the world.We only have one supermarket,the rest of the shops are either coffee shops or Olde Worlde,,and pubs !! (we have plenty of pubs lol)

Nobby the Gnome isn't exactly neat and tidy. He often looks like he's been dragged backwards through a hedge, then pushed back through and dragged back through again for good measure. I think a lot of motorists would dearly love to impale him on a concrete bollard and stick a fishing rod in his hand. Lol!

[Curlyben]

Re: Didn't think private parking guys worked early on a Sunday...

Well burger me if I haven't gone and got another...

That'll learn me for not pay attention in Asda's carpark.
I mistakenly parked in a disabled bay, rather than the parent/child bays nearby.
SO more new friends in the shape of TCP wanting 70 notes or 40 is paid within 14 days.

I hope they can whistle as they aren't getting dixie

Finally, after 6 weeks I get the first of the Treat-O-Grams from this shower.

While they do give the fine and vehicle details they completely fail to make any reference to the alleged contravention..
This is certainly the worst demand letter I have seen from any PPC.

Well into the file it goes for later enjoyment

Well utterly pathetic from this shower.
ONE threat-O-Gram and they run off.
How do they expect to demand a living if they can't be bothered to follow through with simple escalation of threats...

As for the main protagonists, they too have crawled back their own posteriors, nowt else has come from them as well.
Cost them more in postage than an hours worth of parking in this park...

[labman]

Re: Didn't think private parking guys worked early on a Sunday...

Well utterly pathetic from this shower.
ONE threat-O-Gram and they run off.
How do they expect to demand a living if they can't be bothered to follow through with simple escalation of threats...

As for the main protagonists, they too have crawled back their own posteriors, nowt else has come from them as well.
Cost them more in postage than an hours worth of parking in this park...

The more it costs them, the less time they stay in business. Even most 'new tickets' (issued since October 1st) can still be safely ignored,save in a few select circumstances.

PPC's remain pretty low life. In fact I now carry round in my glove box Flyers which can be printed off Pepipoo, so if you see a car with a Parking Charge Notice on it, you can put one of these on stating Don't Pay and guiding them to their site. lol

At least mine sent 4 nasty letters before stopping.

[bluebottle]

Re: Didn't think private parking guys worked early on a Sunday...

Strictly speaking, if a PPC or their employees misrepresent the legal situation or the law, even, they are playing with fire and in danger of getting burned.

[labman]

Re: Didn't think private parking guys worked early on a Sunday...

In many ways the new legislation has actually helped the consumer. There are some little details which can make big differences now set down clearly in law.

[bluebottle]

Re: Didn't think private parking guys worked early on a Sunday...

In many ways the new legislation has actually helped the consumer. There are some little details which can make big differences now set down clearly in law.

I completely agree with you, Labman. It appears, however, that the muppets at Parking Eye are misquoting the legislation in order to scare motorists into paying their faux parking tickets. Not a clever thing for them to do.

[labman]

Re: Didn't think private parking guys worked early on a Sunday...

Mmm..... it won't make sense if you're not familiar with the legislation, but just how much land do Parking Eye really own or have genuine rights over? Can they supply a copy of any contract that allegedly exists between themselves or the landowner client and you? Clearly such contract to be shown to have been properly offered and then accepted by you or any other driver who may have been involved in the matter.

Just a couple of basic arguments to use should you appeal.

[bluebottle]

Re: Didn't think private parking guys worked early on a Sunday...

Basically, if a parking fee is payable, e.g. £1.20 per hour, then, yes, the PPC is entitled to seek recompense of this if you do not pay the fee as a contract exists. They are also allowed to recover the cost of recovering this, BUT any such cost MUST be the actual cost and NOT amount to a penalty. If it is a penalty, then the PPC CANNOT enforce any Parking Charge Notice.

As an example -

2 hours @ £1.20 per hour = £2.40
DVLA Fee = £2.50
Letter = £1.00 (inc. postage and stationery)

The most the PPC would be entitled to recover, in the example, would be £5.90. A faux PCN for £50 would amount to a penalty and not be permitted under the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 and other legislation.

Hope this helps explain it a bit more clearly.

[labman]

Re: Didn't think private parking guys worked early on a Sunday...

It's actually not quite that simple though, as if they are BPA registered,it may be worthwhile going through the appeals procedure depending on circumstance. They have also set an agreed limit of £100 which can possibly be charged. I have to read the new regs every time to get it right, so won't comment here.

[Curlyben]

Re: Didn't think private parking guys worked early on a Sunday...

It's actually not quite that simple though, as if they are BPA registered,it may be worthwhile going through the appeals procedure depending on circumstance. They have also set an agreed limit of £100 which can possibly be charged. I have to read the new regs every time to get it right, so won't comment here.

Sorry labman, that's UTTER TRIPE.

[labman]

Re: Didn't think private parking guys worked early on a Sunday...

Sorry labman, that's UTTER TRIPE.

Sorry Curly IT IS NOT! Please feel free to tell me why you hold your mistaken belief.

Charges may not be set at higher levels than necessary to recover business losses and the intention should not be to penalise the driver. However, the PPC's have been advised that no 'charge' should exceed £100 ( There is no higher and lower rate for parking charges on private land. The BPA Code of Practice for the AOS sets out how parking charges should be determined and we would not expect them ordinarily to exceed £100. Taken from British Parking website)

If you drive a company car, as one example, it may be very advisable to appeal the ticket through the BPA AOS and then POPLA in order to take the trail off your employer. I am aware of a few cases where the employer has paid the fine and deducted the money from the driver's salary. In one case they have been disciplined for not informing the employer of the Parking Charge Notice.

There are exceptions like the one above where an appeal is sensible.

[Curlyben]

Re: Didn't think private parking guys worked early on a Sunday...

Seriously REREAD EXACTLY what you wrote:

It's actually not quite that simple though, as if they are BPA registered,it may be worthwhile going through the appeals procedure depending on circumstance. They have also set an agreed limit of £100 which can possibly be charged. I have to read the new regs every time to get it right, so won't comment here.

What you have said here is extremely misleading.
It implies that if a PPC is a member of the BPA they are entitled to "charge" £100 for these transgressions.

Just because they claim, or even are, BPA members does NOT mean the charges have any validity in law.
They STILL rely on implied contract, which we know is sorely lacking..

If a PPC want to reply on this contract route then there are requirements that they MUST comply with.
The simplest of which would be the use of a barrier or other physical control system..

Accuracy is paramount.

[bluebottle]

Re: Didn't think private parking guys worked early on a Sunday...

Basically, the situation, as I see it, after reading the legislation, is that a PPC can only recover parking fees due under a contract, i.e. Pay & Display, plus the actual cost of recovering the parking fees due. They are NOT permitted to attempt to levy anything that amounts to a penalty. £50 or £100 for sending a letter cannot, by anyone's standards, be regarded as "reasonable business expenses". In any case, there is already legislation dealing with payments that amount to penalties. The BPA is a trade association and not a government department or agency. It is not for them to say what PPCs can claim. That is why the law makes it clear that it must be reasonable business expenses only and not penalty.